The Ubiquitous Learning Conference investigates the uses of technologies in learning, including devices with sophisticated computing and networking capacities which are now pervasively part of our everyday lives – from laptops to mobile phones, games, digital music players, personal digital assistants and cameras. The Conference explores the possibilities of new forms of learning using these devices not only in the classroom, but in a wider range places and times than was conventionally the case for education. Ubiquitous Learning is made possible in part by the affordances of the new, digital media. What’s new about it? What’s not-so-new? What are the main challenges of access to these new learning opportunities? These are the key themes and concerns of the Conference.

The UL Conference will be held at the University of Illinois’ Illini Centre, 17-19 November 2008, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Visit its website (see the link below) for more information.

Link: http://q08.cgpublisher.com

The threat of global pandemics. The instability of the world’s resources. The question of privacy and security in a digital age.

Meeting these 21st-century challenges will test our political, environmental, and scientific ingenuity. It will require creative solutions and innovative new discoveries. And, as institutions, it will mean that the walls erected around our campuses, our disciplines, and our geographic borders will have less relevance in a world linked by the pursuit of common solutions.

But what does it mean to effectively work together in the process of discovery or the pursuit of change? How do we teach cooperation and collaboration, while modeling the practice in our own offices and corridors? How do we break down the walls that divide our departments, our institutions, and our regions? And how can technologies facilitate the process?

Join us at the 2009 EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Annual Meeting, Participation and Collaboration: Social Learning for the 21st Century, to explore processes and practices focused on social learning and student success. Sessions will highlight:

• How to facilitate inquiry and innovation using Web 2.0 technologies, cyberinfrastructure, and social networks
• The importance of learning how to collaborate—connecting with others and content, in and outside the classroom
• Strategies to develop communities built on engagement, participation, and co-creation
• Cultivating institutional cultures of collaboration, openness, and sharing
• The ways in which collaboration skills can help us build relationships across disciplines—both within and across institutions

In the ELI tradition, the annual meeting is a setting for interactive, hands-on learning and networking, with a variety of presentations, discussions, and workshops. Sessions will fall into one of three interest areas: learners, learning principles and practices, and learning technologies.

Link: http://net.educause.edu/eli091

Mark your calendar for the premier information technology event in higher education—EDUCAUSE 2008, October 28–31 in Orlando, Florida. The program, “Interaction, Ideas, Inspiration,” will include preconference seminars; track and poster sessions; small group meetings; and corporate exhibits, presentations, and workshops.

Link: http://net.educause.edu/e08