Special Issue

The Temporal Dimensions of eLearning

Oxford (UK)/Barcelona (ES), April 2012 - The journal eLearning and Digital Media is planning a special issue on the temporal dimensions of eLearning and has launched a call for proposals. Abstracts need to be submitted by 30 April and final papers (upon acceptance) by 31 October.




The concept of time has been important in most educational theories. With the emergence and distribution of digital media, and with the introduction of these media in educational contexts, the educational scientist faces some interesting challenges related to the role of time in educational processes.

One important way in which educational processes are transformed by digital media is time: eLearning becomes much more flexible and offers many more possibilities in the management and distribution of time.

The questions below point to possible fields of interest for this special issue:

  • What are the characteristics and dimensions of time in eLearning processes?
  • How can we understand the concept of time in educational phenomena, and specifically, in eLearning processes?
  • What implications do the eLearning characteristics of time have on the nature of learning and teaching?
  • How should technological tools be developed in order to better mediate eLearning processes?
  • How can different technological tools offers different mediation of time in eLearning processes?

This special issue of eLearning and Digital Media seeks to establish a forum of reference for researchers who work on these and similar questions, i.e. any field of research related to how digital media transform time in educational processes, and how these transformations have implications for teaching and learning.

Theoretical elaborations, methodological contributions, empirical studies, and literature reviews are cordially invited.

Abstracts of unpublished academic papers should be submitted to Elena Barberà, guest editor of the Journal and eLearning PhD Program Coordinator, eLearn Center, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.