Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:35:06 +0300
Subject: Call for papers - 3rd International Workshop on Digital Literacy]
From: Valentina Dagiene <[email-masked]>
Sender: Saulius Maskeliunas <[email-masked]>
Reply-To: [email-masked]

Apologies for cross-postings
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					CALL FOR PAPERS

			3rd International workshop on Digital Literacy

		The Call for Papers is now open with a deadline of 7th July 2007.

Papers are invited on the following subjects:

1. Conceptualization of Digital Literacy

2. Practical measures and indicators of Digital Literacy

3. Feasibility of a Digital Literacy framework for compulsory 
education

The workshop is affiliated to the European Conference on 
Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2007)

				

Papers will be published as EC-TEL workshop proceedings on-line 
as part of the CEUR Workshop proceedings series. N.B. CEUR-WS.org 
is a recognized ISSN publication series, ISSN 1613-0073.

			17th September - 20th September, Crete, Greece

	Website: 
http://www.estart-net.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3&Itemid=1

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THE PREMISE

It has become apparent over the last few years that digital 
literacy is an essential, fundamental and critical educational 
goal constituting an important life skill, in the same way as 
literacy and numeracy. The importance that has been assigned to 
its development within compulsory education can be clearly 
evidenced in the rationale of official EU reports and OECD 
publications, as well as the content of contemporary initiatives 
and action plans undertaken at national, European and 
international levels. In particular, as it is suggested in a 
recent OECD official publication, ICT enriches the curriculum in 
at least two fundamental ways. "The first is as an enhancement 
across almost every subject and activity...(and) the second, yet 
more radical, is the pursuit of digital literacy in its own 
right, whereby the individual becomes empowered as a 
discriminating and autonomous learner" (OECD, 2001:36). 
Similarly, as it is stated in the eEurope 2002 Action Plan, 
"pupils must be digitally literate by the time they have left 
school" and teachers should be trained so that they can adapt 
their curriculum to new technologies (EC, 2002a:13). The same 
emphasis on the urgency of digital literacy development in 
compulsory education, in response to the broadening of the 
digital divide phenomenon, can be detected in a range of other EU 
publications (EC, 2001; EC, 2002b), which amongst others seem to 
propose the establishment and implementation of a pan-European 
digital literacy curriculum (EC, 2004:4; Tornero, 2004). Yet, for 
such a curriculum to be realized, certain issues need firstly to 
be addressed, considered and analyzed with respect to the meaning 
of the term 'digital literacy', its relationship to other similar 
concepts and in particular with the "digital divide" as well as 
the creation and formation of mechanisms and strategies that 
would enable the development of a common digital literacy framework.

The Workshop will address the conceptualization of Digital 
Literacy, as well as practical ways to gauge the level of Digital 
Literacy in groups and communities. It will also examine the 
feasibility of a digital literacy framework for compulsory 
education by examining its development through the establishment 
of an EU-wide network of experts and education key stakeholders.

WORKSHOP THEMES & PROCEEDINGS

It has become apparent over the last few years that digital 
literacy is an essential, fundamental and critical educational 
goal, and at the same time an important life skill. The 
importance assigned to the pursuit of digital literacy within 
compulsory education is clearly illustrated in a number of 
reports and publications, initiatives and action plans undertaken 
at national, European and international levels. In many of these 
cases, the endorsement of digital literacy is perceived as an act 
in response to the emergence and broadening of the "digital 
divide" and the promotion of an e-inclusive pedagogy, which might 
be fostered through the development and implementation of a 
European-wide educational framework on digital literacy. Yet, for 
such a framework to be realized, certain issues need first to be 
addressed, considered and analyzed with respect to

(a) the fundamental educational aspects to the creation of such a 
framework and any development processes involved in this pursuit, 
focusing on curriculum development;

and

(b)the suitable metrics (indicators, measures, and statistics) 
which can reflect the reality of Digital Literacy in small or 
larger communities, countries and the EU as a whole, and give us 
a good picture of the level of Digital Literacy in diverse groups 
of the EU's population.

Following this rationale, the activities of this Workshop will 
attempt: (A) to initiate and activate the participants' 
reflections on these issues through short talks and 
presentations, and (B) to foster dialogue, active collaboration 
and exchange of creative ideas among participants through the 
organization of thematic working sessions, following a Learning 
Café methodology. The Workshop will have invited "speakers" and 
convenors to initiate the discussion, and a structured session 
with paper presentations, but it will be an open event for all 
EC-TEL 2007 participants (who will be required to pre-register).

Our discussion forum "Learning Café" methodology

Reserve one large room with 5 round tables fitting 8 people per 
table. During each session, each round table will discuss the 
topics introduced by the presenter. The discussion will be 
"animated" by the table facilitators. Each topic discussion will 
be documented on one big sheet of paper on the table. The 
documentation procedures are free: anyone can write, there is no 
requirement for the format of the documentation either i.e. mind 
mapping technique, bullet points, drawings, or just writing words 
and sentences.

The Workshop will kick off with a brief introduction and will 
comprise two main interactive sessions in the form of learning 
cafes. During the de-briefing of the sessions each table will 
present the results of the documented discussions. The 
table-facilitators will be responsible for the presentation of 
the results. The de-briefing is organized in such a way that all 
tables present the results of a concluded theme, before going 
through another round for the next theme. The order of table 
presentations changes each round. An open panel discussion will 
summarize the results of each sub-forum and will be held in the 
afternoon's last session of the Workshop.

TARGET GROUPS

The Workshop takes a critical view to the development of digital 
literacy in Europe, with a focus on compulsory education, 
addressing numerous and diverse informational, communicational, 
transformative, lifelong learning needs of differentiated 
stakeholder communities, such as pupils, parents and teachers.

The workshop language will be English.

WORKSHOP OUTPUT

As part of the learning café aggregation process, the Workshop 
results will be summarized, during the last session, into a 
draft/skeleton for a White Paper on the Concepts and Measures of 
Digital Literacy. The White Paper will provide the basis for a 
later joint journal publication in a TEL-related international 
journal.

SUBMISSIONS

Each submission must explicitly address at least one of the 
themes above. Contributions selected should not exceed 4 pages 
for the short papers and 8 pages for the long papers. All 
contributions should be written in English and sent to:

Marina Bogovac

Department of Information Systems and Computing, Brunel 
University, Uxbridge Middlesex, UB8 3PH, UK

Telephone: + 44 (0)1895 267 423

Fax: + 44 (0)1895 251 686

E-mail: [email-masked]

PUBLICATIONS

Workshop papers will be published as EC-TEL workshop proceedings 
on-line as part of the CEUR Workshop proceedings rules.

TIMELINES

Contributions should be submitted by 7th July 2007. All authors 
will be informed regarding acceptance/rejection by 21st July 2007.

ORGANISATION OF THE WORKSHOP

ORGANISATION

Workshop chairs:

Vana Kamtsiou, NCSR Demokritos, Athens, Greece

Lampros Stergioulas, Brunel University, London, UK

Organising Committee:

Tapio Koskinen, HUT, Helsinki, Finland; Aija Elg, Tikkurila Upper 
Secondary School, Helsinki, Finland; Katherine Maillet, GEN/INT, 
Paris, France; Barbara Kiesinger, CSI, Vienna, Austria; Dimitra 
Pappa and Panagiotis Telonis, NCSR Demokritos, Athens, Greece.

Learning Cafe convenor:

Tapio Koskinen, HUT, Helsinki, Finland

Programme Committee:

Valentina Dagiene and Tatjana Yevsikova, MII, Lithuania; Joanna 
Kisielewska, CSI, Vienna, Austria; Nikitas Kastis, MENON Network; 
Ian Selwood, Univ. of Birmingham, UK; Manuela Repetto and 
Vittorio Midoro, ITD, Italy; Ifigeneia Mylona, Univ. of 
Macedonia, Greece; Helen Drenoyianni, AUTH, Greece; Tacha Serif, 
Brunel University, UK.

Communication & Networking Managers:

Marina Bogovac, Brunel University, London, UK

Valentina Dagiene, MII, Lithuania

Helen Drenoyianni, AUTH, Greece

The Workshop is organized by the e-START EU-funded project 
(e-START Digital Literacy Network, e-Learning Programme, Contract 
No.: 2006-4530/001-001 ELE ELEB11), which aims to build an 
EU-wide network of experts and key stakeholders that will provide 
a communication base for understanding, supporting and promoting 
"Digital Literacy" in compulsory education (K-9) across Europe.

Contact person: Dr Lampros Stergioulas, Brunel University.

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Lampros Stergioulas
Dept. of Information Systems and Computing Brunel University 
Uxbridge Middlesex UB8 3PH, UK.
Tel. +44 1895 266044
Fax: +44 1895 251686
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/siscm/