Call for Small-Scale Studies

From Stellar Deliverable 1.2

Published in May 2009

Starting August 2009, we would like (you) to conduct a number of small-scale studies with a very specific focus, to sketch a very diverse picture that gives depth and concrete insights in addition to the generic survey. With small-scale we mean a period of one to two months. Possible themes for the studies are: 'communication and collaboration between students at my University', 'experiences with MashUp tools within the XXX project', 'a case study on video conferences within a company', 'eGaming in K12' (these are just suggestions, to give you an idea).

For these projects you are free (and encouraged) to make use of existing activities in your institution and contacts you have (education, research, projects). We will publish summaries of the results on a TEL portal - more formal versions can be used for conferences or workshops and inclusion in D1.2.

At the end of the year, the studies will have been carried out. We will collaboratively compare, analyse, and extrapolate the results - as the concluding chapter of D1.2. For now, I would like all partners to think of possible studies (one or more, depending on the scale). Please send me your suggestions for feedback (setup, timeline, expected effort, expected results) by the end of April. By early June we should have a final set of studies to be carried out in the second half of this year.

The basic idea is that the studies each analyse the current state in a certain field or reflect on recent project results. The studies should provide insight in:

• how a certain technology, approach or pedagogical model is currently being used or developed,
• its maturity, strengths and weaknesses (SWOT)
• issues that should need to be addressed in future work (not necessarily yours)

To give the study a specific focus, the title should comprise a topic (e.g. lifelong learning, eGaming,online teamwork) and a target group (e.g. self-employed, higher education). There should be a focus on 'connecting learners' (but that is still a broad area). This will allow us to provide a cross-table of the studies to show which fields are covered.

For the study you can decide to build upon results of running or recently finished projects, or to conduct a short-term cooperation with partners (there will be no extra funding for that, but your own time can be booked at Stellar, so that's nice; it can be a Stellar cooperation as well, of course). At least the study should be somehow integrated with current TEL research or stakeholders.

The expected output is basically a paper (ideally submitted to a conference or workshop), which will become available via a TEL news portal as well (issue to discuss with WP6) - together with a short, newspaper/blog-style summary. D1.2 will consist of a journal-type survey for an overview, the reports of the studies (with references between them, of course) and concluding remarks.

Typically, you should plan for 2-3 PMs, as the estimated effort for D1.2 is 20 PMs for all partners. Target deadline is mid-November.

Proposals need to contain:

• title of the project (which should include a specific topic and a target group)
• cooperating partners or projects that it builds upon
• rough time schedule
• short description of research questions and methodology (literature study, field study, rapid prototyping, ...)