3rd Moodle Research Conference

19th and 20th of June, 2014

Los Angeles, California, USA

http://research.moodle.net/mrc2014

The Moodle Research Conference (MRC) is an annual international event dedicated to research and development (R&D) in learning and teaching carried out with Moodle. The MRC provides an opportunity for researchers, faculty/teachers, technologists, and other experts who either conduct research on the impact of using Moodle on student learning or develop tools increasing capacity to conduct research on Moodle use. Attendees share experiences and exchange research achievements and innovative developments. The aim of the conference is not to promote Moodle, but to bring together the community using Moodle to provide evidence about learning.

We invite prospective authors to submit full papers and shorter poster papers that critically report on research concerning learning and teaching with Moodle. In addition, this year we invite proposals for demonstrations of Moodle add-ons and analysis techniques that increase the capability to conduct research using Moodle. The conference will be preceded by working groups launching collaborative research projects.

Important Dates

18 November 2013: First call for papers
10 February 2014: Second call for papers
28 February 2014: Deadline for working group proposals
14 April 2014: Deadline for submission of papers and demonstration proposals (extended)
8 May 2014: Notification of acceptance
15 May 2014: Submission of final copy of accepted papers
15 May 2014: Early-bird registration deadline
15 May 2014: Deadline to register for working groups
18 June 2014: MRC Working groups
19-20 June 2014: MRC2014 Conference

Topics

Prospective authors are invited to submit manuscripts reporting original unpublished research and recent developments. The following are possible topics involving Moodle.

Experimental research involving methods and tools
Case studies on the effectiveness of teaching methods
Collaborative learning / social learning
Communities of practice
Learning analytics
Early warning systems
Plugins / modules / blocks increasing research capabilities
Personalisation and adaptivity
Massive Open Online Courses
Interoperability with Moodle
Accessibility
Mobile learning

Paper guidelines

All papers and proposals submitted to the conference should include:

referenced relationships to past research,
empirical evidence (quantitative or qualitative) based on results of research and
interpretation and implications of findings for future Moodle use.

There are three potential types of submissions to the MRC.

Full papers

Paper length: up to 8 pages (including figures and references).
Will be presented individually in full sessions during conference.

Full papers will present the findings of a research project. They should include discussions of past research and identify the motivators behind the current study. The focus of the paper should be the presentation and interpretation of empirical evidence (quantitative or qualitative). They should also include a description of how evidence was gathered and analyzed. Full papers will be included in the conference proceedings and must be formatted using the provided template.

Poster papers

Paper length: up to 1000 words in length.
Will be presented in a group poster session.

Poster papers will follow the same formatting and referencing requirements as full papers, but the level of significance of evidence presented in poster papers can be lower. They are ideal for small projects, works-in-progress, or case studies with limited evidence. Poster papers will be included in the conference proceedings and must be formatted using the provided template.

Demonstrations

Proposal length: 250 word abstract describing the demonstration.
Will be presented individually in short sessions during conference.

Demonstrations present software tools, analytical techniques, and other technical developments that can be used to enhance our current research capabilities with Moodle. Potential applications include enhanced reporting functionality, learning analytics, and other tools. Demonstration proposals will not be published as part of the proceedings.

Making a submission

Full papers and poster papers must use the template provided on the conference website, which describes and exemplifies formatting requirements. All submissions will be made using the EasyChair conference management system. All paper submissions will undergo double-blind peer review involving at least two program committee members. Accepted papers will be published as conference proceedings with an ISBN in an open access, online-only version. For more information about formatting and submitting papers see the conference website.

Submit your paper or proposal at the URL https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=mrc2014

Conference Chairs

Michael de Raadt, Moodle HQ (Senior Chair)
John Whitmer, California State University (Incoming Chair)

Program Committee

Juan Ignacio Asensio, University of Valladolid, Spain
Nikolaos Avouris, University of Patras, Greece
Per Bergamin, Institute for Research in Open, Distance and eLearning, Switzerland
Hiram Bollaert, Artesis, Belgium
Paul Daniels, Kochi University of Technology, Japan
Thanasis Daradoumis, University of the Aegean, Greece
Yannis Dimitriadis, University of Valladolid, Spain
Martin Dougiamas, Moodle, Australia
Curtis Fornadley, University of Californa, Los Angeles, USA
Jessica Gramp, University College London, UK
Rakesh Gupta, Adelphi University, USA
Gavin Henrick, Learning, Technology Services Limited, Ireland
Davinia Hernandez-Leo, University of Valladolid, Spain
Clive Holtham, City University, UK
Carolyne Jacobs, University of Portsmouth, UK
Toshihiro Kita, Kumamoto, University, Japan
Anna Krassa, GAC Corporate Academy and HRDNZ MP, Greece
George Magoulas, Birkbeck College, UK
Alejandra Martínez, University of Valladolid, Spain
Luca Mazzola, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Andreas Papasalouros, University of Aegean, Greece
Ioana Porumb, Institute for Research in Open, Distance and eLearning, Switzerland
Francesca Pozzi, Istituto Tecnologie Didattiche – CNR, Italy
Yannis Psaromiligkos, Technological Education Institute of Piraeus, Greece
Symeon Retalis, University of Piraeus, Greece
Andrew Roderick, San Francisco State University, USA
Demetrios G Sampson, University of Piraeus, Greece
Jonathan P. San Diego, King's College London, UK
Peter Sloep, Open Universiteit Nederland, Holland
Nadja Soldatic, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Demosthenes Stamatis, ATEI of Thessaloniki, Greece
Chih-Hsiung Tu, Northern Arizona University, USA
Organisers

The MRC2014 will be organized by the Office of the Chancellor, California State University.

Venue

The MRC2014 will be held at the California State University Chancellor's Office (Long Beach, California, USA). Details about the venue, potential accommodation and travel advice can be found on the conference website.
More Information

Website: http://research.moodle.net/mrc2014
Enquiries about paper submissions: mrc2014@easychair.org
Enquiries about venue, travel, and other logistics: info@research.moodle.net