CALL FOR PARTICIPATION – further details
Workshop on Neuroscience, Technology and Learning
The work shop on “Neuroscience, Technology and Learning: Areas and Issues for
Interdisciplinary Progress” will be held on March 28th and 29th 2011. The workshop
will take place in the French Alps in the Massif des Arravis at a beautiful ski resort
called La Clusaz, at the Hotel Alpen Roc. (There will, of course, be opportunities for
community-building winter activities.)
Insights from neuroscience are potentially relevant to many learning contexts, but
their combination with the new technologies may prove particularly valuable for
education. To date, however, little work has focused on the potential of neuroscience
to inform the design and use of technology in education. This workshop will generate
the first interdisciplinary discussion of links between neuroscience and TEL, and this
discussion will inform a published outcome. In this sense alone, it will be a groundbreaking event and will hopefully provide a fresh, pervasive and significant stimulus
throughout Europe and beyond, in a key area for the future of TEL. It will bring
together researchers in TEL, psychology and neuroscience to:
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identify areas of understanding where technology enhanced learning may benefit
from neuroscience and
discuss how interdisciplinary research capacity in this area can be developed.
More specifically, discussion topics will be selected with a view to integrating the
interests of different TEL research communities in Europe and beyond, and these
topics may include (amongst others): Collaborative learning (e.g. how does the brain
respond to live on-line interaction and learning from competitors?), artificial agency
(to what extent can the brain treat artificial agents as human – and what influences
this?), learning games (why do games motivate and can neuroscience inform the
design of learning games?), personalisation (e.g. how might attempts to facilitate
individualised learning environments be informed by neuroscience?), creativity (e.g.
how might neuroscience help conceptualise creativity and inform its digital support?),
developmental disorders (e.g. how might emerging scientific understanding of
dyscalculia be implemented in software aimed at remediation?), cognitive training
(e.g. how might technology contribute to training the brain?), theoretical perspectives
(e.g. how might neuroscience inform social constructivist perspectives and help
broaden our conceptualisation of context?) and research methods (e.g. how might
neuroscience techniques be used to research TEL?).
General structure of the workshop
Documentation from the NTEL theme team will be circulated 4-5 weeks prior to the
workshop to prepare attendees. This will include background information (e.g. brain
function, brain-mind relationship issues, neuromyths) and reviews of literature in
areas that the team has identified may be of interest to TEL researchers. The
workshop structure is to be finalised but is expected to consist of 3 sessions of
roughly equal duration:
Monday March 28th
8.30 – 12.00
- Introductory presentations
- Key note presentation (speaker TBC)
- Presentations by NTEL team on potential areas of interest
12.30-1.30
Lunch
1.30 – 4.30
Snow activities
4.30 – 8.00
Small group and then plenary discussion on:
Question 1: Where will neuroscience research meet TEL research?
Question 2: What are the barriers to progress and types of solution involved?
Question 3: How can we develop interdisciplinary research capacity in this area?
These discussions will be recorded and analysed, providing an additional evidence
base for the planned publication. They will also provide valuable feedback to the
NTEL theme on the direction, development and content of their work, to ensure it
addresses the interests and concerns of the broader TEL community.
Tuesday March 29th
8.30–12.00
12.30-1.30
1.30 – 4.30
4.30 – 8.30
8.30
Discussion groups report back on each question
Lunch
Snow activities
Plenary discussion
Summing up by Theme Team members
To mountain restaurant
This workshop forms part of the Alpine Rendez-Vous organized within the
framework of the STELLAR Network of Excellence (www.stellarnet.eu). It will be
run by STELLAR’s Neuroscience and Technology Enhanced Learning (NTEL) theme
team (www.neuro-tel.net). The content of the discussions will contribute to a review,
currently being undertaken by NTEL, of the potential of neuroscience to inform
technology-enhanced learning.
Funding
If your institution is not a member of STELLAR, accommodation (up to 3 nights) and
food will be paid for, but participants are expected to cover their own travel expenses.
Members of STELLAR institutions are expected to fund attendance from their
STELLAR funds.
Applying for participation
This workshop will be intentionally small (20) and, to ensure a balanced
representation of backgrounds and expertise, most participation is by invitation only.
However, a limited number of places are open to application – and this process is very
easy. To apply, please email to Paul Howard-Jones on ed-neuro@bristol.ac.uk by
October 15th 2010 the following information: name, institution, your career stage
and, if appropriate, the URL of your personal/staff web-page featuring your research
background, plus 100 words of the reason you wish to attend.
In the likely case of over-subscription, applicants will be selected by the organizers on
the 3 criteria of any previous demonstrable interest in relating neuroscience and TEL,
the reason they wish to attend and whether their participation would help the event
maintain a balanced representation of disciplines, regions, institutions and career
stage. Successful applicants are likely to include PhD students as well as established
researchers. (Late applications will be considered on a space-available basis.)
Organizers will choose a limited number of participants. Acceptance letters will be
sent out by November 30th, 2010.
About NTEL
NTEL is a STELLAR theme team, comprising Paul Howard-Jones (University of
Bristol, co-ordinating), Bert de Smedt (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium),
Michela Ott (CNR- National Research Council, Italy) and Theo van Leeuwen
(Twente University, Netherlands). From May 2010 to May 2011, NTEL will explore
the issues and opportunities that may be generated by combining what we know about
the brain with the affordances of modern learning technology.