[rohrpost] MobilityShifts: An International Future of Learning Summit Call

[Oliver Grau]

MobilityShifts: An International Future of Learning Summit
Call for Workshops, Demonstrations, Panel Discussions and Short Talks
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS JULY 1, 2011 
11:59pm (EST)

MobilityShifts
When: October 10-16, 2011
Where: The New School, New York City
http://mobilityshifts.org

MOBILITYSHIFTS IS: provocative conversations, original ideas, engaging
performances, workshops and art projects about digital learning. Where,
when, how, and even what we are learning is changing. Digital learning
is not only taking place online or in the university classroom but is
also situated in museums, after school programs, living rooms, public
libraries and peer-to-peer universities. The future of learning will not
be solely determined by digital culture but by the re-organization of
power relationships and institutional protocols. MobilityShifts will
bring together leading scholars, artists, web developers, technologists,
teachers, librarians, policy makers, critical legal scholars and
learning activists to discuss how digital media can play a positive role
in this process of transformation. 

Comprised of a conference, exhibition, workshops, project demos and a
theater performance, this summit will add an international layer to the
existing debate about digital fluencies for a mobile world and learning
outside the bounds of traditional institutions of higher education. 

Drawing on New York City’s strengths as a global hub for learning,
innovation and design, the summit will showcase theories, people and
projects making unexpected connections between self-learning, mobile
platforms and the Open Web. Learn, discuss, laugh, write
mini-manifestos, record videos, conduct interviews and meet future
collaborators. 

APPLICATION GUIDELINES
MobilityShifts is now accepting applications in the following formats:

1) Hands-on Workshops and Demonstrations 
(They will take place October 10-13.)
Workshops and Demonstrations should provide an opportunity for hands-on
exploration. They will be scheduled for two hours and should invite
audience participation.

2) Panel Discussions and Short Talks 
(October 13-16)  
Panel Discussions should bring together four panelists to include a mix
of individuals working in diverse areas of research, theory and
practice. 

Short Talks of up to ten minutes should focus on presenting work or
research on a particular subject relevant to one of the three subthemes
of the Summit.

MOBILITYSHIFTS SUBTHEMES:

DIGITAL FLUENCIES FOR A MOBILE WORLD
- New pedagogical approaches for learning with mobile platforms;
- Mobile media for the creation of rich social contexts around learning
activities;
- Revisiting the myth of the digital native;
- Histories of media literacy, the book, reading, and writing;
- Teaching user rights;
- Limitations of the “digital literacies" paradigm;
- Remix and responsibility; the ethics of database culture;
- Using locative media to expand learning beyond the classroom;
- Ubiquitous computing inside the traditional classroom; 
- Collaborative learning as a fundamental model of pedagogy;
- Texts, tweets, and chats as new modes of writing;
- Smartphone video capture and the art of witnessing;
- Flash-mobbing, spontaneous gathering, and collective learning in a
mobile world;
- Nostalgia for pre-mobile learning spaces

DO IT YOURSELF UNIVERSITIES: LEARNING WITHOUT A SCHOOL?
- The future of peer-to-peer learning networks, learning without
walls/blended learning, sustainability, methods and social practices;
- Insertions, rearrangements and revamping within existing institutional
frameworks: the Twenty-first Century University as global learning
network;
- Failure of self-learning projects, barriers to the success of DIY U;
- Technical systems that facilitate relationships between non-monetary
or reputation economies and DIY U (OpenBadges project);
- Challenges of selective and non-selective- Producing, locating and
using openly accessible resources for learning
such as public digital libraries, building edu- Reframing knowledge, the educational turn in art;
- Histories of DIY learning;
- For-profit and non-profit education: certification for self-learning,
mass customization of education, open access as business model;
- Models of peer-grading, updated visions of peer review, and
peer-produced curriculum;
- Student occupations: Struggle as DIY learning 

INNOVATIVE DIGITAL LEARNING PROJECTS WORLDWIDE
- Expand the definition of digital learning informed by projects from
outside the United States; 
- Examples of practitioners in countries outside of North America and
Europe serving as digital innovators;
- Reshape our curricula and pedagogical practices for a transnational
digital fluency;
- The Twenty-first Century University as global learning network

PROPOSAL FORMAT
PROPOSALS FOR WORKSHOPS, DEMONSTRATIONS & PANEL DISCUSSIONS SHOULD
INCLUDE:
1) Names of key presenters or panelists

2) Institutional affiliations

3) 150 word biography for Workshop/Panel Chair

4) Identification of conference subtheme to be covered (Digital
Fluencies for a Mobile World, DIY U: Learning Without a School?, or
Digital Learning Projects Globally)

5) Narrative describing topical orientation, format (e.g., panel
discussion, presentation followed by group activity and discussion), as
well as how the session addresses the overall conference focus and/or
one of the three conference subthemes. Narrative should be 500 words or
less.

6) MobilityShifts explores the summit as a site of production. What will
be the outcome of your contribution (e.g., mini-manifestos, sprint
publications, video interviews and other documents)?

7) Submissions will be accepted in Word document format (.doc or .docx)
ONLY.

8) Submit to digitalculture [at] newschool.edu with the chosen subtheme
in the subject line

PROPOSAL FOR SHORT TALKS SHOULD INCLUDE:
1) Name of key presenter

2) Institutional affiliations

3) 150 word biography for key presenter

4) Identification of conference subtheme to be covered (Digital
Fluencies for a Mobile World, DIY U: Learning Without a School?, or
Digital Learning Projects Globally)

5) Narrative describing theme, format (e.g., panel discussion,
presentation followed by interactivity and discussion), as well as how
the session addresses the overall conference focus and/or one of the
three conference subthemes. The narrative should be 250 words or less.

6) Submissions will be accepted in Word document format ONLY (.doc or
.docx) .

7) Submit to digitalculture [at] newschool.edu with the chosen subtheme
in the subject heading. (Ex.: Digital Fluencies for a Mobile World
Proposal)

8) Each individual will be limited to participation on no more than two
panels at the Summit. Participants will be expected to fund their own
travel and accommodation. The registration fee will not be waived.

APPLICATION DEADLINE IS JULY 1, 2011, 11:59pm (EST).

AUGUST 15 - PROPOSAL NOTIFICATIONS WILL BE SENT.

------------------------
Chair: Trebor Scholz
Co-Chairs: Elizabeth Losh, Edward Keller, David Theo Goldberg, Matthew
K. Gold, Sean Dockray
Steering Committee: Arien Mack, Katie Salen, McKenzie Wark
Producer: Jennifer Conley Darling

Sponsors: The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Eugene Lang
College The New School for Liberal Arts, The New School, Parsons The New
School for Design, The New School for General Studies, The New School
for Social Research, and the Mozilla Foundation 

MobilityShifts is part of The New School’s Politics of Digital Culture
conference series. The summit builds on two previous events: The
Drumbeat Festival in Barcelona (2010) and Digital Media and Learning
2011 in Los Angeles.