Following its successful 2013 International HETL Conference at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL) invites you to attend the 2014 International HETL Conference, to be held in Anchorage, Alaska, USA.

Anchorage provides a great backdrop for the 2014 International HETL Conference. Anchorage is a unique destination with once-in-a-lifetime experiences, a place where your sense of adventure can come to play. In Anchorage, you will not only have the opportunity to explore new developments in learning-scapes but you will also be able to explore natural landscapes like glaciers and mountain vistas, as well as exotic wildlife. In Anchorage, you will enjoy metropolitan amenities, excellent museums, and a thriving cultural life with frontier flair. The June climate in Anchorage is ideal, offering sunny days with average temperatures of 62F/16C. Tap into your sense of adventure! See Visit Anchorage for more information about Anchorage.

About the Theme

In Being a University (2011, p143), Ronald Barnett talks about the emerging university of the future as an ecological university, where the ecological university is not only concerned with the natural environment but is concerned about “…a much wider ambit, embracing the personal, social, cultural, institutional and technological environments and knowledge of those environments; in short, the world in its fullest senses.” The ecological university thus endeavors to cultivate those interconnections through meaningful and diverse ways of learning and inquiry.

A learning-scape, therefore, may be defined as a conceptual construct that shapes our perceptions of our learning environments. A learning-scape may be viewed as a mosaic of learning environments (i.e., a holistic learning ecosystem) interconnected and interacting at all levels. Personal, cultural, institutional and technological environments can have an enormous impact on learning-scapes because all these environments are intertwined and symbiotic to various degrees. Thus, we need to remind ourselves that curiosity, creativity, and meaningful dialogue and interactions are vitally important because they form the basis for and the context of our humanity and human learning. We need to remind ourselves that appropriate design of learning-scapes matters.

What elements make for effective learning-scapes? For instance, how do we use technology to transform learning without becoming overpowered by the technology? Just as a mountain can seem to overshadow the smaller yet important places around it, technology can sometimes make us feel overwhelmed by its power and enormity. This conference seeks to advance the notion of higher education as an interconnected learning ecosystem and it aims to explore how all the diverse elements of this ecosystem can contribute in creating more dynamic and flourishing learning-scapes.

More specifically, the conference aims to review the impacts that digital, social and mobile media and networks are having on learning environments in higher education. Reports on new forms and approaches to teaching and learning are specifically solicited and presentations on developments and research in higher education generally are welcome.

Participants will be from the gamut of academic disciplines across the arts, sciences, and professions, as well as from other administrative and staff functions delivering and supporting new technologies and approaches to learning. As with every HETL conference, we support participation from around the world.

It’s More Affordable than You May Think

Anchorage, Alaska is an ideal location on the dynamic Pacific rim. The conference organizing committee has worked hard to make the total cost of attending the conference affordable. Airfare to Anchorage is more reasonably priced than we anticipated. For example, we discovered by checking Kayak.com that roundtrip airfare from New York to Anchorage around the time of the conference might be about $350, from London $1000, and Tokyo $1100.  Please submit your presentation proposal before the August 16, 2013 deadline.

Anchorage, a very ecologically friendly city and high quality of living, is known for its beautiful landscapes and thriving cultural life. This makes for an ideal backdrop to participate in presentations and workshops by leading scholars and faculty, distinguished international speakers, as well as informal networking and dialogue. Please join us!
We look forward to seeing you in Anchorage!

For more information please click here.