You are kindly invited to attend this special conference in Joensuu, Finland, in the province of North Carelia, a region of historical encounters between East and West.

The Conference focuses on issues of cultural context in the application of educational technology. It is organised by the Department of Computer Science and Eastern Finland Virtual University Network at the University of Joensuu.

The initiators of the Conference wish to bring together experts, especially those in the field of Computer Science, Education and Humanities as well as Cultural Studies, with a specific interest in discussing the application of educational technology in various cultural contexts. The issue involves both pedagogic and technological points of view.

We invite you to attend the first International Conference on Educational Technology in Cultural Context and submit proposals for papers. The scope of the conference is set by the following main topics as they relate to the issue of educational technology in cultural context:

- Cultural encounter through virtual learning environments
- Media, culture and learning
- Esthetics in theories and human thinking
- Culturally dependent methods for evaluation and assessment of learning
- Communicative scenarios for e-learning
- Adaptive technologies
- Information visualization and auralization for different learner groups
- Ethical foundations for contextually sustainable technologies
- User diversity issues in collaborative environments

An International Summer School is being organised prior to the Conference, 26. - 30.8.2002, at the Mekrijärvi Research Station of the University of Joensuu, in the easternmost community in Finland, some 70 km from the town of Joensuu. The Summer School is intended especially for post graduate students interested in specializing in educational technology. Some 30 students will be selected to work in the summer school with tutors of international reputation.