Challenges of Integrating Technologies for Learning: Introduction to the IJELLO Special Series of Chais Conference 2010 Best Papers

Introduction The technologies that we use for teaching and learning are characterized by three major affinities: * Most of them are developed for organizational, entertainment, and communication management purposes in civilian and military organizations, and not inherently for educational purposes. It is the responsibility of instructional designers to modify and adapt them for educational goals. * Technologies-enabled learners' interactions call for reconsidering the traditional pedagogical routines, revisiting learning theories, reconstructing learning environments, and reshaping student-teacher, as well as student-student, relationships. * They undergo continuous and rapid changes, which require a constant change in the models used for integration and utilization of these technologies for teaching and learning. This situation presents five major challenges for users and developers of instructional technologies: 1. In designing learning environments, developers must consider the particular cognitive, emotional, and ergonomic skills that are required in order to use these environments effectively. 2. Educators must improve their understanding of the nature and pedagogical potential of each of the available learning technologies. 3. Learning theories should take into account the knowledge gained from the implementation of learning technologies. 4. New instructional models and strategies for employing new technologies should be developed. 5. Research is needed to improve our understanding of the impact of using technologies on learners' achievements and attitudes. A community of researchers and practitioners who collaborate with each other is required in order to cope successfully with the above-listed challenges, and this is the main mission of the Chais Research Center and the "Learning in the Technological Era" annual Conferences. The Chais Research Center for the Integration of Technology in Education is a consortium of about 50 researchers of the Open University of Israel (OUI) faculty, which serves as the OUI research arm for the study of technologies and their integration in teaching and learning. The mission of the Chais Research Center is to encourage theoretical and practical research at the OUI and to improve the quality and efficiency of utilizing information technologies in learning and teaching. As the major instructional technologies research center in Israel, The Chais Center promotes the formation of a local community of instructional technologies researchers by funding research projects and by holding seminars, symposia, conferences, and study groups. These are some of the fields of research, which the Chais Center is engaged in: * The theoretical foundations of learning, instructional technologies and distance education. * The integration of information and communication technologies into educational systems. * Defining and characterizing the variables needed for developing flexible and adaptive technology enhanced instructional strategies that respond to students' individual needs. * Studying the pedagogical and cognitive contributions of emerging technologies on teaching and learning. "Learning in the Technological Era" is a series of annual national research conferences on learning technologies initiated by the Chais Research Center in collaboration with EDEN, The European Distance and E-Learning Network. The conference contributes to the formation of a community of Israeli researchers in the field of instructional technologies and to the positioning of the Open University of Israel as a leading organization in the study and implementation of learning technologies. About 500 researchers from most of the academic institutions in Israel and from many organizations and companies participate in the conference each year. The purpose of this IJELLO special series of Chais Conference best papers is to enhance the international impact of the Chais conference by distributing high quality papers from the local conference to worldwide audience. …