CALL FOR PARTICIPATION - 2016 Learning Analytics Summer Institute
June 27-29, 2016
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The sheer amount of data that we generate in the course of our lives  
is growing exponentially as technology plays a larger and larger part  
in what we do every day. Nowhere is this fact more important than how  
information technology has become part of the basic infrastructure for  
education– in formal and informal settings, playing a role whether we  
are face-to-face with others or interacting solely online. The "data  
exhaust" that is generated by the systems used today to support how we  
teach and how we learn provides an unprecedented opportunity to better  
understand and support learning, and to question the impact of these  
technologies on individuals, institutions and culture. This effort,  
however, is necessarily interdisciplinary and requires the use of a  
diverse methodological toolset.

Goals

The 2016 Learning Analytics Summer Institute (LASI 16 -  
lasi.solaresearch.org) will directly address the challenge  
multidisciplinary and multi-methodology. Continuing the momentum of  
prior summer institutes, LASI 16 will have two primary goals:

Build the field of Learning Analytics through the advancement of LA  
methods, cross disciplinary interactions, and connecting researchers  
and research communities.
Develop the skills and knowledge of doctoral students and academics,  
equipping them to engage actively in LA research and teaching.
After the 1st such event in Stanford in 2013 , LASI has become a  
strategic event held annually, organized by the Society for Learning  
Analytics Research (SoLAR - solaresearch.org). The 2016 institute will  
be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan in cooperation with the Office of  
Digital Education and Innovation (http://digitaleducation.umich.edu/)  
at the University of Michigan (https://www.umich.edu/). In parallel a  
global network of LASI-Locals  
(http://lasi.solaresearch.org/lasi-locals/) will run their own  
gatherings that will be interactive with the participants in Ann  
Arbor, Michigan, USA as well as with each other.

Format

Over the course of three days, participants will engage in a  
combination of activities, including presentations, hands-on  
tutorials, group work and ample opportunity for informal interactions.

For the first time at LASI – the hosting university, the University of  
Michigan, is making a real, yet synthetic (to protect identities)  
dataset available to the workshop leads to enable participants to  
learn analytic strategies and techniques and think about the results  
in context. 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  
demonstrate how a LA research can have meaningful impact on teaching  
and learning. Participants will leave better equipped to actively  
engage in advancing the LA field through their teaching and research  
activities.

We will strive for a careful balance between disciplines, skillsets  
and seniority in the selection of participants.

Organizing Committee

- Stephanie D Teasley, University of Michigan, USA (Program Co-Chair)
- Tim McKay, University of Michigan, USA (Program Co-Chair)
- Simon Buckingham-Shum, University of Technology Sydney (LASI-Locals chair)
- Phillip Long, University of Texas, Austin, USA
- Grace Lynch, University of New England, Australia
- Srećko Joksimović, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
- Leah Macfadyen, University of British Columbia, Canada
- Xavier Ochoa, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, Ecuado
Enquiries

For updates on currently scheduled LASI-locals, see  
http://lasi.solaresearch.org/lasi-locals/ for more details.

-- 
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.