Below are some of the most frequently asked questions about the ACTC 2013 conference. Please read through all the FAQ's to familiarize yourself with the ACTC 2013 Conference and its procedures. If you have a question, please see if it, and the answer to it, are below before contacting us at: actc@iafor.org.

1. How can I participate?
2. How many times can I participate?
3. How long can my presentation be?
4. How do I submit a proposal for the ACTC 2013 conference?
5. What are the responsibilities of the panel, session, or workshop chair?
6. Can I serve as chair on more than one panel or workshop?
7. What is a "respondent"?
8. Does my panel have to have a respondent?
9. Do I have to indicate that my panel will have a respondent with the panel proposal?
10. As the chair of my panel can I also serve as respondent?
11. Are the deadlines firm?
12. How many papers can I propose?
13. How many individuals from a single institution be on a panel or workshop?
14. How many participants can be on a panel?
15. How many participants can be in a workshop?
16. What is the difference between a panel and the "open call"?
17. How are proposals judged?
18. What if someone has to drop off my panel after I submitted it or after it was accepted?
19. Can I substitute a different paper after my paper has been accepted?
20. Can I present a paper that has already been, or will be, presented at another conference?
21. Can I change the name of my paper, panel, or workshop, after it is submitted?
22. Can I request a day and time for my presentation?
23. Can I contact administration after the deadline to make sure they've received my paper?
24. I'm not sure if I'll be able to attend the conference or not. Should I submit a proposal anyway?
25. Why was my paper, panel, or workshop proposal rejected?
26. My proposals are never, or almost never, accepted. What am I doing wrong?
27. Are the proposals of professors or "senior scholars" given preference over graduate students and independent researchers?
28. Are panels or workshops that are sponsored by caucuses or interest groups given special consideration?
29. If I cannot attend the conference can someone else present my paper?
30. What if my proposal was accepted but I have to cancel?
31. Can I co-present a paper?
32. Is there financial assistance available for conference registrants?
33. Is accommodation included in the registration fees?
34. How do I get from the Airport to the venue?
35. I am an undergraduate student, who wishes to participate in your conference. Can I attend?
36. I am an undergraduate student, who wishes to present a paper in your conference. Can I submit a proposal?
37. How do I get a letter of invitation/letter of guarantee?


Q1: How Can I Participate?

A: There are several major ways that one can participate in the ACTC 2013 Conference.

Deliver a Paper. Papers are formal presentations of original research that are either read or delivered. Papers are expected to be original research. This may be the exploration of a previously un-researched topic, or the reevaluation of existing work in light of new evidence or methodologies. Papers are often -- but not always -- portions of book chapters, dissertations, or cholarly articles. Paper proposals are judged on their potential contribution to their respective fields.

Participate in a Workshop. Workshops are designed to stimulate conversation and interaction among the presenters and the audience. Workshop participants sometimes give a brief presentation (seven minutes or less) that is less formal than a paper. In some instances workshop participants simply answer questions from the audience. Workshops often revolve around more practical aspects of the field:  teaching, research methods, professional development, etc. You can also participate in the conference by chairing a panel or a workshop or serving as a respondent to a panel.


Q2: How Many Times Can I Participate?

A: Members may serve in only TWO capacities which must be different during the conference. (The exception is for invitations to participate in special events, such as the plenary session.) This allows a maximum number of members to participate in the annual conference. For instance, members may:

- Deliver a paper and chair a panel

- Deliver a paper on a panel and participate in a workshop

- Deliver a paper on a panel and serve as a respondent

- Chair a workshop and serve as a respondent on a panel

- Chair a panel and participate in a workshop  


Q3: How long can my presentation be?

A: Paper presentations on panels last 30 minutes. Because of the limited time (which includes both orally delivered material and any visual clips) most papers attempt to make only two or three major points.

Please Note: Panel and Workshop Sessions are one hour and 30 minutes in length. The session chair is responsible for allocating an equal amount of time for each. Sessions run concurrently and continuously throughout the day. Caucus, scholarly interest group and committee meetings are often scheduled in the meeting rooms during the lunch breaks. Consequently rooms must be cleared promptly at the end of the time period to allow for the next panel, workshop or meeting.


Q4: How do I submit a proposal for the ACTC 2013 conference?

A: To submit a proposal for the ACTC 2013 conference, individuals can submit a proposal online. Please remember that authors are limited to ONE submission to ACTC 2013. If an individual is part of a panel or workshop, the organizer or chair is responsible for submitting all papers or participants within the panel or workshop. It is the individual's responsibility to send all the required information to the panel/organizer for input. Individuals can submit open call paper proposals directly online but are limited to one proposal per individual. For submission requirements, examples and additional details about submitting a proposal online, please visit the 'Call for Papers' page.


Q5: What are the responsibilities of the panel or workshop chair?

A: Panel Chair: whether he or she has organized the panel, volunteered to chair, or asked to fill the role, the panel chair has three primary functions. First, the chair introduces the panel and the individual panelists. It is recommended that the chair contact the panelists prior to the conference to get a brief biographical statement that can be presented as an introduction. (This often includes information about affiliations, rank, recent publications, and current research interests.) Introductions of any individual should last no more than one minute. Second, the chair is responsible for ensuring that panelists adhere to their time limit. The time limit for paper presentations is assumed to be twenty minutes. Chairs will usually notify the presenter with a pre-arranged signal if he or she is approaching the time limit. It is the chair's responsibility to make sure that no presenter goes over the allotted time, which might impinge on the time of the other presenters. Third, the chair facilitates questions and discussion after all papers have been delivered. Finally, the chair also clears the room promptly to make way for the next session. The chair of a pre-constituted panel is responsible for informing her or his panelists that their panel has been accepted or rejected.

Workshop Chair: The workshop chair's role is similar to that of the panel chair, although the workshop chair is more active in facilitating dialogue between the work participants and among audience members.


Q6: Can I serve as chair more than one panel or workshop?

A: No. Please give others the opportunity to chair by proposing only a single panel or workshop in which you act as chair.


Q7: What is a "respondent"?

A: A respondent is an individual who generally possesses specialized knowledge of the panel's topic. A respondent usually reads all of the papers prior to the conference and attempts to draw out particular lines of thought shared by the presentations to arrive at some broader conclusion.


Q8: Does my panel have to have a respondent?

A: No. Usually the audience serves in this role by asking questions and making comments about the papers.


Q9: Do I have to indicate that my panel will have a respondent with the panel proposal?

A: Yes. Your proposal should indicate that you will have a respondent, and that individual's relevant information, when it is submitted.


Q10: As the chair of my panel can I also serve as respondent?

A: No. It is assumed that the respondent provides objective feedback on the papers presented on the panel. As chair (and in most instances, organizer) of a panel, it is assumed you might not have the necessary distance from the papers to provide objective commentary.


Q11: Are the deadlines firm?

A: Yes.


Q12: How many papers can I propose?

A: You can propose only ONE paper for the conference. That paper can either be proposed as part of a pre-constituted panel or as part of the open call. You cannot propose the same paper on both a panel and as part of the open call. You must choose whether you would like your paper to be part of a pre-constituted panel, or if you want to propose it as part of the open call.


Q13: How many individuals from a single institution be on a panel or workshop?

A: In proposing panels and workshops, you are asked to include no more than two individuals from any single institution.


Q14: How many participants can be on a panel?

A: Optimum number of panelists:  Four Presenters (includes chair if presenting) or three presenters (includes chair if presenting) and a respondent.


Q15: How many participants can be on a workshop?

A: Workshop proposals should have four presenters only.


Q16: What is the difference between a panel and the "open call"?

A: Panels can be formed in two ways. In the first case, several individuals who are interested in forming a panel might meet at the conference, on-line, or through some other means. They discuss their panel, designate a chair, and send in their proposal as a pre-constituted panel -- usually consisting of four papers, or three papers and a respondent. In the second case, an individual may attempt to organize a panel by posting a call for papers on the conference "bulletin board" in the months prior to the proposal deadline. People contact the organizer with suggestions for papers, and the organizer selects those people she or he would like to participate on the panel. The organizer also informs those people who have not been selected in a timely fashion. The organizer then submits the panel by the proposal deadline.

The open call is the opportunity for individuals to submit papers that are not part of a pre-constituted panel. If the paper is accepted it is then grouped with papers on a similar topic or that use a like methodology to create a panel. The panel is given a name by the ACTC organizing committee and a chair for the panel is selected.

At the conference there is no distinction made between panels that were pre-constituted and those that have been created through the open call.


Q17: How are proposals judged?

A: After your proposal is submitted online, the ACTC conference coordinator then assigns the proposal to a team of two appropriate readers. The readers evaluate the proposal individually and then compare their respective scores. Readers look for originality, scope and depth of research, and attempt to assess whether the paper will make a contribution to the field. Secondarily, the readers consider whether the proposal has followed the rules for submission. A joint score is forwarded to the conference organizer.

The conference organizer is responsible for creating panels from the open call and assigning the panels and workshops to time slots and rooms. Time and room assignments are based in some measure on equipment needs, and efforts are made not to have too many panels or workshops on similar topics competing in a single time slot or bunched together on a single day. Because of the complexity of putting the program together, requests for special times or days cannot usually be honored. Please limit any such requests to those of an unavoidable nature.


Q18:What if someone has to drop off my panel after I submitted it or after it was accepted? Can I substitute another presenter and paper?

A: No. All proposals must go through the review procedure. You cannot substitute someone at a later point. It is useful to have a full complement of four presenters on pre-constituted panels so that if an individual does have to drop out you will still have a full panel of three.


Q19: Can I substitute a different paper after my paper has been accepted?

A: No. Your paper (or panel or workshop) was judged and accepted on the merits of the proposal. You cannot substitute something different after your proposal has been accepted.


Q20: Can I present a paper that has already been, or will be, presented at another conference?

A: This is considered bad form. It is expected that any paper presented at the ACTC 2013 Conference is original and has not been previously presented. Presenting material that has been accepted for publication in a journal or anthology, but which has not gone to print before the conference, is acceptable.


Q21: Can I change the name of my paper, panel, or workshop, after it is submitted?

A: Yes. Please contact administration at actc@iafor.org prior to the specified deadline for changes and corrections. (This date may vary from year to year.) Note that your title can change, the content of the paper, panel, or workshop must continue to be consistent with the proposal submitted.


Q22: Can I request a day and time for my presentation?

A: Requests for times or days for paper presentations are not usually allowed due to the large number of participants. We ask that you reserve requests for religious reasons or other exceptional and unavoidable circumstances.


Q23: Can I contact the Administrative Office after the deadline to make sure they've received my paper?

A: This is not a good idea due to the volume of work faced by the ACTC 2013 Office when proposals are submitted.


Q24: I'm not sure if I'll be able to attend the conference or not. Should I submit a proposal anyway?

A: Please submit proposals only if you plan to attend the conference. If you are unsure about whether you will have the time, be able to finish a paper, or get funding, perhaps it's best to wait until the next year to submit your proposal. It takes time to process, read, evaluate, and schedule every paper, panel, and workshop. When you put individuals through this work for a proposal that you don't deliver, you have wasted the Program Committee's time (which is done on a volunteer basis), as well as that of the ACTC 2013 Administrative Office.


Q25: Why was my paper, panel, or workshop proposal rejected?

A: There may be many reasons why a proposal was rejected. It is possible that the readers did not feel the proposal made a contribution to the field, or that it was one of several proposals on the same topic. It is possible that the proposal did not follow submission guidelines in some way. Unfortunately, due to the high volume of submissions, the Program Committee cannot respond to inquiries about rejections.


Q26: My proposals are never, or almost never, accepted. What am I doing wrong?

A: First, ask yourself whether you are carefully following all the submission procedures. Second, ask yourself if the work is original or if it is simply a rehash of existing work. Third, ask yourself if your proposal is suited for the ACTC 2013 conference or if it might not find a more logical fit with another conference. Finally, ask a peer who has been "successful" at having her or his papers or panels accepted to see copies of those proposals for tips.


Q27: Are the proposals of professors or "senior scholars" given preference over graduate students and independent researchers?

A: No. All proposals are examined for their merits. The ACTC 2013 conference welcomes proposals from individuals at all levels within the field of education as well as the work of independent scholars and researchers.


Q28: Are panels or workshops that are sponsored by caucuses or interest groups given special consideration?

A: No. As above, all proposals are judged on their individual merits.


Q29: If I cannot attend the conference can someone else present my paper?

A: No. ACTC 2013's policy on this is clear: the person whose paper has been accepted must read the paper. Substitute readers are forbidden.


Q30: What if my proposal was accepted but I have to cancel?

A: Sometimes things come up that may force you to cancel participation in the conference -- a health issue, a family emergency, etc. In such an event, contact administration at actc@iafor.org and the Chair of your panel or workshop immediately and inform them that you will not be able to participate in the conference. If you are the Chair of a panel or workshop you should also inform your panelists to see if one can step into your role as chair, and then report this to administration as well.

Obviously extenuating circumstances do crop up, but not to attend the conference without a legitimate reason when your proposal was accepted is unprofessional. If an individual habitually cancels, that individual may find her or his proposals will receive less favorable attention for future conferences.


Q31: Can I co-present a paper?

A: Yes. However, co-presented papers are given the same thirty minute time slot (including Q and A) as papers presented by a single individual.


Q32: Is there financial assistance available for conference registrants?

A. The Asian Conference on Technology in the Classroom has a limited budget, and while our plenary speakers are either fully or partially funded, we are unable to offer financial assistance to other conference participants. We hope that this will change in the future.


Q33: Is accommodation included in the registration fees

A. No, accommodation is not included in the registration fee.


Q34: How do I get from the airport to the venue

A. The Ramada Osaka is located about 60 minutes from Kansai Airport by bus and about 30 minutes from Itami airport by bus or monorail/subway.

- Kansai Airport We recommend taking the limousine bus from Kansai Airport to New Hankyu Hotel. From there it is a short walk or taxi ride to the Ramada Osaka.
For information and directions from Kansai Airport to the Ramada Osaka please CLICK HERE

- Itami Airport We recommend taking the monorail from Itami airpot to Senri-Chuo Station and transfering to the Midosuji line. Take the Midosuji line to Nakatsu Station (M15) and look for exit 3. This exit will lead to the B1 level of the Ramada Osaka.
For information and directions from Itami Airport to the Ramada Osaka please CLICK HERE (Japanese only)


Q35: I am an undergraduate student, who wishes to participate in your conference. Can I attend?

A. The conference is an academic research conference, and we welcome all attendees, although the level may not be appropriate for undergraduates, due to the specialised nature of the presentations. Please note, that this is not an appropriate venue for the presentation of undergraduate work.


Q36:I am an undergraduate student, who wishes to present a paper in your conference. Can I submit a proposal?

A. The conference is an academic research conference, and therefore we encourage the submission of abstracts from those conducting original research. As such, this may not be an appropriate venue for undergraduates to present their work.


Q37: How do I get a letter of invitation/letter of guarantee?

A. Letters of invitation can be requested upon payment of registration fees. Please see the visa page for complete details. Under no circumstances will ACTC issue a letter of guarantee.