Pre-Conference Workshop 3: Getting published in ‘Research in in Learning Technology’: A Worksho...
Channel: ALT
Date: 13/09/2021

Speakers: Sarah Honeychurch, James Brunton and Louise Drumm

Scholarly work in the area of learning technology has a somewhat dubious reputation. The immature sibling of educational research, the field has been critiqued for lack of criticality (Selwyn, 2015). Pockets of stand-alone research embedded within specific contexts (Selwyn, 2012) can result in findings that are neither transferable nor generalisable (Ashwin, 2009). Research in this area often retains a pragmatic focus: the application of technology to solve a ‘problem’, but the underpinning positivistic paradigms are more often assumed, than made explicit and technological determinism can creep into the language (Bayne, 2015).This problem is compounded by the natural multi-disciplinary backgrounds of researchers and authors.

As the education sector turns its scholarly eye upon learning technology and the vast knowledge gained during the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a need for a plurality of voices and experiences to be explored through research and publication. However, there are pitfalls in ignoring the preceding decades of knowledge already created in this area, and newer researchers in the field may stumble unaware through submission and review processes without understanding why they are not meeting the requirements of a journal for publication.

This workshop is designed for anyone interested in learning about scholarship and publishing in the area of learning technology, whether you are new to research, publication and/or learning technology. We aim to demystify the process of publication in this field and give you advice on what we, as editors and reviewers, are looking for in submissions to the peer reviewed, open access journal Research in Learning Technology. We will examine this field of research and what makes it distinct from other areas, and give you guidance on the practical first steps to take and how to develop your voice as an author. Participants will work collaboratively to co-create the ‘bones’ of a paper, gaining experience in working in a cross-disciplinary group to build an understanding through dialogue of what a successful submission to a publication could look like.

ASHWIN, P., 2009. Relations between theory and data in research in higher education Relations between theory and data in research in higher education [presentation]. Education Research Seminar, 7.

BAYNE, S., 2015. What’s the matter with ‘technology-enhanced learning’? Learning, Media and Technology, 40(1), pp. 5–20 DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2014.915851.

SELWYN, N., 2012. Ten suggestions for improving academic research in education and technology. Learning, Media and Technology, 37(3), pp. 213–219 DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2012.680213.

SELWYN, N., 2015. Minding our language: why education and technology is full of bullshit…and what might be done about it. ‘Digital Innovation, Creativity & Knowledge’ Qatar, Melbourne.