Participation and Collaboration:
Social Learning for the 21st Century

The threat of global pandemics. The instability of the world's resources. The question of privacy and security in a digital age.

Meeting these 21st-century challenges will test our political, environmental, and scientific ingenuity. It will require creative solutions and innovative new discoveries. And, as institutions, it will mean that the walls erected around our campuses, our disciplines, and our geographic borders will have less relevance in a world linked by the pursuit of common solutions.

But what does it mean to effectively work together in the process of discovery or the pursuit of change? How do we teach cooperation and collaboration, while modeling the practice in our own offices and corridors? How do we break down the walls that divide our departments, our institutions, and our regions? And how can technologies facilitate the process?

Join us at the 2009 EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Annual Meeting, Participation and Collaboration: Social Learning for the 21st Century, to explore processes and practices focused on social learning and student success. Sessions will highlight:

• How to facilitate inquiry and innovation using Web 2.0 technologies, cyberinfrastructure, and social networks
• The importance of learning how to collaborate—connecting with others and content, in and outside the classroom
• Strategies to develop communities built on engagement, participation, and co-creation
• Cultivating institutional cultures of collaboration, openness, and sharing
• The ways in which collaboration skills can help us build relationships across disciplines—both within and across institutions

In the ELI tradition, the annual meeting is a setting for interactive, hands-on learning and networking, with a variety of presentations, discussions, and workshops. Sessions will fall into one of three interest areas: learners, learning principles and practices, and learning technologies.

Questions addressed at the conference will include:

• What would a vision for social learning supported by inquiry, innovation, and collaboration entail?
• What educational approaches will best prepare students to be lifelong learners, dedicated to collaboration and innovation?
• How might we rethink our assumptions about teaching, learning, and the profession?
• How might Web 2.0 technologies and social networks facilitate collaboration across disciplines and geographic boundaries?
• What are the emerging questions, challenges, and opportunities to suggest future direction?
• What kind of support do students and faculty need to innovate and collaborate effectively?
• What unique capabilities does IT offer to help colleges and universities ensure today"s learners are successful?
• How can our institutions foster collegial environments characterized by openness and cooperation? What challenges will we face?

Audience

• CIOs
• Academic administrators
• Academic technology directors
• Teaching and learning center directors
• Learning technologists
• Librarians
• Faculty

Important Dates

Call for proposals begins: July 8, 2008

Proposal deadline: September 9, 2008

Registration live: October 7, 2008

Proposal notifications: November 10, 2008

Hotel registration deadline: December 29, 2008

ELI meetings often reach capacity well before the event. Please register early to ensure your place at the annual meeting.

Attend as a Team

We encourage you to attend as a member of a team. Travel to and from the meeting, along with on-site discussions and interaction with other members, can build rapport, solidify plans, and enrich collaboration when the team returns to campus. In particular, attending the ELI Annual Meeting as a team can be valuable for:

• Focusing on an upcoming project
• Rewarding and motivating innovators
• Building cross-disciplinary collaboration through sharing the common meeting experience and reflecting on the implications for your institution

Participate as a Presenter

Play an active part in this leading higher education IT conference—submit a presentation proposal for the 2009 ELI Annual Meeting. You help create an innovative and informative program, make valuable contacts, and gain recognition for yourself and your institution’s achievements. The deadline for submissions is September 9, 2008.