[AISWorld] 2nd Call for participation: Learning Analytics Summer Institute 2014

Tue Apr 22 20:34:23 EDT 2014

Due to the change in location of LASI'14, which is now Harvard Graduate
School of Education in Cambridge, MA, USA, the second call for
participation is issued.

2nd Call for participation

2nd Learning Analytics Summer Institutes (LASI 2014)

Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, USA, June 30 – July 2,
2014
http://www.solaresearch.org/events/lasi-2/lasi2014/

Organized by the Society of Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR) with
assistance of the International Educational Data Mining Society (IEDMS).

Important dates

* Application for participation (second call): May 4, 2014
* Notification of acceptance: May 8, 2014
* Summer institute: June 30 - July 2, 2014

Important remarks

* LASI 2014 will not charge any registration fees.
* LASI 2014 does not have a call for presentation and/or talk proposals.
* Applications with multiple applicant names will not be taken into
consideration. Only individual applications are invited.
* Only applications that will have provided the information requested in
the application form outlined in the call will be considered.

Introduction

Learning Analytics as both a research topic and emerging marketplace has
recently received attention of faculty, educational researchers and
administrators, policy makers, data scientists and learning technology
entrepreneurs. Unprecedented quantity of, and access to, learner-generated
data has opened up new opportunities, for instance, for researchers to
better understand how learners learn, for educators to assess the impact of
teaching activities and interventions, and for learners to receive
personalized, real-time, automated support for their learning advancements.

Learning Analytics (LA) as a field is related to disciplines such as
educational data mining, machine learning, information visualisation and
computer science in general, various branches of psychology, learning
sciences, psychometrics, and systems theory.  LA aspires to integrate
cognitive, social, pedagogical, technical, and organizational components to
advance a holistic view of learners and their learning processes.
Cross-disciplinary research, publications, and documented socio-technical
systems, designs and algorithms are important for advancing these goals.

For the past four years, the Society for Learning Analytics Research
(SoLAR) has hosted open online courses, the international LAK conference
and national meet-ups, initiated a distributed research lab for PhD
students, and established the Journal of Learning Analytics. During this
timeframe, researchers from learning sciences, computer supported
collaborative learning, and related disciplines have found research
affinity with the emerging LA field.

Leading international universities have initiated programs and enacted
strategies to use LA to improve learner success and organizational
efficiency. Numerous schools have adopted personalization and adaptive
learning systems to support learners. Corporations and start-ups have also
turned their focus to learning analytics, resulting in numerous entrants
into the LA market.

This bricolage of research, intersecting fields of study, and corporate
activity has created an exciting, albeit sometimes confusing, landscape for
academics, PhD students, and the diverse users of LA products and projects

Summer Institutes

A critical window of opportunity is opening as we stand on the threshold of
what may be a new discipline with disruptive potential for educational
research and practice. Bringing the right mix of people together for an
intensive ‘summer camp’ can serve as an intellectual and social springboard
to accelerate the maturation of the discipline — as was the case for other
young disciplines, such as cognitive neuroscience.

After the 1st such event in Stanford in 2013, the 2nd Learning Analytics
Summer Institute (LASI 2014) is a strategic event organized by the Society
for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR) in cooperation with the Harvard
Graduate School of Education. The International Educational Data Mining
Society is also assisting with event organization. LASI 2014 will be held
in Cambridge, MA, USA from June 30, 2014 to July 2, 2014.

As we did last year, in parallel a global network of LASI-Locals will run
their own gatherings. Last year we had: LASI-Hong Kong, LASI-Denmark —
Aalborg, LASI-Latin America — Online, LASI-France — Lyon, LASI-Netherlands
— Amsterdam, LASI-South Africa — Pretoria, LASI-Spain — Granada, LASI-Spain
— Madrid, LASI-UK — Edinburgh, LASI-USA — Boston, and A-LASI – Sydney. So
get inspired, and self-organise! This year, we are planning ways in which
the activities of LASI-Locals will be more visible to Cambridge, MA, USA
and to each other.

The objective is that participants will leave better equipped to actively
engage in advancing the LA field through their teaching and research
activities. More specifically, LASI has two goals:

* Build the field of Learning Analytics through cross disciplinary
interactions, identification of research and teaching needs, advancement of
LA methods, and connecting isolated researchers and research communities.

* Develop the skills and knowledge of doctoral students and academics,
equipping them to engage actively in LA research and teaching.

In the selection of participants, we will strive for a careful balance
between disciplines, skillsets and seniority — see the application criteria
for details.

Format

LASI2014’s goals of building the LA field and developing the skills of
researchers, educators and students will be achieved through a combination
of lectures, hands-on tutorials, group work and ample opportunity for
informal interactions. Activities include presentations from leading
researchers, innovative start-ups, and experts from related fields, coupled
with panels and workshops… all designed to define the needs of the LA
field, identify research gaps and needs, forge the community and establish
a research agenda.

Organizing Committee

Ryan S.J.d. Baker, Teachers College, Columbia University, USA
Simon Buckingham Shum, The Open University, UK (LASI-Locals chair)
Shane Dawson, University of South Australia, Australia
Erik Duval, KU Leuven, Belgium (program co-chair)
Dragan Gasevic, Athabasca University, Canada (program co-chair)
Garron Hillaire, Harvard University, USA (Local Organizer)
Charels Lang, Harvard University, USA (Local Organizer)
Philip Long, University of Queensland, Australia
Grace Lynch, University of New England, Australia
Xavier Ochoa, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, Ecuador
Mykola Pechenizkiy, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), The
Netherlands  (program co-chair)
Salvador Ros, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Spain
George Siemens, University of Texas at Arlington, USA
Llanos Tobarra, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Spain

Enquiries

Enquiries about participating in, or sponsoring, LASI may be emailed to
<lasi2014.madrid atsign gmail.com> with the subject line containing: LASI
Enquiry

If you are interested in connecting with the others running a
regional/local event, please contact Simon Buckingham Shum
<s.buckingham.shum atsign gmail.com> with the subject line containing: LASI
Local

Speakers in Cambridge, MA, USA are by invitation, with the program now
being designed. Queries around the program should go to Dragan Gasevic
<dragan.gasevic atsign gmail.com> with the subject line containing: LASI
Program. Regional/local satellite events will design their own schedules
and programs.

How to participate

To apply for participation in LASI 2014 in Cambridge, MA, USA please
complete the following application form available in the EasyChair site of
LASI 2014  (https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=lasi2014.). The
details about the application process can be found at
http://www.solaresearch.org/events/lasi-2/lasi2014/
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