CFP

RIDE2025: Research in Distance Education and e-learning 2025

University of London

London, UK, March 13-14, 2025

Conference website	https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/events/empowering-sustaining-change
Submission link	https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ride2025
Draft Abstract submission deadline	October 28, 2024
Final Abstract submission deadline	December 16, 2024
Submission deadline	December 16, 2024

Topics: digital education research in online education practice in online education learning, teaching in higher education

Conference dates: Thursday 13 and Friday 14 March 2025

Location: Online and in-person, University of London, Senate House, London UK

The conference is presented by the University of London’s Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Conference Theme

In March 2025, the Centre for Online and Distance Education will be holding the 19^th International Research in Distance Education and e-Learning (RIDE) conference titled:

Empowering and Sustaining Change

Conference webpage: RIDE 2025: Empowering and Sustaining Change | University of London

Online, blended, hybrid and digital education are firmly established in mainstream practice in higher education, and the pace of change is relentless. As we navigate the challenges and opportunities of an increase in digitalisation, our roles in ensuring that the curriculum and pedagogy are evidence based, adapted to the context and to learners' needs is as important as ever. In this context, how do we embed sustainability, and develop and maintain good engagement? How can we support learners’ and educators' wellbeing and sense of belonging? How do we ensure that what we do is inclusive and empowering? These are the questions we aim to investigate together.

The conference will explore empowering and sustaining change, in higher education, through three sub-themes:

Engagement, well-being and belonging.
Inclusive and accessible education.
Internationalisation and Transnational Education.

We invite proposals that address the conference theme and sub-themes by demonstrating innovations in learning, teaching, assessment, support for learners and use of technologies in higher education.

About the RIDE conference

The Centre for Online and Distance Education's annual virtual and in-person conference, taking place across two days, focuses on research and scholarly practices in online, distance, blended, hybrid and hyflex higher education. The conference aims to provide a supportive platform for scholarly, research and practice-informed engagement, showcasing people-focussed practices and innovations that are sustainable for people, organisations and the planet.

The conference presents opportunities for the dissemination of selected conference contributions through CODE channels. You can explore previous RIDE conferences here: https://www.london.ac.uk/research/centre-online-distance-education/code-events/research-distance-education-e-learning-ride-conference.

To find out more about the CODE, please visit: https://www.london.ac.uk/research/centre-online-distance-education

We welcome students to our conference as attendees and presenters.

Conference session formats

We invite proposals for the following conference session formats:

Interactive presentations. We expect presentations to foster discussion and sharing of ideas. 30 minutes including 10 mins discussion. Online or in-person. Presentations are recorded and made available after the conference via the CODE website.

Lightning talks. Lightning talks are suitable for short presentations. They are ideal for sharing aspects of innovation, ideas, approaches, and findings, to test out part of a project/evaluation or to get feedback on an aspect of your work. 5 min talk with 10 mins discussion. Online or in-person. Lightning talks are recorded and made available after the conference via the CODE website.

Workshops. We expect workshops to be fully participatory and will be for groups sizes of up to 40 participants. Examples of workshop activities may involve demonstrations, debate, breakout discussions and reporting. 60 mins. In-person only (presenter(s) and audience). Workshops are not recorded.

Presentations, workshops and lightning talks will be placed in groups with common themes.

Conference Tracks

The conference has two tracks: Research and Practice.

Track 1: Research focus

We invite abstracts that showcase original conceptual, methodological, empirical, or theoretical research with implications for practice in online, distance, blended, hybrid or hyflex higher education provision.

Track 2: Practice focus

We invite abstracts that showcase research informed and scholarly impactful practices in online, distance, blended, hybrid or hyflex higher education provision.

Submitting an Abstract

Support

We are strongly committed to providing a conference that represents the full diversity of our communities and welcome abstract submission from all.

To support development, we offer an opportunity for colleagues to submit a draft abstract for feedback. Abstracts submitted by the draft deadline will receive feedback from our conference panel and can be resubmitted by the final submission deadline.

Key dates for both tracks

Activity	Date
Abstract submission opens	23 September 2024
Draft Abstract deadline	5 November 2024
Feedback on draft abstracts provided	18 November 2024
Abstract submission closes	16 December 2024
Notification of selection or rejection	30 January 2025
Notification of draft conference programme	10 February 2025
Final programme confirmed	24 February 2025
Conference	13, 14 March 2025

Abstract Requirements

All proposals must include a title of up to 12 words, the names, and affiliations of presenters and up to 6 key words. In writing your abstract, use inclusive language - text should be free from prejudiced or discriminatory views of particular people or groups.

Indicate whether your submission is for Track 1: Research, or Track 2: Practice

Identify which sub-theme(s) you are addressing:

Engagement, well-being and belonging.
Inclusive and accessible education.
Internationalisation and Transnational Education.

	What to include in your abstract
Presentation	Provide a summary of your presentation topic including what your audience will learn from it and why it is significant.
Lightning talk	Provide a summary of your topic including what your audience will learn from it and why it is significant.
Workshop	Provide a summary of your workshop topic including what activities your audience will do during the workshop, what they will learn from the workshop and why it is significant.

Abstract selection process

Research Track

Abstracts submitted to our research track, will be reviewed by a panel of Fellows from the Centre for Online and Distance Education.

You should aim to include research questions, methodological/theoretical/conceptual perspective(s) taken, a statement concerning the significance of the work and its contribution to the field, data sources used (if applicable), methods, and findings. Discuss how your work links to our conference title and sub-themes. Include any implications of your research for policy or practice.

Reviewing criteria Research Track: clarity and focus; originality; rigour; adherence to the conference theme/sub-themes; significance of the research for educational practice, policy, or theory.

Practice Track

Abstracts submitted to our practice focus track, will be reviewed by a panel of Fellows from the Centre for Online and Distance Education.

We recommend that you take an evidence informed approach and where possible include research and scholarship that supports your work. You should include the context, the approach taken, your approach to evaluation and evidence of impact. Discuss how your work links to our conference theme/sub-themes. You may wish to include implications for policy.

Reviewing criteria Practice Track: clarity and focus; adherence to the conference theme/sub-themes; demonstration of innovation and impact; transferability of the ideas and approaches; demonstration of research/scholarship/evidence informed practice.

Publication

We will provide a conference report published on the CODE website. All abstracts from the programme and video recordings of sessions will be provided after the conference trhough our website.

Conference Proceedings will be published separately. Authors of selected abstracts (from both the research and practice tracks) will be invited to submit full papers for peer review and consideration for inclusion in the conference proceedings.