Theory in learning technology

This special issue is being published at a significant point in time in relation to simultaneous changes in higher education, in technology and in the field of learning technology itself. As the 2011 ALT C conference themes clearly state, learning technology needs to learn to thrive in a colder and more challenging climate. In this difficult political and economic environment technological trends continue to develop in terms of mobility, cloud computing, ubiquity and the emergence of what has been called big data. E-learning has become mainstream and the field of learning technology itself is beginning to stabilising as a profession. Profession here is understood as a knowledge-based occupation and a form of cultural work where the tasks addressed are human problems amenable to expert advice and distinguishable from other kinds of work by the fact that it is underpinned by abstract knowledge (Macdonald, 1995). Abstract knowledge is the focus of this special issue, in the form of theory