The two flagship journals of the International Society of the Learning Sciences would like to share a few updates.

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.

 

The goal of the ISLS conference travel scholarship is to support scientists in the field of the learning sciences who live and work in regions of the world that are not represented at our annual conferences (i.e., ICLS and CSCL) to attend the conference. At the moment, we have significant gaps in membership from African, and Central and South American countries. We also have underrepresentation in some southern European countries where we know that learning sciences programs exist.

To increase the diversity of the Society’s membership, we are soliciting applications for a conference scholarship to be awarded to successful applicants in the amount of $500 - $1000.

The International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) is a community of scholars committed to using our research to promote diverse, just, and equitable learning opportunities throughout the world. Our community relies upon the free and open exchange of ideas from all of our international members and scholars from around the world, and depends upon free and open mobility for researchers, students, and other members of our scholarly community. The US President’s Executive Order banning entry into the US for all nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen creates a serious impediment to the free and open exchange of people and ideas necessary to support a vibrant, diverse intellectual community capable of addressing educational issues in ways consistent with the mission of the Society. This executive order affects students and scholars in our community and affiliated colleagues living and working in the US and abroad, in ways that disrupt their scholarship and their lives. We oppose this executive order and urge the President to rescind it immediately.

The instructions for authors for Journal of the Learning Sciences (JLS) have recently been revised; please visit the journal website to familiarize yourself with the new requirements before you begin or submit a new manuscript. The changes mostly concern: (a) the length of manuscripts and what this includes, (b) blinding of manuscripts for peer review, and (c) an explanation of the peer review process. These changes are part of an effort to improve the peer review process. Regarding, the length of manuscripts, we will consider new and revised manuscripts following the previous instructions until June 30, 2017, but other changes take effect immediately.

Call for Nominations: 2017 Klaus J. Jacobs Research PrizeDeadline for Submission: 1 March 2017

The Jacobs Foundation is seeking nominations for the 2017 Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize. The prize awards outstanding scientific contributions of individuals from all scholarly disciplines aiming at improving the development and living conditions of children and youth or contributing to one of the Jacobs Foundation’s thematic priorities. This includes, but is not limited to, educational sciences, psychology, economics, sociology, family studies, media studies, political sciences, linguistics, neurosciences, computer sciences, and medical sciences. The prize is endowed with 1 Mio. Swiss Francs, of which 900’000 Swiss Francs are for use in a research project and 100’000 Swiss Francs are for related costs, such as travel, networking, and dissemination. The prize has a global scope. It addresses scholars who have achieved major breakthroughs in understanding child and youth development and have the potential to advance the field by actively conducting research. Self-nominations cannot be accepted. A Prize Jury, consisting of internationally renowned scientists, will choose the laureate from the pool of nominated candidates. All documents pertaining to the nomination should be submitted online by 1 March 2017.

To begin the online submission process, please visit http://jacobsfoundation.org/kjj-research-prize.

Conference Theme: Making a Difference: Prioritizing Equity and Access in CSCL

We welcome you all to CSCL 2017, the 12th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning. The conference is a major international event, organized biennially by the International Society of the Learning Sciences, which gathers together people involved in all aspects of the field of technology-based collaborative learning, including research, education, training and technology.

The conference theme is motivated by recent statistics from Silicon Valley companies in the USA, in Europe, and Asia that present a troubling picture about the lack of diversity in the technology workforce. CSCL 2017 aims to challenge these trends with a conference focused on prioritizing keynote speakers, workshops and papers that champion research and tools focused on equity and access relative to CSCL. Hosted by a diverse leadership team in the Learning Sciences, CSCL 2017 will prioritize CSCL work that discusses ways to broaden the CSCL pipeline, promotes and/or celebrates “out-of the-box” thinking or that brings a wide range of viewpoints or voices to CSCL topics or tools. The conference will be organized around the three strands of research and practice.