2006 AECT International Convention
"Strengthening Connections"
Dallas, Texas
Concurrent Sessions: Wednesday, Oct. 11 - Friday, Oct. 13, 2006
Workshops: Tuesday, Oct. 10 & Saturday, Oct. 14, 2006
You are invited to propose a presentation for the 2006 AECT
International Convention in Dallas, Texas and to share your expertise
and knowledge with your peers and those new to the field. AECT is an
international professional organization dedicated to the improvement of
learning through the use of the full range of media and instructional
technology. Its purpose is to enhance the professional skills of its
members and to support their explorations of innovative uses of
educational technology.
The AECT International Convention brings together participants from
across the nation and around the world, offering practical
applications, cutting-edge research, hands-on workshops, and
demonstrations of the newest technologies and teaching/learning
techniques in the field.
This year's convention theme is Strengthening Connections.
Supporting the main theme are four sub-themes related to making: (1)
stronger connections between theory and practice, (2) stronger
connections between new technologies and educational goals, (3)
stronger connections among researchers around the globe; and (4)
stronger connections among new professionals and more experienced
colleagues. Thus, we encourage proposals that address these four
connection-strengthening sub-themes.
AECT members represent a unique cross-section of professionals,
educators, and students who work to improve teaching and learning in a
variety of contexts through innovations that bring together theory and
practice. Proposals for the AECT 2006 Dallas Convention should exhibit
innovation in theory, research, and practice across a variety of
educational, training, and performance settings.
Proposal Deadlines
Special Need International Proposals -- December 1, 2005
Regular Proposals -- January 15, 2006
Special Technology-enhanced Proposals -- January 15, 2006
Each deadline is discussed below. Other than international proposers
(those residing outside the U.S at the time of submission) with special
needs related to funding and travel, all proposals will be accepted on
a standard date (January 15, 2006). Please note: This is two-weeks
earlier than in previous years and there is only one round of
submissions.
We have moved the submission date a little earlier for two reasons:
First, we hope to reduce the crunch on reviewers, particularly given
the March 1 acceptance date. Second, and more ambitiously, we hope to
experiment with a session-preview system where members would be able to
view the completed program of sessions in mid-to-late spring. This
system would allow members to express their level of interest in
attending an accepted session and to provide private suggestions to
presenters on ways to make the presentation more appealing. Our goal
here is to create a more participatory system and to see if we can use
these expressions of member interest to help us schedule sessions more
rationally (for example, to make room sizes match the number of likely
attendees). As we note, this is quite ambitious and may present many
challenges. Clearly the first of these is the earlier submission
deadline. We appreciate your participation in this experiment as a way
of making our annual convention stronger and more connected.
Special Need International Proposals -- December 1, 2005 Submission Deadline
Given a heightened focus on U.S. security, each year some of our
international presenters find themselves having difficulty arranging to
present at AECT. In an effort to accommodate the needs of international
proposers who reside outside the United States at the time of
submission, we have created a special proposal submission deadline and
procedure. The intent is to assure that those who need to submit and
receive official notification earlier can still participate. Only
international presenters who need to use earlier submission should do
so.
These special need international proposers will submit their
convention proposals to the International Division (and only to the
International Division) for review using electronic online submission
(see How to Submit a Proposal Electronically below). The one key
difference is that such proposers need to note in the proposal why they
need to submit earlier and what the timeline for notification needs to
be in order to allow them to attend. This is designed to help the
Conventions Planners and reviewers respond appropriately to the special
need.
The International Division has agreed to conduct this review process
early, employing the common AECT peer review criteria (see Peer Review
Process below). The Division has also agreed to see that special need
international proposers receive notification in a timely fashion. The
International Division will allocate convention presentation slots for
these special proposers. This will not reduce the likelihood of
acceptance for non-special need international proposers or any
proposers who reside in the United States and use the submission
deadline for regular proposals.
Special need international proposers will be notified of acceptance
decisions as soon after January 1, 2006 as possible. If a proposer
requires earlier notification, he or she should note when notification
is needed (date) in the electronic submission. The review panel will
then strive to meet that date. Accepted special need international
presenters will receive a letter on AECT stationery notifying them they
have been accepted, offering them a slot on the program, and asking for
confirmation that they will attend and present. This letter will be
signed by the appropriate International Division officer and the AECT
President-Elect/Convention Program Planner.
International presenters who know they will be unable to travel to
attend the convention in Dallas --but who wish to share their work and
research in this rich forum-- should see the details of
Present@Distance, a new electronic option described below under Special
Technology-enhanced Proposals. This option facilitates strong
presentations for presenters and audiences who are separated
geographically.
Regular Proposals -- January 15, 2006 Submission Deadline
The vast majority of proposals are regular proposals. Such proposals
must be submitted electronically (see How to Submit a Proposal
Electronically below) to one primary AECT division or affiliated
organization for consideration. That is, proposers must identify a
division to which to submit and not submit the same proposal (or one
that is largely the same) to any other division. Each division has a
Convention Planner (usually the President-Elect). If this Convention
Planner and/or the peer review panel for a division believe a proposal
is not well suited to their division, they may recommend it for
consideration by another division. This occurs without action by the
proposer. In addition, a person may propose no more than two concurrent
session presentations on which he or she is key presenter, although
that individual may be a co-presenter on other proposals and may also
have roundtables/poster presentations.
The intent of (1) not allowing submission of the same (or a very
closely related) proposal to more than one division and (2) limiting
the number of presentations on which a person may be the key presenter
is the same: We wish to assure a diverse program, one in which many
strong presentations are included and little duplication occurs. In
addition, we want to respect the load on reviewers, all of whom
volunteer their time.
If you are unsure of the suitability of your proposal to a
particular division or affiliate organization, we encourage you to
contact the Convention Planner for that division or affiliate
organization. The list of Convention Planners can be found on the AECT
Web site at www.aect.org.
Special Technology-enhanced Proposals -- January 15, 2006 Submission Deadline
Given that our theme is to strengthen connections, we are
encouraging two new types of technology-enhanced proposals, each of
which has its own submission procedure. Proposals for these special
sessions do not go through the divisional review process. Instead, they
are reviewed by special review panels created for the purpose. This
means they are not submitted using the electronic procedures described
later in this call (How to Submit Electronically). Descriptions of
these two types of special technology-enhanced presentations follow:
Blog Tracks: Multiple "presenters" propose to create a focused
discussion/exploration/investigation of a key issue related to one of
the sub-themes above. They create a blog-site devoted to the issue and
begin interaction on the issue a month before the convention. At the
convention these presenters continue to blog, but try, among other
things, to incorporate responses to presentations at the convention
that address their issue. On a date later in the convention week, each
accepted Blog Track has a 20-minute presentation session where they
summarize the status of the blog and discuss key issues identified
through the blog. These presentations are not intended to summarize all
of what a blog has covered, nor to end the conversation. Instead, they
are updates for existing and potential Blog Track participants.
Given that this is a new type of session, we anticipate accepting no
more than 4 Blog Tracks for Dallas, although the quality of the
proposals will be the deciding factor. If you are interested in
proposing a Blog Track you should submit the following to Ward Cates
([email protected]) as an email attachment in plain text, Microsoft
Word, html, or RTF file format:
1. A title for the Blog Track (maximum of 10 words)
2. The name of the bloggers involved and their institutional affiliations
3. A 50-150 word description of the key issue to be
discussed/explored/investigated, along with a statement of its logical
relationship to one of the four sub-themes (see above)
4. A 50-150 word description of prior blogging experience of the
proposers (in particular highlighting any use of non-textual components)
5. Evidence of blogging competence and insight (including URLs for blogs we may examine)
6. A 50-150 word description of why you think this Blog Track would appeal to members
7. A short (fewer than 75 words) description for the printed/electronic program (if accepted)
8. Contact information for all presenters and identification of the "blog leader"
Present@Distance: Presenters prepare video-based presentations of 20
minutes that address key issues in the field related to this one of the
four sub-themes (see above) and these presentations are shown on-site
at the convention in Dallas and archived for later viewing by those who
might have missed them live. Proposers in this category must be
technologically proficient. The content of the proposed session should
lend itself to some kind of visual presentation, although this need not
be principally video captured with a camcorder. Well-designed
PowerPoint presentations with high quality voice-over and strong use of
graphic images (such as screen shots, tables, charts, and the like) can
be effective in the video format. While presenters may well appear
somewhere in the videos they produce, a simple "talking head"
production will not be accepted for the conference.
P@D presenters would be offsite, although they still must register
for offsite registration (a special registration at a special rate) in
order to be included in the program and have their session scheduled.
AECT will provide a presentation room with a facilitator in Dallas and
a computer connected to a data projector so attendees can view the P@D
presentation on a large screen. Following the video presentation, the
onsite facilitator will coordinate live questioning of the presenter
over the Internet. Depending on bandwidth availability at both the
convention site and presenter site, live questioning may be done using
two-way video, two-way audio, email, or chat (such as IM).
If you are interested in proposing a P@D session, you may contact
Trey Martindale at the email below after November 15, 2005 to request a
handout on software for capturing presentations and tips on producing
engaging video presentations.
If you are interested in proposing a P@D presentation you should
submit the following as an email attachment to Trey Martindale
([email protected]) by the submission deadline in plain text,
Microsoft Word, html, or RTF file format:
1. A title for the P@D presentation (maximum of 10 words)
2. Key presenter's name and institutional affiliation; list of all co-presenters
3. A 50-150 word description of the proposed presentation, along with a
statement of its logical relationship to one of the four sub-themes
(see above)
4. A short (fewer than 75 words) description for the printed/electronic program (if accepted)
5. A 50-150 word description of prior experience of the presenter(s) in
creating and using video-based multimedia or rich media presentations
6. Contact information for all presenters
The special review panel will examine your proposal and if they
believe it has promise, you will be contacted to provide a video file
or "screencast" that represents a sample of the content of your
conference presentation. This sample should be three to five minutes
long and should be in one of the following formats: QuickTime, Windows
Media, Real, or Flash. This permits you to demonstrate your skill at
creating an appealing P@D presentation. Those people accepted for P@D
presentations will be notified no later than March 1, 2006. We
anticipate accepting no more than 10 such presentations for Dallas, but
once again, the quality of the proposals will be the deciding factor.
How to Submit a Proposal Electronically
To be considered, a complete proposal must be submitted electronically
no earlier than November 15, 2005, and no later than January 15, 2006.
A complete online proposal submission consists of:
1. Presentation title
2. A short (fewer than 75 words) description
3. A 750-1000 word anonymous abstract
4. Equipment request
5. List of presenters
Procedure:
1. Go to www.aect.org for guidelines and online submission form.
2. Read the guidelines for electronic submissions.
3. Complete the requested information in the online proposal form.
4. Complete the requested information in the online equipment request form (if you are requesting equipment).
5. Upload the 750-1000 word anonymous abstract, following the directions provided.
After you submit your proposal, you will receive electronic
notification that it has been received. The peer review process begins
shortly after the submission deadline. This process is discussed in the
next section.
Peer Review Process
Each division has its own panel of peer reviewers. This panel makes
decisions on which proposals are accepted for the convention program.
They review proposals using the following criteria:
* Clarity of proposal (how well it is written)
* Relevance, timeliness, and general interest level of topic
* Suitability for division/organization mission and membership
* Quality of proposed session's content, organization and format
* Length and session type
* Match to the overall convention theme and other demands of the program.
To prepare a winning proposal, be sure to use concise language.
Identify your target audience -- those attendees who will find your
presentation relevant and timely. Pay attention also to how you format
your proposal on the electronic page: Use paragraph breaks, use both
lower and uppercase letters (not just capital letters). Proofread your
narrative for typographical errors, misspellings, and inaccuracies.
Recognize that poorly presented proposals stand little chance of making
it to the convention program.
Notification of Review Outcome
As close to March 1 as possible, the Convention Planner for any
division/affiliate to which you proposed will notify you whether your
proposal has been accepted or rejected. If accepted, you will be
required to complete an Acceptance/Verification Form acknowledging
receipt of acceptance notification, verifying your commitment to make
the presentation at AECT 2006 in Dallas, and you will need to register
for the conference.
Recognizing that all convention attendees are part of a shared
community of research, practice, and professional growth and that
convention registrations enable us to provide a strong convention,
accepted proposers who do not register will not be scheduled for
presentation (and thus will never appear in any printed program or
other document). Session scheduling begins in the summer and must be
completed well before the convention. Thus, accepted proposers are
expected to register no later than September 1, 2006.
It is the responsibility of the key presenter to notify all
individuals involved in the presentation of the acceptance status of
the proposal. It is also the responsibility of the key presenter to
send confirmation and convention information to nonmembers
participating in a session. If selected, the presentation must follow
the original proposed topic and content as accepted by the National
Convention Program Planning Committee.
All presenters must obtain written permission to use copyrighted
photos, music, and the like in their sessions. In addition, all
presenters are expected to follow the AECT Code of Ethics found on the
AECT Web site
(http://www.aect.org/intranet/publications/ethics/index.html).
Types of Sessions
Concurrent Sessions
These 30- or 60-minute sessions are primarily in presentation format
and comprise the majority of convention sessions. The focus of these
sessions is on sharing information, such as best practices and research
results. Proposals for 60-minute sessions may include more than one
presentation (as in symposia). In addition, concurrent presentations
may be "bundled" with others of related content to form one 60-minute
session.
Roundtables
Roundtables are designed for small group discussion of specialized
topics, with the presenter leading the discussion. This participatory
format allows for a highly interactive presentation lasting 60 minutes.
Typically, several Roundtable discussions are scheduled simultaneously
in one large room, with minimal audiovisual use.
Poster Sessions
Poster Sessions are designed to showcase a program, process, activity,
or the like in an informal setting. We provide a small table to support
a display board, a laptop, your handouts, and on the like. Posters may
be set up for much of the morning or afternoon, allowing attendees to
browse them. The presenter needs to be stationed at the poster to
answer questions throughout the scheduled time period.
Workshops
As half- or full-day sessions, workshops are intended to provide
intense professional development opportunities that result in
participants' acquiring new skills. Workshops are targeted at specific
interest groups and must generate enough interest among attendees if
they are to be offered. As noted above, workshops for the Dallas
convention take place on Tuesday and Saturday.
Special Technology-facilitated Sessions
See the descriptions above under Proposal Submission.
AECT Divisions
* Design & Development* Distance Learning* International*
Management* School Media & Technology* Multimedia Production*
Research & Theory* Systemic Change* Teacher Education* Training
& Performance
AECT Affiliates
Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada (AMTEC)
* International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) * Korean Society for
Educational Technology (KSET) * Minorities in Media (MIM) * New England
Educational Media Association (NEEMA) * Society of International
Chinese in Educational Technology (SICET)
Descriptions of AECT Divisions and Affiliates can be found on the AECT Web site at: http://www.aect.org
Funding
Presenters are required to assume responsibility for all costs
associated with the presentation, including convention registration,
travel, lodging, handout materials, and related expenses.
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