ISSE 2015 - "Wearable Technologies and the Internet of Things in Education and Training"

The Internet of Things (IoT) is being touted as "the next technological revolution" and one that will be "the most
potentially disruptive" we will see in our lifetime, surpassed only by the World Wide Web and universal mobile
connectivity [1, p. 24]. It involves real-world, physical objects with embedded computational and networking
capabilities communicating and interacting with one another, with other computing devices, as well as with users
on the global Internet. With the advent and growth of the IoT, homes, workplaces, and educational institutions ?
even entire cities and countries ? are becoming increasingly "smart" and interconnected, which promises to
substantially enhance or change the ways in which we live, play, work, and learn.
Amid the rise of the IoT, we have also been witnessing advances in wearable computing and electronic
technologies that have made possible the creation of the "Internet of Me" [2]. Such technologies have now
entered the mainstream [3] and products powered by them are becoming increasingly available on the mass
market, with consumer-level devices like smart glasses (e.g., Google Glass, Microsoft HoloLens), smart watches
(e.g., Apple Watch), smart clothes, fitness bands/activity trackers (e.g., Fitbit, Nike+ FuelBand), and headmounted
cameras (e.g., GoPro) regularly dominating the technology news headlines of late. These technologies
and devices along with others still being developed are able to augment human cognition, behavior, and
interactions in powerful ways that were previously inconceivable.
It is clear that wearable technologies and the IoT hold much potential for and have many possible applications in
education and training [4], [5]. While they have garnered considerable attention and interest in this sector [6]?[9],
however, there continues to be a dearth of real scholarship surrounding their use for learning, teaching, and
assessment, the majority of published work to date consisting largely of anecdotal reports or being focused
primarily on the technology. This themed special issue of IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies will seek
to address this gap by publishing a combination of theoretical/conceptual and empirical articles that contribute to
the building of a rigorous evidence base aimed at guiding and supporting practice in addition to inspiring and
informing future research and development in this rapidly emerging and evolving area. Submissions that go
beyond technical descriptions or "show and tell" to engage deeply with pertinent questions and issues relating to
pedagogical and learning design as well as those that systematically examine the efficacy of tools, methods, and
approaches in improving learning are especially encouraged. Multidisciplinary studies are particularly welcome