THE PLE CONFERENCE Newsletter – 1st Edition
No. 1, April 2010
This newsletter provides you with the latest updates on THE PLE CONFERENCE event
THE PLE CONFERENCE 2010
Cornellà // Barcelona //July 8-9 2010
http://pleconference.citilab.eu/
Hashtag for Twitter and Weblogs: #PLE_BCN
Follow us on Twitter: @PLE_BCN
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| 1. The PLE Conference Highlights |
The PLE Conference is intended to produce a space for researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas, experience and research around the development and implementation of PLEs including the design of environments, sociological and educational issues and their effectiveness and desirability as (informal) learning spaces. Whilst the conference includes a traditional research paper strand, we will also host sessions in different formats including workshops, posters, debates, cafe sessions, hands on sessions, pecha kucha and demonstrations. The PLE Conference also hosts the Mediacast Contest with awards for the best three mediacast productions on Personal Learning Environments. We will also provide opportunities for unconferencing events, including the provision of spaces for informal meetings and discussions. Although the main conference takes place on 8th and 9th of July, there will be pre-conference events and an informal launch event (with wine and tapas!) on Wednesday 7th, and optional walking tours on Saturday 10th. The conference is supported by a variety of different social networking opportunities and online spaces, including Twitter, Twemes, Crowdvine, YouTube, Slideshare and Diigo. The PLE conference will take place in Cornellà de Llobregat, just minutes away from beatiful Barcelona, in Citilab, an Open Innovation Centre for the Community. The Centre is located in a converted factory, provides a variety of spaces for collaborating and exchanging ideas, including an auditorium, meeting rooms and spaces for informal discussions. Last but not least we are very proud of our top-class academic committe, which includes a number of renowned experts in the PLE field. This newsletter will provide you with a ‘sneak peek’ into pre-conference activities, formats and topics of this year’s PLE conference. We will be issuing a fresh newsletter each month, so stay tuned! |
| Read on to learn more about the PLE Conference! |
| 2. Coming up: Notifications of acceptance and submission of full papers | ||||||||||||
| The deadline for submission of abstracts for proposals to the PLE Conference 2010 was April 9th. We appreciate your effort and interest and will be confirming the acceptance of your proposals as soon as possible.
We are proud to announce that we received alltogether 82 submissions for different topics and formats from around Europe! Here is the short statistics. Most submissions are proceeding papers (41), followed by short papers (19). We also received proposals for workshops (8) and other alternative formats (9), posters (3) and demos (2). The members of the acadimic committee are currently reviewing all submissions (see the list of the members of the PLE Conference academic committee) and the notification of acceptance will be sent out on April 30th. Accepted presenters will have to submit their full papers by May 28th! Selected papers will be published by the International Journal of Virtual and Personal Learning Environments, and Digital Education Review. |
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Important dates:
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| 3. Pre-Conference Networking: Twitter, Twemes, YouTube, Crowdvine, Diigo & Co. |
| Don’t miss the opportunity to network with conference attendees and non-atttendees around the PLE topic!
We encourage exchange and networking in a number of different Web 2.0 channels. In Twitter, you can follow and write Tweets around the PLE Conference using the hashtag #PLE_BCN. Also you can take a global view at Twemes. You can join the Social Site of the PLE Conference Crowdvine. You can join the YouTube Group for the PLE conference. The YouTube group will also be used for the Mediacast Contest: a celebration of User Generated Content with awards for the best three mediacast productions on Personal Learning Environments. You can also find and share all links around the PLE Conference in our Diigo group. You can also find the flyer for PLE 2010 in the Slideshare group, as well as the PechaKucha submissions details. In this way you can keep up with the latest news and grow your PLE network!. You are welcome to join, share and engage! |
| Here is the current list of PLE_BCN social networking channels: |
| 4. The PLE Mediacast Contest: Films, Screencasts and Podcasts |
| In celebration of User Generated Content the PLE Conference also hosts a Mediacast Contest with awards for the best three mediacast productions on Personal Learning Environments.
The contest is open to all registered participants, who can create their own mediacasts, such as vodcasts (video productions) or screencasts (mixed media productions) of three minutes or less sharing their ideas, reflections and applications of personal learning environments and best suggestions for creating such environments for individuals, groups and communities. Mediacast submissions must be uploaded to the PLE YouTube Group by June 10, 2010. The winners will be announced and awarded during the PLE conference. So grab your camera and start producing your mediacast about PLE today! |
| Link to the Call for Contributions: http://pleconference.citilab.eu/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/MediacastingContest.pdf Link to the YouTube Group: http://www.youtube.com/group/PLE2010CONF |
| 5. The PLE Conference Programme |
| With the end of the review proccess fast approaching, the members of the organizing committee have already started working on the PLE Conference Programm. The conference will start with pre-conference events; we are pleased to announce that the European ROLE project will be holding a pre-conference workshop at PLE2010. ROLE – Responsive Open Learning Environments – addresses theoretical models and associated technologies that allow learners to tailor learning environments according to their needs. The results of this research will contribute to improving adaptive and responsive learning environments for the individual learner in different contexts. As part of this work the ROLE project is investigating and evaluating the use of Personal Learning Environments. The ROLE workshop will take place on Wednesday 7 July from 14:00 – 19.30 and is free for all conference participants. Further details, and additional pre-conference events, will be announced on the conference web site and in the next conference newsletter. The pre-conference events will be followed by an informal opening event on Wednesday, July 7th, including networking with tapas & wine! Both main conference days, i.e. Thursday and Friday July 8th – 9th, will start with keynotes and will be followed up by a number of paralell sessions. Last conference day will end with the closing plenary. For those who look forward to some more post-conference networking and enjoying the beautiful Barcelona there will be walking tours offered on Saturday, July 10th. |
| A detailed overview of the various types of sessions and workshops along with speakers and keynote speakers will be available online soon! The PechaKucha sessions (one in English, one in Spanish) welcome your proposals – go to the Slideshare group for more information on the PechaKucha submissions details. |
| 6. Planning your trip to Barcelona: Booking flights and accommodation |
| Although The PLE Conference does not endorse or has arrangements with any hotels, airlines or travel agencies, nor does it provide booking services, we think that some general information might help you plan your trip and make your stay in Barcelona more enjoyable.
Some facts: the venue is located in Cornellà, a city close to Barcelona and very well-connected through trains, tram and subway services. The trip from the center of Barcelona to the venue takes approximately 30 minutes, and all services belong to the same transportation network, which means there is only one ticket and one fee that applies to all of them: 1,40 € for a single ticket, and as low as 0,79 € if you get a 10-journey ticket (which you can share, as these are multi-person). More information may be found here. The services run until late in the evening; keep in mind that most of the sights, bars, restaurants and nightlife are in the center of Barcelona, so you should plan your accommodation and stay based on what your interest are – apart from the conference, that is. Staying in Cornellà might be more convenient in terms of access to the venue (a 5-minute walk), but if you plan to spend some time in Barcelona in the evenings, returning to your hotel might be tricky (there is always the option of cabs, of course). If you do not mind spending half an hour in the subway, then Barcelona has more options. There is a list of hotels provided in the Accommodation section of the PLE 2010 website. Regarding flights, there is a wide option of prices and schedules that should suit most needs. Barcelona has three airports: the main one, El Prat, is 25-30 minutes away from the city center, and even closer to Cornellà! You can also use the two smaller airports, Reus and Girona, where most low-cost flights are located. Do keep in mind that in these cases, the trip to Barcelona will take longer. Do not forget that July is high season in Barcelona, so it is advisable to book your flights (and hotel) in advance. The main conference days are July 8 and 9, but you do not want to miss the informal social event and the pre-conference events that will get the networking started on July 7th! |
| Link to more information on transportation in Barcelona: Transportation in Barcelona Link to the accommodation section of the PLE 2010 website: Accommodation information |
| 7. Writing about the PLE Conference |
| We encourage everyone to spread the word and write about the PLE Conference on the Web! When writing a blogpost, a Tweet, uploading photos to Flickr and videos to YouTube, saving your bookmarks or publishing any other information about the PLE Conference, please use the tag #PLE_BCN, so that your information can be easily retrieved by others.
Also you may join us on Twitter by adding the #PLE_BCN tag to the picture of your Twitter avatar. An easy and quick way to do this is to use http://www.picnik.com/. |
| The official tag for the PLE Conference is #PLE_BCN and you can follow us on Twitter: @PLE_BCN |
| 8. Register Now! |
| The conference fee includes participation in the conference, coffee and lunches, and the opening social event (wine tasting & tapas!). Presenters remember to register by May 14th.
So make sure you don’t miss that chance and register now! |
| Further information on registration & fees: registration & fees Link to important dates: Important dates Contact THE PLE CONFERENCE Newsletter is compiled by the PLE Organizing Commitee.
If you want to subscribe or unsubscribe to this Newsletter, please send an email to ple2010@citilab.eu with the appropriate subject (SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE) so we can modify our mailing list |