Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is an online festival?
Unlike a face-to-face conference where travelling involves cost and time, you can participate in an online festival as a presenter or participant from the comfort of your workplace or home. e/merge 2018 is a festival rather than a conference because it includes opportunities for experiential learning and celebration of achievement and community as well as conceptual debate about research presentations.
Our festival will include components such as the Research Colloquium track that are part of traditional face-to-face conferences but we plan on ‘wrapping’ these online in various ways. Here is an example from Transform 2015 one of our past online conference proceedings. Similarities with formal conferences include keynotes, a peer review panel, proceedings, and a post-conference special issue of a peer reviewed journal.
In e/merge 2018 we will use a website and linked environments to view selected presentations, read conference papers, share useful resources, take part in debate, share best practices, check out the newest technologies, network informally and join colleagues for powerful experiential learning in workshops.
Who is e/merge 2018 for?
e/merge 2018 is primarily for educational technology researchers, practitioners and managers based in African higher education. Participants from other regions and sectors who have an interest in the use of educational technology in Africa will also be warmly welcomed.
What do I need to participate?
A reliable network or broadband Internet connection will allow for a full experience of the conference. Participants who rely on mobile data connections may not have a completely stable connection to the live/ synchronous sessions.
How much time will it take?
That's entirely up to you. You can choose to focus on a few events that interest you if you have very limited time available for participation. Most participants in previous e/merge conferences spent up to 10 hours online over a two week period while some chose to be online almost continuously. The general advice is to pace yourself according to your commitments and your energy. The e/merge 2018 site will be available to you for some time after the festival ends.
How do I sign up?
Online registration opened at 12.00 (GMT+2) on 28 May 2018 and will remain open until the start of the festival. If you would like to contact us before then, please email us at info@emerge2018.net.
Who is organising e/merge 2018?
e/merge 2018 is organised by the e/merge Africa network which is based in the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at the University of Cape Town. We are open to collaborating with other organisations and networks in the region and beyond to ensure a high quality, dynamic conference. e/merge 2018 is funded by the Carnegie Foundation of New York.