EdTech blog by Alexander Mikroyannidis

Special Issue on Awareness and Reflection in Technology-Enhanced Learning

By Alexander Mikroyannidis6 October 201523 February 2019Technology-Enhanced Learning

Awareness and reflection are viewed differently across the disciplines informing technology-enhanced learning (including CSCW, psychology, educational sciences and computer science).

Considering the multitude of views on awareness and reflection distributed over a wide range of disciplines, we are aiming to present a special issue in which answers to the following questions can be found:

• How can awareness and reflection support learning in different settings (work, education, continuing professional development, lifelong learning, etc.)?
• What are the roles that technology can play in these contexts to support awareness and reflection for learning?

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the ARTEL workshops at the European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning, but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Subject Coverage

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Theoretical discussion of awareness and reflection in TEL and related concepts (e.g. collaborative learning, creativity techniques, experiential learning, etc.)
• Methodologies to identify, study and analyse awareness and reflection in the context of (technology-enhanced) learning (quantitative and qualitative methods, learning analytics, visualisations, etc.)
• Empirical studies about technology support for awareness and reflection
• Technology (design, application, evaluation) supporting awareness and reflection
• Designing awareness and reflection in TEL applications and processes
• Using awareness and reflection support to enhance the learning experience
• Awareness of social context, knowledge, artefacts and processes
• Awareness and reflection in specific contexts, such as higher education, work-integrated learning, learning networks, etc.

We cordially invite you to submit a paper to the IJTEL Special Issue on Awareness and Reflection in Technology-Enhanced Learning: http://www.inderscience.com/info/ingeneral/cfp.php?id=2965.

Deadline is ~~November 15~~ December 15.

Kind regards, and looking forward to your submission,
Viktoria Pammer
Milos Kravcik, Alexander Mikroyannidis, Michael Prilla and Thomas Ullman

Professional biography

Dr. Alexander Mikroyannidis is a Senior Research Fellow (Associate Professor) in the Knowledge Media Institute of The Open University, UK. He holds a Ph.D. in Informatics from Manchester Business School, an M.Phil. in Computation from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), and a B.Eng. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece.

Research interests

The research expertise of Dr. Mikroyannidis is in the field of Technology-Enhanced Learning. He has been investigating the use of novel educational technologies for enhancing personalised learning, self-regulated learning, lifelong learning, as well as open education. He is currently working on the transformative applications of Generative AI and decentralisation blockchain technology in the context of online and distance education. He is the author of over 120 peer-reviewed publications that have received over 1,600 citations (20 h-index). He sits on the editorial boards of several globally renowned scientific journals, such as Open Learning, a leading international journal in the field of open, flexible and distance learning.

Teaching interests

Dr. Mikroyannidis has extensive experience in developing rich interactive learning materials for Open Educational Resources (OERs), Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Badged Open Courses (BOCs), and eBooks. Some highlights from this work are the following:

Impact and engagement

The work of Dr. Mikroyannidis has led to strategic partnerships with key technological companies, most notably with Cisco and its global educational network, the Cisco Networking Academy, which has over 1 million students worldwide. Within this partnership, Dr. Mikroyannidis is in charge of the design, development and deployment of PT Anywhere, a novel educational tool for teaching computer networking skills by performing network simulations on any device. PT Anywhere has played a vital role in remote teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been featured in the UK government’s Digital Skills Toolkit, which is offering essential digital skills to job seekers.

Dr. Mikroyannidis has recently led a successful pilot for facilitating lifelong learning using blockchain technologies, in the context of the European project QualiChain. In particular, he has been in charge of deploying and evaluating decentralised education and employment qualifications with learners and educators within various lifelong learning contexts. As outlined in this journal article, the results of this pilot have provided valuable insights into the different aspects of lifelong learning that require support, as well as into the guidance and training needs of the education community related to the use of decentralisation technologies. More recently, Dr. Mikroyannidis has been investigating the impact of Web 3.0 and Blockchain on open education, aiming to reduce barriers for the open upskilling and reskilling of job seekers. For more info, see this journal editorial co-authored with several other renowned experts in the field of open education.

External collaborations

Dr. Mikroyannidis has been driving significant educational technology initiatives at an international level, by establishing a network of collaborators inside and outside the Open University and acquiring external funding, in order to implement and evaluate novel educational solutions in real-life settings and with real users. He has been awarded and worked on a wide range of European and nationally funded research projects, including SAGE-RAI, QualiChain, DEL4ALL, OpenLang Network, Open Networking Lab, Institute of Coding, SlideWiki, EDSA, HUB4NGI, FORGE, weSPOT, EUCLID, ROLE, OpenScout, CASPAR, and PARMENIDES.

In collaboration with the European partners of the Erasmus+ project OpenLang Network, Dr. Mikroyannidis has led the design, implementation and evaluation of the OpenLang Network platform. This platform provides an open and collaborative online learning environment that brings together language teachers and learners across Europe. This journal article presents the sustainable design of the platform and the tools that the platform is offering for practicing innovative learning methods, such as tandem language learning. The goal of this work is to foster the European multicultural and multilingual vision by building a sustainable online community around open educational resources and practices.