Friday, March 16, 2012

CALL FOR CHAPTERS - Learning Management Systems and Instructional Design

CALL FOR CHAPTERS

Proposal Submission Deadline: April 20th, 2012
Learning Management Systems and Instructional Design: Metrics, Standards, and Applications
A book edited by Yefim Kats, Chestnut Hill College, USA

http://bit.ly/wOaNK0
Invitation
I kindly invite you to contribute to new book "Learning Management Systems: Metrics, Standards, and Applications" to be published by IGI Global. The main goal of this edition is to present high quality research by the leading experts on the state-of-the-art Theory, Technology and Applications for online as well as hybrid educational environments.

Project Overview
Currently, non-for-profit and for-profit academic institutions function as exclusively online training or degree granting facilities, while others enrich their traditional curriculum with online and hybrid courses. As the e-Learning market continues to grow, the choice of available stand-alone software modules as well as "software as a service" packages has been growing accordingly. Moreover, the development of learning management systems and related technologies goes hand in hand with the development of new method of course delivery and corresponding instructional design methodologies.

In this increasingly competitive environment, administrators and faculty confront a difficult problem of choosing an appropriate learning management system that fits their budget, technical resources, curriculum, and profile of the student body. The problem is complicated further by the intrinsic connection between the choice of LMS and a variety of instructional design models and modes of course delivery, such as "pure" online, hybrid, and asynchronous/synchronous courses.

Target Audience
The book is intended to be a source of consolidated information for administrators, faculty, instructional designers, course developers and businesses on the available technological solutions, instructional design methods, metrics, and standards in the area of online education. It will contain vital practical information, case studies, and conceived as a manual for all involved in the e-Learning environment.

Suggested Topics
We are especially interested in chapters focused on LMS standards, LMS choice/success metrics/parameters, and on issues related to instructional design: design of learning objects, the role of multimedia tools and virtual worlds etc. The general topics to be covered include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Instructional Design:
Course/curriculum instructional design models and methodologies, especially for online and hybrid forms of course delivery.
Learning outcomes and their implementation by learning management systems.
Learning objects and their software implementation.
Software supporting instructional design productivity.
The role of multimedia tools, games, and simulations in instructional design.

2. Standards, Metrics, and Software Solutions for Online Teaching and Learning:
Standards and specifications: SCORM, AICC, IMS etc.
Course success metrics for commercial, open-source, and Web-based learning management systems such as Blackboard, e-College, ANGEL, Desire2Learn, WileyPLUS, Moodle, Sakai, Haiku etc.
Technological, financial, and academic issues related to the choice of the online educational platform or transition to a new platform.
Issues related to upgrading, maintaining, and securing learning management platforms.
LMS interoperability with mobile devices such as iPads and smartphones (Blackboard Mobile Learn).

3. Software Solutions and Practices for Asynchronous Online Course Delivery:
Technologies employed to enrich asynchronous courses, including multimedia technologies among others.
Course delivery supporting software such as Smart Board or SynchronEyes.
The role of innovative social networking technologies, such as Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts in online education.
Virtual worlds, games, and simulations in learning environment.
Software solutions for Electronic Portfolio.
Plagiarism detection tools.

4. Software Solutions and Practices for Synchronous Course Delivery:
Videoconferencing software such as Elluminate, iLink, DimDim, and Adobe Connect.
Supporting technologies such as instant messaging software and a variety of related Microsoft, Adobe, and open-source products.

Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before April 20th, 2012 a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by April 30, 2012 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters of 7,000 to 8,000 words are expected to be submitted by June, 30 2012. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.) is a publisher of the "Information Science Reference" (formerly Idea Group Reference) and "Medical Information Science Reference" imprints. For additional information regarding this publication and the publisher, please visit: http://bit.ly/wOaNK0


Important Dates:
April 20, 2012: Proposal Submission Deadline
April 30, 2012: Notification of Acceptance
June 30, 2012: Full Chapter Submission
July 15, 2012: Review Result Returned
August 30, 2012: Final Chapter Submission

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) to:
Yefim Kats, PhD
Coordinator of the Graduate Instructional Technology Program
Chestnut Hill College
9601 Germantown ave, Philadelphia, PA 19118
email: yefimkatz@yahoo.com, katsy@chc.edu
tel. (315) 832 0184 (cell), (215) 248 7008 (office)
fax: (603) 897 8805