The next WISEcon will now be taking place on 23 & 24 March 2022 in Manchester. You can register to attend here.

We had hoped to run the conference in October of this year, but restrictions on travel have proven to be prohibitive for the majority of would-be attendees. As such, we’ve taken the decision to postpone the conference until March of next year.

The call for papers is now open until 17 December 2021.

WISEcon, a two-day event hosted and curated by UNIwise, brings together people who are passionate about learning technology across all levels of higher education, from the Exams Office to the Pro Vice Chancellor’s office, to share their knowledge and experience.

In recognition of Manchester’s long history of technological and industrial innovation, the next WISEcon will be held at the city’s Science and Industry Museum, where you will also be able to see the world’s first stored-program computer, known as the Manchester Baby. (We will, of course, take the evolving coronavirus situation into account, taking the requisite steps to ensure all attendees’ safety and comfort, including converting to a digital conference if needs be.)

In past years, the WISEcon audience has numbered upwards of 150 delegates from across Europe. The programme and attendees of WISEcon will reflect not only the expanding list of institutions and countries now using WISEflow – including France, Germany, Belgium and a growing number of universities in the UK – but also our customers’ continued innovation and curiosity when it comes to digital assessment.

Call for papers 

WISEcon19 featured over 18 presentations and demos from WISEflow users, sector leaders and UNIwise colleagues and partners. We hope to be able to give even more speakers the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience this year.  

As such, we welcome a range of contribution formats and topics, responding to, but not limited to, the conference themes. The conference will include opportunities for the presentation of individual papers, mini keynotes, roundtables and lightning/pitch presentations.   

We’re looking forward to another exciting conference and to reading about your proposed presentation. 

Submission guidelines: Conference formats 

The formats are designed to promote dialogue focused on innovation, how to get the most out of WISEflow and the wider assessment picture in higher education: 

Research Presentation & Mini Keynote Presentation 
Taking place in the Dalton and Joule Rooms, these presentations will share insights gained from your experience with WISEflow, whether to do with student or staff feedback, integrations, efficiencies or anything you think other users might find valuable.  
Length: 30-45 minutes (including discussion)  

Roundtable Presentation 
Taking place in the Lovell and Whitworth Rooms, roundtables will provoke discussion amongst your peers.  
Length: 15-minute presentation followed by up to 30 minutes of discussion. Please specify which audience your proposed session would be of interest to. 

Lightning/Pitch Presentation 
These presentations will take place on the mainstage during a session on creative/alternative uses of WISEflow.  
Length: 10-minute presentation, followed by panel discussion. 

Submission guidelines: Conference themes 

1. Authentic assessment: many recent reports (see, for example, The Future of Assessment by Jisc), have argued that technology should be helping to make assessment more authentic, ‘preparing the learner for what they are going to do next, meeting employer needs and testing knowledge and skills in a more realistic, contextualised and motivating way’.  Is authentic assessment just a buzzword? Is it the way forward? We welcome examples and views that tease out this theme.  

2. Innovation: the past year has required a lot of quick thinking from universities, but we know that innovation drove educators and learning technologists long before the pandemic hit. Whether you’re using WISEflow in a creative way or doing something innovative with your integrations, WISEcon wants to hear about it.  

3. Invigilation, present and future: remote proctoring was the remedy to the pressing problem of 2020: how to maintain academic integrity while running assessments remotely? In Europe, this raised data privacy concerns. In the US, students took to TikTok to complain about highly intrusive software that flagged them for reading the questions out to themselves. WISEcon will reflect on lessons learned and speculate on the long-term future of remote proctoring.  

4. Improving efficiencies and effectiveness: for some institutions, the main driver of implementing electronic management of assessment has been to improve efficiency and save costs in the long term. WISEcon wants to hear if using WISEflow has helped you meet your ambitions and goals and which benefits – and, perhaps, drawbacks – you might have realised?    

5. Student experience and feedback: coherent, regular, quality feedback keeps students engaged and motivated at a time when students’ wellbeing is paramount to universities. WISEcon would love to hear how students experience digital assessment and how you involve them in the transition. 

Submission guidelines: Abstract 

 A concise title (140 characters). Please submit a 400-word abstract. Your abstract should give an outline of your proposed presentation and address the following questions:  

• What format will your proposed contribution take?  

• Why is your proposed topic valuable, and to what type of audience? 

• What will be the main takeaways for the audience? 

Please submit your abstract to wisecon@uniwise.co.uk by 15 January 2022.