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Call for Papers & Presentation Proposals
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3rd Immersive Learning Research Network Conference (iLRN2017)
June 26th – 29, 2017
Coimbra, Portugal, European Union

http://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2017

Join the growing network of immersive learning experts and practitioners from across the disciplines in beautiful Coimbra for iLRN 2017!

The 3rd Annual International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network will be an innovative hands-on and scholarly meeting for an emerging global network of developers, educators, and research professionals collaborating to develop the scientific, technical, and applied potential of immersive learning.

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Important Dates
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* Full papers submission deadline: February 24th, 2017 (Late submission)
* Short papers and posters submission deadline: March 10th, 2017
* Author notification of acceptance (full papers): March 15th, 2017
* Author notification of acceptance (short papers and posters): May 1st, 2017
* Camera-ready deadline: April 15th, 2017
* Main Conference, Special Tracks and Workshops: June 26th – June 29th, 2017


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About iLRN’s Annual International Conference
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ILRN’s annual conference provides an intensive face-to-face opportunity for the emerging professional community of immersive learning to collaborate and create the immersive learning future. ILRN conferences offer knowledge exchange and open discussions in scientific presentation streams, poster sessions and panels complemented with hands-on demonstrations. The iLRN Conference is, itself, designed to be an immersive learning environment making great use of the physical location and stocking it with immersive learning experiences across the Augmented and Virtual Reality spectrum. We seek members of the iLRNetwork, itself, to propose Workshops and Special Tracks throughout covering emerging topics and trends relevant to the community.

Continuing the previous success of iLRN events, this international conference series spans the topic range from innovative research, technologies and tools to successful services and products of immersive environments to foster learning, training and other activities in motivational and engaging ways. The objective is to uncover and discuss emerging trends and technologies, sound research and best practices, successful products and services within an international and interdisciplinary community. This includes but not limits its focus to virtual and augmented worlds, learning and motivational games, educational simulations, mixed/augmented reality, and related learning and teaching tools, techniques, technologies, and standards.

Topics of interest in the context of immersive environments for the main conference include:
◾Immersive Technologies, Systems and Devices
◾Natural and Built Environments as Immersive Learning Spaces
◾Cognitive and Pedagogical Analysis
◾STEM Education
◾The Psychological and Embodied Nature of “Immersion”
◾Learning and Training Applications
◾Non-leisure Games and Gamification
◾A Glance into the Future: Innovations, Challenges and Applications
◾Games and Entertainment
◾Art and Creativity
◾Cultural Heritage


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◾Call for Papers (General Track)
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The Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) invites original, heretofore unpublished research papers for submission to be presented and published at iLRN 2017 in Coimbra, Portugal. The iLRN General Track is open for any theme, topic, or research problem related to immersive learning.

More information at: https://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2017/author_info/

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◾Call for Papers (Special Tracks)
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Special Tracks are specialized, self-organized groups of immersive learning researchers gathering within the iLRN Conference venue to share and create a forum for quality scientific research. All contributing papers must undergo a rigorous peer review process. Accepted papers will be included in the online conference proceedings, depending on the overall quality and track chair’s decision, either as long paper (10 – 12 pages) or as a short paper (6 – 8 pages). High quality contributions will also be selected as full papers (14 pages) for the Springer proceedings.

More information at: https://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2017/special_tracks/

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◾Research Posters
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The Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) invites Research Poster presentations to present new ideas, first preliminary findings and work-in-progress to receive feedback form the community. Accepted research posters will be presented in a special poster session. Additionally, an extended abstract (2 pages) will be published in iLRN’s online proceedings.

More information at: https://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2017/posters/ ‎

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◾Workshops
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Workshops provide a venue for exploring & discussing emerging research directions, immersive learning applications, and particular foci within the immersive learning community – with more focus and less formality than other tracks. The topics of the proposed workshops should be aligned with those set forth in the Call for Papers of the main conference, however, format and content of each workshop is to be determined by its organizers. Preference will be given to workshops whose format includes sessions that facilitate highly interactive discussions with the audience. Examples include Q&As, scenario building, trend analyses, debates, panels, or even a competition or a challenge around an interesting and realistically sized dataset (possibly released by the workshop organizers for that purpose). Additionally, an extended abstract (2 pages) will be published in iLRN’s online proceedings.

More information at: https://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2017/workshops/

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◾Breakout Panel Sessions
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Conference Breakout Panels organize expert opinions on a topic in a short amount of time. Breakout Panels usually consist of between 3 – 5 experts discussing a specific topic or challenge and moderated by a session chair. These sessions are intended to engage the audience and are, thus, more open and interactive than traditional presentations by design. Because panelists often take different perspectives and offer different solutions to problems, these sessions are great for public conversations on issues that are common to many audience members. Additionally, an extended abstract (2 pages) will be published in iLRN’s online proceedings.

More information at: https://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2017/panels/

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◾Demos & Hands-on Opportunities
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Demos and Hands-on opportunities give attendees at iLRN 2017 the chance to try immersive learning experiences first-hand! iLRN Demos & Hands-on opportunities are semi-structured, informal events for you to engage with conference goers, showing them the particulars of your research, product, or gear. These sessions are intended to engage the audience and are, thus, more open and interactive than any other iLRN presentations, by design.

iLRN is interested in giving attendees a substantive, meaningful experience with a variety and breadth of immersive learning platforms. Please note that reference for these sessions will be given to: (a) authors of accepted papers and invited Featured Speakers; and (b) the Demos & Hands-on opportunity proposals determined to be the most compelling and interactive by the iLRN Conference Committee.

More information at: https://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2017/demos/

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◾Product Showcase
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What’s your Immersive Learning product or ware? iLRN is the preeminent place bringing researchers, artists, programmers, developers, teachers, and designers together to focus on immersive learning. This year in Coimbra, Portugal, you have the unique opportunity to engage with members of this specialized expert community and showcase your products.

All accepted Product Showcase applications will receive a highly visible, accessible location outfitted with a table and outlet for the duration of the conference. Note that all members of each Product Showcase team must pay a full conference registration in addition to the showcase fee (depending on requirements).

Please email info@immersivelrn.org for more details.

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◾Roundtable Discussions
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Invite ILRN Conference attendees to sit down and discuss the trends, challenges, and key ideas in the research and development of immersive learning.

More information at: https://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2017/roundtables

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Publications
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Accepted contributions are published as long or short or extended abstract in the online proceedings linked to an ISSN number, see also http://proceedings.immersivelrn.org.

Selected high quality papers from the main track and papers from the special tracks will be selected to be published as full papers in Springer’s Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS) conference proceedings series (see also http://www.springer.com/series/7899); the acceptance rate for the Springer proceedings will be some 35 % of the submitted papers.

iLRN 2017 Springer Proceedings are indexed by EI Compendex, DBLP, SJR, SciVerse, ISI Proceedings, Google Scholar.

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Conference Organization
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◾General Chair – Michael Gardner, University of Essex, UK
◾Academic Chair – Christian Gütl, Graz University of Technology, Austria
◾Community Chair – Jonathon Richter, Salish Kootenai College, USA
◾Program Co­-Chair – Colin Allison, University of St Andrews, UK
◾Program Co­-Chair – Scott Warren, University of North Texas, USA
◾Special Tracks & Workshops Co­-Chair – Johanna Pirker, Graz University of Technology, Austria
◾Special Tracks & Workshops Co­-Chair – Foaad Khosmood, California Polytechnic State University, USA
◾Publications Director – Dennis Beck, University of Arkansas, USA
◾Finance Director – Patrick O’Shea, Appalachian State University, USA
◾Publicity & Public Relations Director – Anasol Peña­-Rios, University of Essex, UK
◾Publicity & Public Relations Director – Samah Felemban, University of Essex, UK
◾Submission Systems Director – Johanna Pirker, Graz University of Technology, Austria
◾Conference Registration Director – Anasol Peña­-Rios, University of Essex, UK
◾Website Director – Anasol Peña­-Rios, University of Essex, UK

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Local Organization
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◾Local Co-Chair – Leonel Caseiro Morgado, Universidade Aberta & INESC TEC, Portugal
◾Local Co-Chair – Ana Amélia Carvalho, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
◾Local Co-Chair – João Caetano, Universidade Aberta, Portugal
◾Student Volunteer – Gonçalo Cruz, UTAD, Portugal
◾Student Volunteer – Daniela Pedrosa, UTAD, Portugal
◾Student Volunteer – Fernando Cassola, UTAD, Portugal
◾Student Volunteer – Ricardo Nunes, Brazil
◾Student Volunteer – Luis Miguel Sequeira, Portugal
◾Student Volunteer – Luis Fernandes, UTAD, Portugal

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International Chairs
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◾North America Co-Chair – Krista Terry, Appalachian State University, USA
◾North America Co-Chair – Minjuan Wang, San Diego State University, USA
◾Latin America Co-Chair – Victor Manuel Zamudio Rodríguez, Instituto Tecnológico de León, Mexico
◾Latin America Co-Chair – Marina Vicario Solórzano, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico
◾South America Co-Chair – Andreas Pester, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Austria
◾South America Co-Chair – Roger Tavares, UFRN, Brazil
◾South America Co-Chair – Eliane Schlemmer, UNISINOS, Brazil
◾South America Co-Chair – Luís Carlos Petry, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Brazil
◾Asia Pacific Co-Chair – Henry Been-Lirn Duh, University of Tasmania, Australia
◾Asia Pacific Co-Chair – Erik Champion, Curtin University, Australia
◾Europe Co-Chair – Ralf Klamma, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
◾Europe Co-Chair – Fotis Liarokapis, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
◾Middle East Co-Chair – Mohammad Al-Smadi, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan
◾Middle East Co-Chair – Samir Elseoud, American University, Egypt
◾Africa Chair – Mathy Vanbuel, Audiovisual Technologies, Informatics & Telecommunications, Belgium

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Program Committee
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◾Abelardo Pardo, The University of Sydney, Australia
◾Alberto Cardoso, University of Coimbra, Portugal
◾Alexander Nussbaumer, Graz University of Technology, Austria
◾Allan Fowler, Kennesaw State University, USA
◾Alok Mishra, Atilim University, Turkey
◾Ana A. Carvalho, University of Coimbra, Portugal
◾Anasol Peña­-Rios, University of Essex, UK
◾Andreas Schmeil, immpres, Switzerland
◾Bruno Joho, Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts, Switzerland
◾Christian Gütl, Graz University of Technology, Austria
◾Claudio Brito, COPEC, Brazil
◾Colin Allison, University of St Andrews, UK
◾Daniel Livingstone, Glasgow School of Art, Scotland
◾David Lowe, The University of Sydney, Australia
◾Demetrios Sampson, Curtin University, Australia
◾Diana Urbano, University of Porto, Portugal
◾Dominic Kao, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
◾Dor Abrahamson, UC Berkeley, USA
◾Edmundo Tovar, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain
◾Erik Champion, Curtin University, Australia
◾Ferial Khaddage, Deakin College/University, Australia
◾Fridolin Wild, The Open University, UK
◾Foaad Khosmood, California Polytechnic State University, USA
◾George Ioannidis, University of Patras, Greece
◾Giuliana Dettori, Istituto di Tecnologie Didattiche del CNR, Italy
◾Guenter Wallner, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria
◾Gustavo Alves, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal
◾Hanan Gazit, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
◾Ignazio Passero, Università degli Studi di Salerno, Italy
◾Ioana Stanescu, UNAP
◾Jannicke Baalsrud Hauge, University of Bremen, Germany
◾Jesús de La Fuente, University of Almería, Spain
◾Jochen Kuhn, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
◾Johanna Pirker, Graz University of Technology, Austria
◾Jonathon Richter, Salish Kootenai College, USA
◾Jose Zagal, DePaul University, USA
◾Justin Ehrlich, Western Illinois University, USA
◾Kai Erenli, UAS bfi Vienna, Austria
◾Leonel Caseiro Morgado, Universidade Aberta & INESC TEC, Portugal
◾Lisa Gjedde, Aalborg Universitet, Denmark
◾Louis Nisiotis, Sheffield Hallam University, UK
◾Luiz Fernando Capretz, Western University, Canada
◾Manuel Gericota, ISEP, Portugal
◾Manuel Castro, UNED, Spain
◾Marcus Specht, Open University of the Netherlands, Netherlands
◾Margit Höfler, University of Graz, Austria
◾María Blanca Ibáñez, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain
◾Max North, Southern Polytechnic State University, USA
◾Melany Ciampi, Science and Education Research Council, Brazil
◾Michael Gardner, University of Essex, UK
◾Michael Thomas, University of Central Lancashire, UK
◾Mikhail Fominykh, Europlan UK Ltd, UK
◾Milos Kravcik, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
◾Minjuan Wang, San Diego State University, USA
◾Monique Janneck, Fachhochschule Lübeck, Germany
◾Nelson Zagalo, University of Minho, Portugal
◾Ralf Klamma, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
◾Stephanie Linek, ZBW Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, Germany
◾Styliani Kleanthous, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
◾Stylianos Mystakidis, University of Patras, Greece
◾Timo Koskela, University of Oulu / CIE, Finland
◾Victor Callaghan, University of Essex, UK
◾Volker Settgast, Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH, Austria
◾Wafa Bourkhis, Universities of Artois (France) and Tunis (Tunisia)
◾Yifei Wang, University of British Columbia, Canada

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About iLRN
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The vision of the immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) is to develop a comprehensive research and outreach agenda that encompasses the breadth and scope of learning potentialities, affordances and challenges of immersive learning environments. To achieve this, the iLRN mission is to invite and organize scientists, practitioners, organizations, and innovators across the disciplines to explore, describe, and apply the optimal use of immersive worlds and environments for educational purposes. Further the conference, meetings, and virtual symposia aim to build capacity to explain and demonstrate how these immersive learning environments best work using a variety of rigorous, systematic, and meaningful research methods and outreach strategies.