Call for Nominations:ISLS 2019 Board of Directors 

 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 Aalst2017-2023: Joshua Danish, Ulrich Hoppe, Susan Jurow, Oskar Lindwall Information about current board members is available athttps://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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 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 seehttps://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 (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Thank you in advance for your participation in this important governance process. Best regards, Susan GoldmanISLS Executive Officer

Call for Nominations for ISLS FellowsDeadline for Receipt of Materials: January 15, 2019 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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Senior scholar as indicated by 8 years post Ph. D./Ed. D. or equivalent learning sciences accomplishmentsRecord 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 nomineeOne example publication or link to creative product1 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 nominatedEither 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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Call for Proposals

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

Computer-Based Learning in Context is a new completely and permanently free and open-access journal for rigorous scientific research on computer-based learning in context. We are particularly interested in how learners’ contexts impact their interactions, within as well as around computer-based learning, and how those differences in interaction impact learning, long-term learner outcomes, and educational effectiveness.

CBLC is interested in these themes writ large:

ICLS 2018 Doctoral Consortium and Early Career Workshop

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.

Lifelong technology enhanced learning: Dealing with the complexity of 21st century challenges3rd-6th September 2018, Leeds, United Kingdomhttp://www.ec-tel.eu

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CALL FOR PAPERS & DEADLINES

Deadline for Receipt of Materials: April 23, 2018

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:

Workshop website: http://wits.alliancelss.com  

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.

For the past few years, ISLS has taken an active leadership role in bridge building among other societies with overlapping missions. This effort has lead to the founding of a bridging organization called The International Alliance to Advance Learning in the Digital Era (IAALDE).  The goal is to facilitate partnership among societies rather than competition. We can accomplish more if we can both foster the diversity among these societies while working together in unity.  See more at the IAALDE website: http://www.alliancelss.com/.

The 13th International Conference on the Learning Sciences"Rethinking learning in the digital age: Making the Learning Sciences count"

 

UPDATED September 18, September 20, & October 11, 2017June 23-27, 2018, Institute of Education, University College London, LONDON

Visit the ICLS 2018 website

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 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 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.