The newly initiated Grants Program for Regional and Affinity Outreach & Engagement Promoting the Learning Sciences is funding three programs this year. 

Learning Design, Technology and the Learning Sciences: a Research Colloquium

This is an intensive workshop that aims to connect ISLS to the research community in China working in an area most closely allied to the learning sciences: technology-enhanced learning and learning technologies. The objective of the colloquium is to make advances on the topic of Learning Design, Technology and the Learning Sciences, and to create substantial connections among participants that will lead to sustained engagement between LS-related Chinese researchers and the broader ISLS community. The proposed event will be hosted by Beijing Normal University and takes the form of a small-scale intensive workshop that aims at co-producing serious scholarly outputs, with extensive preparation and a plan for follow-up work.

Organizers:

• Li CHEN, Professor and Vice President, Beijing Normal University
• Stian Håklev, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
• Nancy Law, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong

Promoting LS research between Hebrew speaking and Arabic speaking researchers across the Arabic/Jewish educational field

The learning sciences have yet to make an impact on Arabic speaking educational research. The region is underrepresented in the LS community. Scientific collaboration between Hebrew speaking and Arabic speaking researchers in the region is limited in educational and human development contexts, although the research potential is vast in terms of the richness of the different contexts, languages, and cultures. Intra-Israeli collaboration (Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, The Hebrew University, The University of Haifa, and The Technion) will serve as the basis for cross-institutional basic and advanced programs in the LS.  Arabic and Hebrew speaking learning scientists from dominantly Hebrew speaking research institutions will collaborate to form a research partnership with up to two research groups from Arabic speaking research institutions in the Palestinian Authority and/or in Israel. The goal is to create a scientific dialogue and to promote the Learning Sciences while building a shared research space. The ‘research field’ is expected to be expanded as well, as we view studies to take place in a broader context and settings.

Organizers

• Benzi Slakmon, Assistant Professor, School of Education, Tel-Aviv University
• Islam Abu Saad, PhD Candidate, The Laboratory for the Study of Pedagogy, Ben Gurion University of the Negev
• Einat Heyd Metzuyanim, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology
• Tsafrir Goldberg, Senior Lecturer, Head of Undergraduate Studies and Teacher Education, University of Haifa
• Soryna Sabbah, PhD. Candidate, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology
• Baruch Schwarz, Full Professor, School of Education, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Translating Across Disciplines: Urban/Community Planning & Learning Sciences

In recent years, there has been a good deal of interest in building a bridge between planning research and work in the field of learning sciences, which has robust theoretical and methodological tools for studying learning (e. g. Meléndez & Parker 2018; Radinsky, et al., 2016; Taylor, 2017). We propose two special pre-organized sessions and a culminating Roundtable discussion at the 2019 Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) Annual Conference. We aim to create opportunities for collaboration, to reframe and advance the conceptualizations of learningin the learning sciences and planning disciplines, with implications for both practice and research.

Organizers:

• José W. Meléndez, Assistant Professor of Planning, Public Policy, and Management, University of Oregon
• Joshua Radinsky, Associate Professor of the Learning Sciences and Curriculum Studies University of Illinois at Chicago
• Katie Headrick Taylor, Assistant Professor, Learning Sciences & Human Development, University of Washington

ijCSCL is a journal of, by and for the international CSCL research community, and, as such, applications are encouraged from active international members of this community.

The ijCSCL Editor-in-Chief position has a four-year term beginning in January 2020. Upon approval by the ISLS Board of Directors, the incoming ijCSCL Editor(s)-in-Chief will begin working with the outgoing Editor-in-Chief and the ijCSCL Executive Editors for transitioning into the position. The first journal issue for which the incoming Editor(s) will be responsible is March 2020.

Responsibilities of the Position of ijCSCL Editor-­in-­Chief

Journal Production and Responsibilities

The position of Editor-in-Chief may be filled by an individual or by a team of two or three individuals.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for producing four issues of ijCSCL per year, as specified in the contract between ISLS and Springer.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for serving as the primary representative of the ijCSCL journal. This includes fulfilling the following duties or supervising delegates to fulfill them:

• Representing the journal as needed at ISLS Board meetings, ISLS Board retreats, CSCL Committee meetings, ICLS conferences and CSCL conferences.
• Preparing an annual report to the ISLS Board.
• Maintaining contact with Springer concerning issues that arise.
• Working with the Executive Editors in managing the journal organization and the peer-review process.
• Inviting new reviewers, ijCSCL Board members, Associate Editors and Executive Editors.
• Organizing an annual ijCSCL Board meeting.
• Coordinating the production of each ijCSCL issue, with accepted papers,introductory essays.
• Soliciting submission of manuscripts and responding to inquiries from potential authors.
• Supervising a Managing Editor if there is one. The Managing Editor supports authors of accepted papers in editing final copy and communicates with them and with the Springer staff who process submissions.
• Supervising a Website Manager if there is one. The Website Manager maintains the ijCSCL website and adds prepublication versions of all published ijCSCL papers.

Successful candidates for the position of Editor-in-Chief of ijCSCL will meet the following criteria:

Journal Organization and Management

Candidates for the editorship must show evidence of being able to provide strong visionary leadership to the journal and to administer the timely processing of manuscripts each quarter.

They must have demonstrable management skills and be committed to working with the ijCSCL Executive Editors and other ijCSCL Board members, as well as with the ISLS Board and the CSCL Committee.

Vision

Candidates must:

• Indicate clearly the vision that they have, not only for ensuring that ijCSCLcontinues to be a premier journal, but also for taking the organization into the future through innovative and creative leadership. This vision should be consistent with the published mission ofijCSCL.
• Be committed to a diversity of styles of research and ensure that the review process remains international, to reflect multiple perspectives and global diversity.
• Be committed to the journal being a medium for communication and community building of, by and for the CSCL research community.
• Have a broad understanding of theories, methods, pedagogies and technologies that are currently popular in CSCL research.

Personal Qualifications

• Be an active member of ISLS with high visibility within the organization, such as having been a regular presenter at CSCL conferences.
• Be an active participant in the ijCSCL editorial process, such as having had experience in the ijCSCL editorial leadership or service on the editorial board. 
• Be a respected scholar in CSCL, have a strong research record of publication inhigh-quality journals, relevant conferences and other publications.

• Be an established researcher in CSCL, having been involved in funded research and inter-lab collaborations.
• Possess excellent writing and editing skills in English.
• Have a demonstrated capacity for mentorship and an interest in assisting authors in producing high-quality publications.

Institutional Commitments

• If possible, obtain a written commitment of support from your institution, in which the type of institutional support which can be provided during your term as Editor-in-Chief is specified. Examples of such support may include, but are not limited to, editorial assistance, committee-assignment release, reduction of teaching load, or material support.

Springer Commitments

• Financial support is contractually provided by Springer to cover some editorial expenses and operating expenses, such as salary for journal staff or expenses for meetings, travel, advertising and so on.

Application Process

ijCSCL Editor Search Committee

The ISLS Board has charged a search committee for filling the position of Editor-in-Chief of ijCSCL, with the following members:

• Sadhana Puntambekar (chair, past ISLS Executive Officer)
• Sten Ludvigsen (current ijCSCLeditor-in-chief)
• Nikol Rummel (Board member, ISLS ex-president)
• Heisawn Jeong (Board member, ISLS president-elect)
• Nancy Law (Current ijCSCLExec Editor)
• Ulrike Cress (Current ijCSCLExec Editor)
• Sherice Clarke (ISLS Publications Cmte chair)
• Ulrich Hoppe (CSCL Cmte + Board member)
• The search committee can be contacted at: ijcsclsearch2019@gmail.com

Letter of Intent and Inquiries:

• Please feel free to contact the search committee with any questions about the position or the application process.
• Potential applicants are highly encouraged to email the search committee a brief statement of intent as soon as possible, indicating if they intend to apply individually or as part of a team. This will help the search committee plan its work. Potential applicants may request informal feedback concerning their application.

Application:

The application packet should include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Letter of application summarizing In case of a team application, each person should submit an application, indicating a preference to serve with specific team members. Note that the search committee will make the final decision about team composition.
• Vision statement concerning ijCSCL and CSCL in the next four years.
• Abbreviated curriculum vitae (maximum of five pages).
• Names and email addresses of three professional references.
• Description and documentation of institutional commitment.

Deadlines:

Letter of intent (optional) should be submitted as early as possible, but before March 30^th, 2019, at: ijcsclsearch2019@gmail.com

All final applications must be submitted by June 1, 2019 at ijcsclsearch2019@gmail.com

The search committee will recommend selection of an Editor-in-Chief or a team. The composition of a team will be decided by the search committee in consultation with the applicants.

The recommendation will be reviewed by the CSCL Committee and the ISLS Board.

We hope to announce the selection of new Editor-in-Chief(s) by September 1, 2019.

The appointment of the new Editor-in-Chief will be effective January 1, 2020.

The first ISLS Annual Meeting under this new structure will take place in 2021.

Structure of the new ISLS Annual Meeting

1. Conference organization

The ISLS Annual Meeting will be jointly organized by an ISLS-approved Professional Conference Organizer (PCO) and the local academic organizers and will be overseen by the ISLS Conference Committee and the ISLS Board. The Annual Meeting will have two parallel programs, each reflecting the distinctive characteristics of the types of work that have traditionally been in the programs of CSCL and ICLS. Each of these CSCL and LS programs will have their own program chairs, program committees, and published proceedings. The two program chairs are expected to collaborate closely to ensure the quality of the joint meeting. Members of other key conference committees (e.g., doctoral consortium, pre-conference workshops, advisory committee, etc.) should be decided by the annual meeting organizers but should aim for representation across the CSCL and LS communities.

2. Conference finances

In the past, local organizing institutions have assumed fiscal management of ISLS conferences, with some financial aspects being handled by the Society (e.g., membership, doctoral and early career consortium support), while local organizers have managed conference registration revenues. The Society will directly assume financial responsibilities for all aspects of the annual meeting. The Society will secure the services of a PCO to manage organization and logistics, paid by the Society. Conference registration revenues will come directly to the Society. Fiscal management of each conference will be handled by a team comprised of a) a member of the ISLS Conference Committee; b) a representative of the PCO; c) local annual meeting chairs; and d) the ISLS treasurer. The ISLS Board will oversee general aspects of the fiscal management of the annual meeting.

3. Theme of the Annual Meeting & Call for Proposals

Annual meetings will be organized under one joint theme for both the CSCL and LS programs. There will be one call for proposals, which will announce the annual meeting and invite submissions to the two programs.

4. Proposal submissions

The Annual Meeting will be comprised of two parallel tracks, CSCL and LS. Most submissions must be submitted to one, and only one, of these two programs. This includes short and full papers, symposia, and posters.

Some submissions will be considered joint submissions, with broad appeal to the membership. These include the doctoral consortium, the early career workshop, and other Society sponsored pre-conference events, reviewed pre-conference workshops, tutorials, and other session types as may be designated by specific annual meeting organizers. These joint events will promote interaction and engagement among all participants of the annual meeting, regardless of program.

Submissions to the Annual Meeting will use the web-based conference submission system approved by the ISLS Board (currently Precision Conference System). The general process for submitting to the Annual Meeting is expected to remain similar to current practices. Ideally, there will be one shared keyword list, with the understanding that some keywords will be more relevant for one or the other program.

5. Reviewing process

Annual Meeting submissions will be reviewed much as they are now, except that there will be some coordination between program chairs to organize a balanced overall meeting program.

In order to construct the two program committees from the pool of program committee members:

• Each reviewer fills out the same keywords/expertise form and indicates how many submissions for each program they are willing to review.
• Reviewers can choose to be members of both program committees.
• Each program committee member will be a member of each program committee for which they agree to review at least one paper.

In order to construct the pool of papers to be reviewed by each program committee:

• Submissions will be marked with the program to which they are submitted and associated keywords. Submissions will be assigned to reviewers based on keywords and reviewer commitments.
• The system should show all proposals a reviewer is assigned to for both programs. The program chairs will ensure they do not exceed the number of papers each reviewer has committed to review for their program.

6. Acceptance rates, room scheduling and allocation

Even though a conference’s acceptance rate is important on its own, it also affects room scheduling, especially when resources are tight. The ISLS Annual Meeting should aim for acceptance rates that are similar to the historical trends; final acceptance rates should be coordinated between the program chairs and the Society to ensure quality standards and to ascertain that there is sufficient room allocation for each of the Annual Meeting programs. Each program should record separate acceptance rates, which are then reported to the Society and included in the respective proceedings.

The proportion of session slots allocated to each program should be proportional to the number of submissions received by each one. Since symposia are equivalent to a session with 4-5 papers, they should be weighted appropriately, to ensure that sufficient space is reserved in a fair manner.

After the review process is completed, the program chairs decide on the allocation of rooms for each program, as well as for joint sessions. Sessions of each program can be scheduled at the same time as joint sessions, but competition between sessions within the same program should be minimized wherever possible.

Sessions may have papers from both programs together, but each paper will be marked to indicate the program to which it was submitted. In some cases, it may make conceptual sense for papers that were submitted to different programs to be in the same session.  The organization of the papers within sessions and sessions themselves is the purview of the program chairs, who are expected to confer regarding the assignment of papers to sessions.

7. Proceedings

Proceedings will be published in three volumes: one for CSCL, one for LS, and a third for all other joint activities. The CSCL and LS volumes should clearly indicate the name of each program, along with the ISLS logo and other imprint.  A different ISBN number will be assigned to each volume.

The program chairs will keep records of the submissions to their respective program, and the acceptance rates, to be published separately for each program.

8. Registration

Members will register for the Annual Meeting, not for a particular program. All registrants will have access to all scheduled events and sessions across both programs, regardless of which program in which they may be presenting. (Events with additional fees, such as pre-conference workshops or banquets, of course are open only to paying participants, as happens now.)

9. Pre-conference workshops

The Society will continue to sponsor the pre-conference Doctoral Consortium, Early Career Workshop, and Mid-Career Workshop.  These will draw participants and mentors from both CSCL and LS programs. Applicants will be asked to indicate CSCL or LS upon submission to ensure balanced representation of the membership.

Other pre-conference workshops will be solicited and reviewed by a single workshop committee for each annual meeting, as happens now with Society sponsored conferences. Pre-conference workshops may be solicited with either CSCL or LS focus, and workshop selection will consider a balance between these foci.

10. Keynote speakers

The ISLS Annual Meeting will have three keynote speakers. Program chairs will coordinate to select one keynote of primary interest to CSCL, one of primary interest to LS, and one of broad appeal across both programs. Existing criteria applied to ensure diversity in keynote speakers will continue to be used (gender, geographic region, discipline, etc.).

Provide Suggestions

For more information, go to www.exploratorium.edu/visualise or email visualise@exploratorium.edu

Dear ISLS members,

One of the most important ways to contribute to the International Society of the Learning Sciences is to serve on the ISLS Board of Directors. The Board consists of 12 ISLS members, who serve terms of 6 years each, and represent the range of expertise, experience levels, and geographical locations of Society members.  Elections occur every two years for four board members. The first step in this process is to solicit nominations from the membership. That is the purpose of this email.

Who may be nominated? Board members must be ISLS members in good standing (dues paid for 2019) and, ideally, should have a history of service to the community. None of the current board members may be nominated per the ISLS bylaws that prohibit serving consecutive terms.

Current Board members and terms are:

• 2013-2019: Joe Polman, Susan Yoon, Nikol Rummel, Carolyn Rosé - With the exception of Joe, these people plus Bill Sandoval (Past President this year) are leaving the Board in 2019. Thus there are four vacancies to be filled in 2019.
• 2015-2021: Heisawn Jeong, Victor Lee, Jim Slotta, Jan Van Aalst
• 2017-2023: Joshua Danish, Ulrich Hoppe, Susan Jurow, Oskar Lindwall

Information about current board members is available at https://www.isls.org/about/board-of-directors

Nominees should be willing to take on Board member responsibilities, including monthly teleconference calls, leadership in ISLS business and committee work (including chairing committees), leadership in the ISLS annual conferences (CSCL and ICLS) and other leadership roles associated with the growing, interdisciplinary International Society of the Learning Sciences. Serving on the Board requires a serious commitment and investment of time, however Board members find their terms of service to be rewarding experiences.   

The Nomination Process: A Society member in good standing (2019 dues paid) can nominate up to two members, including themselves.  To be eligible, a nominee must be a member in good standing (2019 dues paid) of the Society. Student members are not eligible for Board positions but they may nominate up to two members. Questions about membership status may be directed to islsmembership@gmail.com.

The Nominating Committee gathers the list of nominations and prepares a slate of candidates for the ballot. The Board can add one nominee per open seat to the slate submitted by the Nomination Committee. The final ballot will be distributed to Society members in good standing during the month of March 2019 for voting.

The Nominations Committee and the ISLS are committed to and value diversity on the Board, in terms of disciplinary background, career stage, methodological or theoretical commitments, geography, and demographics. Nominations that add diversity to the board are especially welcomed. In this regard, and in accordance with the Bylaws, the Board has identified two special purpose vacancies in the 2019 election for

• one special seat for a Board member from Asia (nominee should be affiliated with an institution geographically situated in Asia) 
• one special seat with a focus on equity and power, with the intention that it represents scholars in our community who are interested in and conducting research on these topics and would bring these perspectives to Board deliberations.

We especially invite nominations, including self-nominations, of candidates who meet these criteria. For more information on the ISLS non-discrimination policy see https://www.isls.org/about/isls-non-discrimination-policy

Where to Nominate: Use the google form at https://goo.gl/forms/kgb9fYWoukvLupX03.
Deadline: Nominations must be submitted no later than Saturday, January 18, 2019.

We look forward to your nominations. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the chair of the nominations committee, Frank Fischer (frank.fischer@psy.lmu.de). Thank you in advance for your participation in this important governance process.

Best regards,

Susan Goldman
ISLS Executive Officer

We are pleased to announce the call for nominations for the 2018 International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) fellows. The International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) Fellows program has three main goals:

• Honor those who have made major research accomplishments in advancing the field of the Learning Sciences.
• Identify people who continue to take leadership roles in ISLS and serve as role models for others in the field.
• Build a respected cohort of leaders who sustain the ISLS community and advance its broader value and visibility.

We invite nominations for the third cohort of ISLS fellows. Fellows must meet the following criteria:

• 4 of last 6 years years as ISLS member (this information can be checked by emailing islsmembership@gmail.com)
• Senior scholar as indicated by 8 years post Ph. D./Ed. D. or equivalent learning sciences accomplishments
• Record of distinguished and sustained contributions to the learning sciences. (e.g., a high-impact portfolio of work, design of widely-used learning technologies)
• Sustained leadership in the learning sciences (e.g., through service to ISLS, high-profile mentoring roles, national/ international community building, and/or journal editorial service)

Submitted nominations must include the following:

• Letter of nomination that explains how the nominee meets the criteria (maximum length = 2 pages)
• Current CV of the nominee
• One example publication or link to creative product
• 1 additional letter of support with a maximum of one page.

Criteria for Nominators and Support Letter Writers:

• The nominator must be a current ISLS member, from an institution differing from that of the nominee
• Nominators and writers of supporting letters should not have mentored or been the mentee of the individual being nominated
• Either the nomination letter, or the support letter, must come from a current ISLS fellow. Fellows may write no more than two letters [nomination or letter of support]. The list of current ISLS fellows may be found at https://www.isls.org/about/isls-fellows

Send nominations to islsfellows@gmail.com.

Grants Program for Regional and Affinity Outreach & Engagement 
Promoting the Learning Sciences

While we see many Learning Sciences researchers around the world come to present their studies and discuss new ideas intensively at our annual conferences (ICLS and CSCL), we also recognize that more researchers are interested in the field but cannot be at our annual conference for financial reasons and we receive many requests of support for regional or affinity group activities. There are also scientists that do research having affinity to ours, but are not aware of ISLS.

This is a call for proposals for support for interested regional and affinity outreach and engagement activities to take place during 2019. It is our hope that the accepted projects will lead to sustainable collaboration and engagement with ISLS in future years.  Preference will be given to proposals for new programs, but proposals for support of ongoing programs will be considered. Proposals are due December 31^st, 2018. January 7, 2019.

Guidelines for applicants for funds to support ISLS 2019 regional and affinity outreach projects:

1. Proposal: Clearly but briefly state your plans in NO MORE THAN two single-spaced pages.
2. Provide the following information in your proposals (Bullet points): (1) the importance of the proposed regional or affinity outreach projects to the community, (2) any activities related to the Learning Sciences in the previous years, (3) the planned regional or affinity outreach/engagement activities with the funding, (4) a plan of assessing success and impact, and (5) future plans after funding (including how the proposed initiative will build connections with ISLS in the future). Applicants should also submit any additional evidence for reviewers to evaluate their proposals with their application forms, such as their activity programs or proceedings in the previous years.
3. Amounts requested may be up to US$5,000.  Include a short justification for the use of the funds.  Indicate any additional matching funds or in-kind contributions, and include letters of commitment from collaborative partners. 
4. List of program organizers should be provided in the proposal together with the recent academic publications of each member. We expect at least three active ISLS members in the list. If fewer than 3, the proposal must address why this criterion cannot be met, e.g., financial reasons, travel possibilities to main conferences, etc.
5. An interim and final report will be required. By the end of May, 2019, the funded groups are required to submit an interim report on their activities as they have progressed to date (in one single-spaced page or less). The interim report will be used to provide an update to the Board at their annual meeting. By the end of January, 2020, each funded group should submit a summative final report (two single-spaced pages) of the events to the Grant Program Committee .
6. Send your application by email attachment (subject heading 'ISLS Regional or Affinity Outreach 2018') to Dimitra Tsovaltzi, d.tsovaltzi@edutech.uni-saarland.de no later than December 31^st, 2018. January 7, 2019.

Applications will be ranked by the Grant Program Committee working group according to the following criteria

1. Clarity and quality of the proposed activity;
2. Expected impact in terms of reaching a critical or broad audience;
3. Evidence, in the form of matching funds or in-kind contributions, of partnership outside of your immediate academic department;
4. Indication as to how the project might lead to new or ongoing successful outreach, engagement, or collaborations, as well as how the project will encourage new connections with the Society.

We expect to fund up to three applications, with announcement of awards to take place by January 31^st, 2019.

We are looking forward to your applications!

CBLC is interested in these themes writ large:

• Differences between learners of different nationalities, cultural backgrounds, linguistic backgrounds, racial and ethnic differences, gender in its full complexity, urbanicity and other factors
• Computer-based learning in all its contexts, including use of educational technology in classrooms, universities, informal learning settings, the home, fully online, mobile computing, and blends of these
• Computer-based learning in all its forms, including intelligent tutoring systems, games, simulations, virtual and augmented reality, online courses, massive online open courses, teacher support systems, clickers, and many others
• A full range of variables involving learner-computer interaction and computer-mediated learner-learner interaction, including behavior, affect, self-regulation strategies, cognition, meta-cognition, and motivation

CBLC welcomes rigorous, high-quality research from a variety of paradigms, including learning analytics/educational data mining, video analysis, observational studies, questionnaire studies, ethnography, and qualitative analysis, so long as the research is of high-quality, presents concrete clear and sufficient evidence for its claims, and centers on questions relevant to the journal’s areas of focus. Replications of studies and/or analyses previously conducted in other research settings are strongly welcomed, so long as the papers make a clear scientific contribution and explicate the similarities and differences from past published work in terms of contextual and/or cultural factors. The journal also welcomes survey articles, review articles, theoretical articles, and position papers, so long as these articles build on existing work, focus on the core themes of the journal, and advance our understanding of the challenges and opportunities unique to this area of research.

On June 23 and 24th, the International Society of the Learning Sciences will proudly host its annual Doctoral Consortium (Chaired by Carolyn Rose, Ben du Boulay, and Jun Oshima) and Early Career Workshop (Chaired by Erica Halverson, Rich Halverson and Eduardo Guzmán). These annual workshops are valuable as networking and mentoring opportunities in our community. We are grateful for funding from the ISLS and from the National Science Foundation in the US for funding to support these important workshops.

Both workshops have recently completed their review process. Between the two workshops, we received over a hundred applications this year. Overall, we were only able to accept 22 applications, 10 for the Doctoral Consortium and 12 for the Early Career Workshop. In our review process, we kept an eye toward accepting applications that were at an appropriate stage to benefit from the workshop while also showing a spark that demonstrates particular promise. At the same time, we balanced for representation across regions and disciplines.

We are proud to announce the following scholars for acceptance into the Doctoral Consortium:

We are proud to announce the following scholars for acceptance into the Early Career Workshop:

3rd-6th September 2018, Leeds, United Kingdom

http://www.ec-tel.eu

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CALL FOR PAPERS & DEADLINES

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The full call for papers and participation for EC-TEL 2018 has been announced. The conference offers a range of exciting ways in which researchers, students, practitioners, educational developers, entrepreneurs and policy makers can participate and collaborate.

Formats and activities in EC-TEL 2018 include:

• research papers
• practitioner papers & industry pitches
• demonstrations and posters/ePosters
• healthcare education track
• workshops
• doctoral consortium

The deadline for workshop proposals is 8th April. The abstract deadline for papers, demos, posters & industry pitches is 15th April. Doctoral consortium applications deadline is 22nd May.

Full details of all activities, formats and deadlines are available on the EC-TEL website

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

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We are delighted to announce our three keynote speakers for EC-TEL 2018 and the titles of their thought-provoking talks:

• Allison Littlejohn (Open University, UK) - “Professional Lifelong Learning”
• Carolyn P Rosé (Carnegie Mellon University, USA) – “Lifelong Learning in a Web Scale Opportunity Space”
• David Wortley (CEO and Founder of 360in360) – “The impact of disruptive digital technologies on education, medicine, health and well-being”

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FURTHER INFORMATION

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Further information is available on the EC-TEL conference website http://www.ec-tel.eu and you can also follow @ECTELconference on Twitter and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ECTELconference.

We are pleased to invite nominations for the 2018 cohort of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) Fellows.

The International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) Fellows program has three main goals:

• Honor those who have made major research accomplishments in advancing the field of the Learning Sciences.
• Identify people who continue to take leadership roles in ISLS and serve as role models for others in the field.
• Build a respected cohort of leaders who sustain the ISLS community, strengthen the organization, and advance its broader value and visibility.

Who is eligible for nomination:

Fellows must meet the following criteria:

1. Senior scholar, as indicated by a minumum of 8 years post Ph. D./Ed. D. or equivalent learning sciences accomplishments.
2. 4 of last 6 years years as ISLS member (this information can be checked by emailing islsmembership@gmail.com with an inquiry about the person to be nominated).
3. Record of distinguished and sustained contributions to the learning sciences. (e.g., a high-impact portfolio of work, design of widely-used learning technologies).
4. Sustained leadership in the learning sciences (e.g., through service to ISLS, high-profile mentoring roles, national/ international community building, and/or journal editorial service).

What to submit:

Submitted nominations must include the following:

• Letter of nomination that explains how the nominee meets the criteria (maximum length 2 pages).
• Current CV of the nominee
• One example publication, creative product or link to creative product (e.g., learning technologies, curriculum materials, etc.)
• One additional letter of support with a maximum of one page.

Who can submit:

Criteria for nominators and support letter writers:

• The nominator must be a current ISLS member, from an institution differing from that of the nominee.
• Nominators and writers of supporting letters should not have mentored or been the mentee during doctoral or postdoctoral work of the individual being nominated.
• Either the nomination letter, or the support letter, must come from a current ISLS fellow. Fellows may write no more than two letters [nomination or letter of support] in any given year. The list of current ISLS fellows may be found on the ISLS Fellows page.

How to submit:

Email all materials for the nomination to islsfellows@gmail.com. Attachments may be in word or pdf file format and should include the last name of the nominee. Please be sure to include all of the required information in one email with the subject line: Fellows Nomination for <Name of Nominee>.

When to submit:

All materials must be received no later than April 23, 2018. Decisions will be made within 4 weeks of this application deadline.

As part of an effort to engage scholars from around the globe in advancing the Learning Sciences, the First Workshop of the International Society of the Learning Sciences to take place in Africa will be February 12-13, 2018. The location of this meeting is University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in South Africa. Please see the link to this workshop for more information about speakers and the program for the workshop.

First, the Journal of the Learning Sciences continues its strong performance, with impact factors continuing to be near or above the 90th percentile in Education and Educational Research for the last 20 years. The journal recently completed the transition to new editors, Susan Yoon and Jan van Aalst. Manuscript decision times have improved! The new editorial team has increased efficiencies so as to reduce decision times to less than 3 months for more than half of the submissions. New submissions that take longer are getting decisions within 5 months. The editors are working hard to make further improvements and improve the publication process. Please note that the changes in the Instructions to Authors announced in January are now in effect. Follow and retweet announcements from Journal of the Learning Sciences on Twitter at @JLearnSciences.

Second, the International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning has been publishing a number of excellent articles of interest to the ISLS community. With the conclusion of CSCL recently behind us, the editorial team at ijCSCL would like to encourage presenting authors to transform their conference papers into full articles to submit to ijCSCL. ijCSCL has boasted a high ranking since its inception in education and educational technology, and is pleased to share a substantial increase in impact factor to 3.469!

Finally, thanks go out to the many community members who do the work of reviewing for these journals. It is thanks to all of you and your continued efforts to review manuscripts that these journals have had so much success. Please remember your willingness to accept reviewer invitations are critical in ensuring that high-quality research gets published quickly.

The International Society of the Learning Sciences is pleased to announce the creation of the ISLS Fellows program. An endeavor begun years ago by the Awards committee and approved by the Board of Directors, the ISLS Fellows program recognizes those who have made major contributions to the field of the Learning Sciences since its inception nearly three decades ago. These individuals are each highly accomplished scholars and community members who will continue to serve in critical roles for the society in the future through their continued leadership and mentorship activities. The formal announcement took place on June 22, 2017 at the 2017 Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) conference in Philadelphia, one of two biennial academic research conferences sponsored by ISLS. The next society conference is the International Conference of the Learning Sciences, to take place in London during June of 2018.

The inaugural cohort of fellows consists of 18 distinguished learning scientists who have served previously as elected presidents of the society, editors of the two flagship journals (Journal of the Learning Sciences and International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning), and founders of the field. New fellows will be named in subsequent years through a selection committee consisting of existing ISLS fellows.

The inaugural cohort of fellows include:

• Pierre Dillenbourg - École Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne (Switzerland)
• Frank Fischer - Ludwig-Maximillians-Universitāt München (Germany)
• Susan Goldman - University of Illinois, Chicago (USA)
• Friedrich Hesse - Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (Germany)
• Cindy Hmelo-Silver - Indiana University (USA)
• Christopher Hoadley - New York University (USA)
• Yasmin Kafai - University of Pennsylvania (USA)
• Paul Kirschner - Open University of the Netherlands (Netherlands)
• Janet Kolodner - Concord Consortium (USA)
• Timothy Koschmann - Southern Illinois University (USA)
• Eleni Kyza - Cyprus University of Technology (Cyprus)
• Marcia C. Linn - University of California, Berkeley (USA)
• Claire O’Malley - University of Nottingham (UK)
• Roy Pea - Stanford University (USA)
• Carolyn Rosé - Carnegie-Mellon University (USA)
• Joshua Radinsky - University of Illinois, Chicago (USA)
• Gerry Stahl - Drexel University (USA)
• Iris Tabak - Ben Gurion University of the Negev (Israel)

Additionally, Naomi Miyake (1949-2015) (University of Tokyo) has been named an inaugural fellow in memoriam.