Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Digital Asylum-seekers: The Clash of Cultures

22-24 June 2010 - Sibiu, Romania

an international conference hosted by a consortium of eight institutions, including University of Bucharest, University of Ankara, Free University Brussels, and Polytechnical Institute of Porto - running DIGITAS, a Grundtvig Multilateral Partnership (2008 – 2010)

Digital media and the internet have transformed the way young people learn, play, socialize, and even participate in civic life. Children today have access to media, be it through their computers, mobile phones or mp3 players, much more readily than their parents ever could. Consequently, digital technologies facilitate young people's creation of media environments and associated literacy practices that their parents find particularly difficult to perceive or understand, and from which they are effectively excluded.

Such media environments and their respective specific literacy practices are fundamental for mapping a ‘digital divide’ operating along inter-generational lines. For some time, researchers and practitioners alike have shown that ‘ICT training’ of (older) adults, focusing exclusively on the use of various ICT tools, both hardware and software, is ultimately pointless in the absence of an adequate cultural orientation to such new territories – worth exploring, exotic as they may seem, but also fraught with unimaginable dangers.

We therefore invite contributions from educators and researchers from all scientific areas that describe, document, and analyse various forms of engagement, in inter-generational contexts and family settings, of youth and (older) adults with digital/online environments and how they relate to various forms of social and cultural capital. We are also looking forward to accounts of challenges and obstacles which encourage or inhibit engagement to various digital/online environments and their specific cultures, as well as of successful intervention strategies and pedagogical processes enabling (older) adults to exploit the opportunities for learning, playing, socializing, and participating supported by digital media.

We are looking forward to contributions submitted to one of the following sections:

* Learning in a digital world

* Playing in a digital world

* Socializing in a digital world

* Participating in a digital world

Abstracts should be in English only and should contain a clear outline of the argument, the theoretical framework, and where applicable methodology and results. The preferred length of the individual abstracts is a maximum of 500 words. Panel proposals should consist of at least four individual contributions combining a panel abstract with individual abstracts, each abstract not longer than 250 words.

Deadline for titles and abstracts is [extended to] 2 April 2010. Please register your submission at http://tiny.cc/DIGITAS_regform. Your questions are welcome at digitas.conference [at] gmail.com.

The abstract proceedings will be circulated prior to the conference and published online, while the full proceedings will be later published (with ISBN) online. A selection of papers will be considered for publication in a printed (with ISBN) version.

Conference web page, including organizational details and suggestions for funding your participation to the conference can be found at http://tiny.cc/DIGITAS_conference.

Practical information

Date: 22-24 June 2010

Location: Ibis Hotel, Sibiu, Romania

Organizers: a consortium of eight European universities and training organisations developing the LLP / Grundtvig Multilateral Project DIGITAS (2008-2010)

Conference language: English

Enrolment fee: 300 EUR (3 days) or 100 EUR (one day only) - with a 50% discount for students

Accommodation at IBIS Hotel, Sibiu: see options on registration form

Registration form: http://tiny.cc/DIGITAS_regform

Website: http://tiny.cc/DIGITAS_conference

E-mail: digitas.conference [at] gmail.com

Abstract and titles submissions deadline: 2 April 2010

Notification of acceptance: 8 April 2010

Registration deadline: 20 April 2010

Deadline for submission of full papers (for online and/or printed publication): 23 July 2010

Feel free to circulate this call to colleagues or any research networks that may be interested in submitting a proposal.