The Social Innovation capacity of Open Education and Learning

Guest Editors

Carlo Giovannella, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy 

Demetrios G. Sampson, Curtin University, Australia

Important dates

• Deadline: April 30, 2016 -> May 31, 2016 (extended: HARD DEADLINE)

• Notification to the authors: June 20, 2016

• Camera ready paper: July 20, 2016

• Publication of the special issue: mid September, 2016

Overview

Open access to digital educational resources and tools (typically referred to as Open Educational Resources - OERs) and/or online courses (typically referred to as Massive Open Online Courses - MOOCs) has attracted significant attention worldwide from the different key stakeholders in Education and Training.  Despite the fact that the open access movement in Education has the potential to lead a disruptive Social Innovation in teaching and learning (including assessing of learning as well as accreditation of competences and qualifications), concerns are expressed that it could also lead to deepen the digital divide between regions, states and continents. 

Ideally, unfolding the full potential of opening up education, anticipates not only the affordable availability and maintenance of efficient digital infrastructures, but mainly networks of people and professionals (representing the various existing key stakeholders in education, but also new ones emerged as a result of the transformations happening outside the formal educational settings) who are actively engaged in leading and supporting sustainable changes. 

Digital technologies are the key enabler for the anticipated social innovations in education and learning through the open access movement. Furthermore, new challenges for governments, educational institutes, non-profit organizations, the private sector, the unions of professionals in education and training, as well as, individual professionals and citizens, are shaped and fostering the scientific dialogue of different perspectives can contribute to the advancement of the public discourse in these pressing issues.  This is the scope of this special issue on “the social innovation capacity of open education and learning”. 

Topics of Interests

Considering all the above, this special issue welcome contributions describing working hypothesis and case studies focused at least one of the following topics:

• Strategies and policies for open access in education and training to contents, courses, curricula, competences, tools and physical spaces

• Strategies and policies for social capital generation to support open education and learning

• Sharing strategies and practices in education and learning

• Open learning eco-systems and tools that support social innovation in education and training

• Sustainable models of open education and training

• Cultural issues and social innovation related to openness in education and learning

Submission procedure 

All submissions must be original and may not be under review by another publication.

The manuscripts should be submitted anonymized either in .doc or in .rtf format. 
All papers will be blindly peer-reviewed by at least two reviewers. Perspective participants are invited to submit a 8-20 pages paper (including authors' information, abstract, all tables, figures, references, etc.). 
The paper should be written according to the IxD&A authors' guidelines .

More information on the submission procedure and on the characteristics of the paper format can be found on the website of IxD&A Journal the where information on the copyright policy and responsibility of authors, publication ethics and malpractice are published.

For scientific advices and for any query please contact the contact guest-editor:

• carlo [dot] giovannella [at] uniroma2 [dot] it

• demetrios [dot] sampson [at] curtin [dot] edu [dot] au

marking the subject as: 'IxD&A issue on: The Social Innovation capacity of Open Education and Learning''.