Monday, July 20, 2009

2nd Annual Western New York Service Learning Coalition Fall 2009 Conference

Proposals due July 31st, 2009

Proposals are being accepted for the 2nd Annual Western New York Service Learning Coalition Fall 2009 Conference, “Partnering for Success: The Keys to Effective Service-Learning,” to be held October 23-24 at Medaille College in Buffalo, NY. Proposals are being accepted for panel, poster, and workshop presentations that highlight best practices in local, regional, national, and/or international service-learning partnerships. Presentations from engaged faculty, staff, students, and community partners (including team presentations) are encouraged. The full call for proposals and guidelines for submission are available at http://www.wnyslc.org/

Proposals should be submitted by July 31st, 2009. Questions may be emailed to smalinen@daemen.edu.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Public Launch of CES4Health.info

September 1 is the Deadline for Submissions for the Public Launch of CES4Health.info!

Do you have products from your work in service-learning, community-based participatory research or community-based programs that are in forms other than journal articles?

One challenge for community-engaged scholars is the lack of mechanisms for peer review and dissemination of diverse products like documentaries, training manuals, policy briefs and curricula. CES4Health.info is a new web-based portal designed to meet that challenge! We are looking for diverse products of health-related community-engaged scholarship to be included in the public launch of CES4Health.info this fall. We define "health-related" broadly to include, for example, health care, public health, health policy and the social determinants of health (eg, education, food security, housing, income and its distribution, and social support, to name a few). We are also looking for peer reviewers from diverse settings, including community, academic, government and philanthropy.

Products can be submitted at any time, but those received by September 1 will have the greatest chance of completing the peer review process in time to be included when the site goes "live." We accept products in English from anywhere in the world.

For more information, contact CES4Health.info Editor Cathy Jordan at editor@ces4health.infot or visit ces4health.info today!

The Digital Open - Call for Submissions to Youth Under 17

Projects must be submitted by August 15, 2009 if you're submitting a project in English and and by August 1, 2009 if submitting in any language other than English.

http://digitalopen.org/


The Digital Open is both an online contest and a community. We seek youth from around the world to share their experiences, expertise, and projects through photo, text, and video. The Digital Open is an Institute for the Future project, in partnership with Sun Microsystems and Boing Boing, and made possible with the support of our judges, stewards, and our growing Innovation Network of institutional partners.

Who?

Creative young makers and innovators ages 17 and under. We welcome community members older than 17, but we can't accept your projects.

What?

Free and open technology projects, defined as such by the use of existing free and open platforms and/or licensing your project under one of the Digital Open-approved licenses. Maybe you've designed a mobile application that connects your community with others around the world to form a real-time, large-scale activist network. Or think about new kinds of customer database services, ways to share presentations online, and coordinating meetings with people scattered around the world. See more examples on the Categories page.

Where?

Here at digitalopen.org, from anywhere on the planet. If you have friends in other countries and regions, spread the word!

Why?

Because the future is yours to make! The Digital Open is building a global community of peers that will pioneer collaborative solutions to the great problems of our time. Open your mind and create openness in the world.

And?

Great prizes, A-list judges from the world of free and open technology, the chance to be featured on Boing Boing Video and share your project with a global audience, and achievements to earn along the way!

When?

Between April 15, 2009 and August 15, 2009 if you're submitting a project in English and between April 15 and August 1, 2009 if submitting in any language other than English.

How?

Your projects should be more than just an idea. We want photos, text, and videos showing how you've made or begun to make your idea a reality. Show us your designs, share your code, record yourself doing a demo, post photographs of friends using creation... whatever! Just be sure that you both show AND tell!

See How to Play for more detailed info!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Information for Action: A Journal for Service-Learning Research with Children and Youth

A one-page abstract or precis is due by August 15, 2009 by e-mail only to the editor.

The National Service-Learning Partnership, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota and the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, are announcing a new call for articles for the upcoming year for the journal, Information for Action: A Journal for Service-Learning Research with Children and Youth. Abstracts are due by August 15 for the upcoming year's editions (2) beginning in November/December of this year. A new volume of the journal will be forthcoming in August, adding to the two volumes that are already published (see nationalservice-learningpartnership.org/research for past editions). The Journal is a peer reviewed journal and attempts to share high quality information about the field with readers from the US and other countries that use service-learning approaches.

The journal has 3 categories of articles. First, there are academic articles produced by researchers who adhere to rigorous research practices. Second, there are articles produced by practitioners/informal researchers that share important learning about the service-learning process. Third, there is a place for youth led/youth participatory research either on service-learning programs or on the service-learning process itself. See part journals to get a sense of what published articles look like.

Guildelines for submission are included below. Please contact Robert Shumer, the editor, if you have specific questions not answered by the Call. We look forward to your publications. Thanks for your support.

Rob Shumer

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

The Goals of Information for Action: A Journal of Service-Learning Research with Children and Youth are to:

  • Expand the community of service-learning educators and researchers
  • Contribute to the academic legitimacy of service-learning
  • Improve the quality and sustainability of service-learning programs
  • Increase the quality, quantity and relevance of service-learning research
  • Increase the number of students, teachers, and faculty who can contribute to the expansion of knowledge and understanding of the principles and practices of service-learning and community participation

Therefore, the Information for Action: A Journal of Service-Learning Research with Children and Youth seeks papers that contribute new research, theory, pedagogy, and other matters related to service-learning in school and community settings that affect youth, ages 5-18. We will do one call for submissions for the year, using articles for three publications, from January 2010 through September 2010.

Competitive Articles: The Journal seeks articles in three primary categories. The first category is in work related to rigorous, academic research that expands knowledge of theories and principles of service-learning and related youth fields. The second category is in applied research, performed primarily by teachers and practitioners, who can share insights that will help others to improve their understanding and practice of service-learning. The third category includes articles that are written by youth involved in research/evaluation activities that can shed important information about service-learning from the youth perspective.
An academic article is more competitive if it conforms to APA guidelines and:


  1. Is well written
  2. Breaks new ground
  3. Is relevant to the readers of the journal who come from many academic disciplines/professions
  4. Pertains to curriculum-based service-learning
  5. Discusses questions and findings in light of related research and theory
  6. Goes beyond mere description of a service-learning course or initiative to analysis, application, recommendations, and/or lessons learned
  7. In the case of research, reflects rigorous methodology (i.e., design, methods, and analysis).


Articles written by teachers and youth are more competitive if they adhere to Items 1-6, and also:

  1. Shares important insights about implementing and practicing high quality service-learning
  2. Provides information to practitioners and youth about the value of service-learning for growth in knowledge, personal development, social and civic development, and understanding of school-community issues.

Manuscript Submission Process

During this second year, calendar 2008-09, the Information for Action Journal will produce two on-line issues, based upon a single review process. This process includes the following rules and deadlines.

  1. A one-page abstract or precis is due by August 15, 2009 by e-mail only to the editor. Invitations to submit a complete paper will be sent to those whose abstracts that have the most promise.
  2. Complete articles are due by October 15, 2009. To insure that we are able to return your article when reviews are completed, please include in the cover letter your U.S. mail address and email address.
  3. Articles will be returned with peer reviewer comments by November 15, 2009. Final articles are due by December 20, 2008.
  4. The winter publication is expected by February 2010.


Questions may be directed to the editor.

Article Guidelines

  1. Avoid the use of "volunteer" or "voluntary." It is preferable to use "community service," "service-learning," or "community service learning."
  2. Manuscripts must be well written and between 5 and 25 pages long.
  3. Submit a copy of the article using Microsoft Word as an email attachment.
  4. Please do not submit manuscripts under consideration by another publication.
  5. Use APA style. In particular, please follow APA reference style, both in text and in the reference list, only include citations in the reference section that are cited in text, and place notes at the end of the paper under "Notes" (see #11 below) rather than at the bottom of pages.
  6. Place each figure and/or table on a separate page at the end of the text of the paper, and include in the narrative of the manuscript where you would like to place the figure or table (e.g. PLACE FIGURE 1 HERE). Final placement may be influenced by page layout requirements.
  7. Use italics rather than underlines, both in the text and in the reference section. We do not use underlines at all in the Information for Action Journal.
  8. Where applicable, research data must be recent.
  9. Include an abstract that is a few sentences in length located between the title and the beginning of the text.
  10. Include a short section at the end of the document on the implications of the research or the report for practitioners, indicating who this information will help to change practice of service-learning programs.
  11. For consistency throughout the Journal, use "service-learning" with a hyphen or "community service learning" without a hyphen.
  12. Follow the end of the paper with Notes (acknowledgments and/or footnotes which are identified by raised numbers), then References, and then Author (a few sentences of biographical sketch of each author).
  13. E-mail copies of your articles to:


    Robert Shumer, Editor, IFA/JSLRCY
    rshumer@umn.edu or drrdsminn@msn.com
    College of Education and Human Development
    Department of Curriculum and Instruction
    245 Peik Hall
    University of Minnesota
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    651-336-7777