Conference Mission
The mission of the Emerging Learning Design Conference is to showcase best practices in design and implementation by bringing together those interested in engaging in a vibrant and dynamic discourse regarding pedagogy and how technology can better enhance it.

2013 Conference Theme – Learning As Disruption
The Emerging Learning Design 2013 Conference Theme is Learning As Disruption.  ”How learning occurs” has become the disruptive force that affects an educator’s decision process in all that occurs in the classroom, including pedagogy, curriculum design, and incorporation of technology of a course. Since Christensen’s book “Disrupting Class” began to influence the national (and global) conversation, learning as a disruptive force has been a hot topic in professional development, on campuses, and at conferences. When learning becomes the focus of education, the students’ experiences become relevant and motivating factors that drive what occurs in the learning experience, in or out of a classroom. As Apte pointed out in 2003, “learning is about transformation, it’s about change, it’s about seeing yourself in relation to the world differently”.  The 2013 ELD Conference Theme “Learning As Disruption” is designed to help presenter and attendee alike address this important issue.

The 2013 conference will take place on the campus of Montclair State University.  MSU is located in northern New Jersey, 14 miles west of Manhattan and is easily accessible by car, bus, or train.

We are pleased to announce that our Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Christopher Hoadley

Dr. Chris Hoadley is associate professor in the Educational Communication and Technology Program and the Program in Digital Media Design for Learning. He has over 35 years of experience in designing, building, and studying ways for computers to enhance collaboration and learning. Currently his research focuses on collaborative technologies and computer support for cooperative learning (CSCL). Hoadley is the director of dolcelab, the Laboratory for Design Of Learning, Collaboration & Experience. He is an affiliate scholar for the National Academy of Engineering’s Center for the Advancement of Scholarship in Engineering Education (CASEE) and was awarded a Fulbright for 2008-2009 in the South Asia Regional program to study educational technologies for sustainability and empowerment in rural Himalayan villages. Other interests include research on and through design, systems for supporting social capital and distributed intelligence, the role of informatics and digital libraries in education, and science and engineering education. Hoadley previously chaired the American Educational Research Association’s Special Interest Group for Education in Science and Technology (now SIG: Learning Sciences), and served as the first president of the International Society for the Learning Sciences. Hoadley earned his baccalaureate in cognitive science from MIT, and a masters in computer science and doctorate in education from UC Berkeley. He previously taught at Stanford University, Mills College, and Penn State University in education, computer science, and information sciences.