The learner and the Australian History Association conferences for 2018

Athens, the white city that will host the 25th Learner conference in 2018 

The 25th International conference on learning called The Learner, is on of the popular Common Ground Research network conferences. This conference will be held at the University of Athens in Athens, Greece, on 21 to 23 June 2018 and the next due date for proposals is 21 March 2018. People who attended a previous learner conference can apply for a discounted registration fee. The main theme of the conference is Education in a time of austerity and social turbulence. As usual, there will be 10 themes to choose from: 

• Theme 1: Pedagogy and Curriculum
• Theme 2: Assessment and Evaluation
• Theme 3: Educational Organization and Leadership
• Theme 4: Early Childhood Learning
• Theme 5: Learning in Higher Education
• Theme 6: Adult, Community, and Professional Learning
• Theme 7: Learner Diversity and Identities
• Theme 8: Technologies in Learning
• Theme 9: Literacy Learning
• Theme 10: Science, Mathematics, and Technology Learning

And if you plan to go down under this coming winter, why not check out the invite for abstracts by the Australian Historical Association (AHA) and their partners for the annual conference at the Australia National University in Camberra from 2 to 6 July 2018. The theme of the conference is 'The scale of history'. Three AHA affiliated associations – the Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine (ANZSHM), the Australian Society for Sports History (ASSH), and the Religious History Association (RHA) – will convene streams during the conference. There will also be formally curated streams on History and the National Cultural Collections (GLAM), environmental history (green stream), economic history, war and society, and ‘1968 – 50 Years On’.

The online call for abstract submissions is open and will close on 28 February 2018.

Where are the digital game based education conferences?

Tallinn

This time of year we are planning for conference attendance next year. This year I am looking for a conference with a workshop or two on digital game based learning, however, this seems to be difficult to find.

There are game-based teaching and learning conferences but that is more face-to-face, board games or gaming elements added to teaching and learning and serious gaming that focus on training through gaming for the workplace. If you are interested in such a scenario (including serious gaming), do check out the Tallinn University summer school program (they also have a winter school but it is really really cold in winter time). The summer school will run from 9 to 27 July 2018 and accommodation is available in the Tallinn University International Student Hostel at reasonable costs. Although the final program is not yet available, do check out the preliminary one and ensure that you open all sub folders because there are real gems under each of the 5 main themes. There are courses in language, creative work, educational science, humanities and social science and inter-disciplinary work.

This summer school also offers the opportunity to participate in weekend excursions and other cultural experiences like a visit to the rural part of Estonia and a visit to St Petersburg in Russia. Tallinn itself is like the pictures form a fairy-tail story just became real before your eyes. The old town is simply beautiful and you can wander for days through it. On weekends, the locals gather in the old town with their beautiful large cars and the market is a feast for the eyes. Do check out the old church and take pictures from the bell tower - perfect for photos of the castle like walls of the old city.

And remember to keep your eyes open for the December international flight specials form the UAE airlines around Christmas.

2019 Conference on Games and Education

We attended an ICEL conference in Cape Town in 2013 and we are planning to return for the  ICEL in July 2018

Yes on the one hand 2019 is still two years away but on the other hand time flies and who could think in 2015 when we were at Sun City for the ICDE conference that time would pass so quickly that the Tornoto ICDE is by now also a thing of the past and we are already making plans for the 2019 Dublin ICDE conference in the fisrt week of November 2019?

So while you are thinking about and planning your abstract for 2019, also note that just before this conference, in the second week of September, the International Conference on Games and Education will take place in South Africa. As soon as the key note speakers are confirmed and the tracks set up, the call for abstracts and the invite for participation in the Games will be posted and I will ensure that you get the information right away.

Planning to attend other Gamification conferences? The 12th European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL) that will also host the 6th International Educational Games Competition, will be held at SKEMA Business School, Sophia Antipolis in France on 4 and 5 October 2018. This conference attracts attendees from 40 countries. The due date for abstracts is 15 March 2018. This conference is organised by Academic conferences and publishing international (ACPI). We attended a few of their conferences and were impressed with the way they do things.    

The ACPI also host the 13th International conference on e-Learning (ICEL) will take place on 5 and 6 July 2018 at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, South Africa. But hurry because the due date for abstracts is 7 December 2017. Do attend if you can as two of the keynote speakers are Prof Johannes Cronje and Prof Paul Prinsloo - you will learn a lot and widen your view points. 

Conferences on Post graduate supervision

The 2017 annual general meeting and the workshop on supervising successful research writing will take place in Durban on  21 November 2017

This week I want to focus on conferences that deal with postgraduate studies.  First of all, the annual general meeting of PGFSA (the Postgraduate Forum for Southern Africa) and a workshop on supervising successful research writing is scheduled for 21 November 2017 (yes next week) at the Durban University of Technology, in the Hotel School Conference Centre, on the Ritson Campus, Winterton walk in Dunban. Respond today or tomorrow to ensure a place at this highly recommended gathering. The general meeting will take place after the workshop at 16:00 in the same venue. The workshop will start at 8:30 and it will be facilitated by Prof. Gina Wisker from Brighton University.

There are also s number of international conferences on Postgraduate supervision and take note that the deadline for abstracts for these conferences are in November and December 2017.  

The Quality in Postgraduate Research Conference will take place in Adelaide, Australia from 17 to 19 April 2018. The bi-annual conference focuses on understanding how processes and practices support doctoral candidates in their studies. The last date for submitting abstracts is 21 November 2017.

The 3^rd Mixed Methods International Conference of the Mixed Methods International Research Association (MMIRA) will be held in

Vienna, Austria, from August 22 to August 25, 2018. This conference will

focus on deepening and expanding the field of mixed methods research. Abstracts must be submitted by 31 December 2017.

The 20^th International Conference on Postgraduate Education and Research (ICPER) aims to bring leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars together to exchange and share their experiences and research results about all aspects of Postgraduate Education and Research. This conference will take place in Paris, France from 25 to 26 June 2018. The due date for abstract submission is 17 November 2017.

Not much time to respond to any of these calls for papers or registration for the PGFSA meeting next week. So do visit the web pages of these conferences and prepare abstracts if 2018 will be the year you want to focus on developing skills and deepening knowledge on assisting postgraduate students.  

Still on the topic of conference advisor

Conference advisor? Spier in the Western Cape would be one of the most popular conference venues in South Africa for sure

I have spoken about this before, but it seems to be a difficult task to get of the ground - to get a web page up and running where people can evaluate the quality, impact and usefulness of conferences.  I did ask to link such a page up with Trip-advisor and all the other similar web pages (there are quite a lot) linked with Trip-advisor but the CEO does not think this is a viable idea.

Just a few weeks ago we gathered in Toronto Canada for the 27th ICDE conference and even while still on our way back to South Africa, we got a warning from the ICDE not to register for the fake WASET conference that is advertised as an ICDE conference in Berlin 2019. The next ICDE conference will be held in Dublin on 4-6 November 2019.  This was not the first time that I saw warnings about WASET as a fake conference organizer on the web as I recently saw a conference under WASET advertised for Cape Town and while doing a google search, saw some warnings about WASET. I also checked the WASET page which seems to have a huge number of conferences everywhere and on almost all topics - if it is too good to be true, it usually is, so I did not register for the Cape Town conference.  But, how will we know if we do not try? How can one be sure that the conference you are planning to spend your hard earned money on will be worth it?  Did anyone attend a WASET conference? What was your experience? Please share so we can learn.

Reporting on a conference, the following can be used as a templet or guideline, but I am sure this can only be the basics:
Name of the conference, discipline or subject field(s) or topic(s)
How often does this conference take place?
Duration and costs and number of attendants
What is included or excluded in the conference fee
Comments on country and town where it takes place
Comments on the accommodation, food, excursions, functions (like gala dinner and welcoming function)
Network opportunities, Number and level of keynote presentations
personal experiences
And what else?
Any comments or conference evaluations to publish here?