|
Prof. Dragan Gašević
Chair in Learning Analytics and Informatics
Moray House School of Education and School of Informatics
University of Edinburgh
Prof. Dragan Gašević is a Professor and the Chair in Learning Analytics and Informatics in the Moray House School of Education and the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. He served as the president (2015-2017) of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR) and holds several honorary adjunct appointments in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and USA. A computer scientist by training and skills, Dragan considers himself a learning analyst who develops computational methods that can shape next-generation learning technologies and advance our understanding of self-regulated and social learning. Funded by granting agencies and industry in Canada, Australia, Europe, and USA, Dragan is a recipient of several best paper awards at the major international conferences in learning and software technology. Committed to the development of international research community, Dragan had the pleasure to serve as a founding program co-chair of the International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge (LAK) in 2011 and 2012 and the Learning Analytics Summer Institute in 2013 and 2014, general chair of LAK’16, and a founding editor of the Journal of Learning Analytics (2012-2017). Dragan is a (co-)author of numerous research papers and books and a frequent keynote speaker.
Abstract
The field of learning analytics was founded with the goal to harness vast amounts of data about learning collected by the extensive use of technology. After the early formation, the field has now entered the next phase of maturation with a growing community who has an evident impact on research, practice, policy, and decision-making. Although learning analytics is a bricolage field borrowing from many related other disciplines, there is still no systematized model that shows how these different disciplines are pieced together. Existing models and frameworks of learning analytics are valuable in identifying elements and processes of learning analytics, but they insufficiently elaborate on the links with foundational disciplines. This talk will describe a consolidated model of the field of research and practice that is composed of three mutually connected dimensions – theory, design, and data science. The talk will define why and how each of the three dimensions along with their mutual relations is critical for research and practice of learning analytics. Finally, the talk will highlight the importance of multi-perspective approaches to learning analytics based on its three core dimensions for a healthy development of the field and a sustainable impact on research and practice. |
|
Prof. Gwo-Jen Hwang
Chair Professor
Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education
Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Prof. Gwo-Jen Hwang is Chair Professor of Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education and Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.
He serves as an editorial board member and a reviewer for more than 30 academic journals of educational technology and e-learning. Currently, he is the associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Learning Technology (SSCI), the editor-in-chief of International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation (Scopus), and the editor-in-chief of Journal of Computers in Education. Prof. Hwang has published more than 550 academic papers, including 250 journal papers. Owing to his reputation in academic research and innovative inventions in e-learning, he received the annual most Outstanding Researcher Award from the National Science Council of Taiwan in the years 2007, 2010 and 2013. Moreover, based on the statistics of the publications from 2011–2015, the Times World University Ranking has announced that Prof. Hwang is the most prolific and most cited researchers in the field of social sciences in the world.
Abstract
The advancement of computing and communication technologies has significantly changed the conception of teaching and learning in the past decades. Such a paradigm shift has attracted the attention of researchers from both the fields of computer science and education technology, who have tried to conduct various experimental e-learning studies to improve students’ learning performance. However, finding a valuable and innovative research topic is a challenging task for most researchers. Many papers submitted to well recognized journals are rejected owing to the lack of innovation in the studies. In this talk, Prof. Hwang is going to present the strategies for finding innovative e-learning research topics as well as the criteria for publishing a quality paper. In addition, authentic examples will be given to demonstrate how the value of an e-learning study can be promoted. |