NB. Early registration closes February 15 2012. Register now to get the best rates. http://lak12.sites.olt.ubc.ca/ Please join us for the Second International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK12). This year’s conference will be located in Vancouver, Canada from 29th April to 2nd May 2012. For the world of higher education, learning analytics is gaining increasing momentum for its capacity to respond to and inform the dynamic and complex landscape that is 21st century education and learning. Learning analytics has a vast potential to address the many current concerns in higher education surrounding learning and the educational experience – such as lead indicators and predictive models for identifying students requiring additional learning support, reducing student attrition, measuring student graduate attributes, and developing scalable methods for enhancing teaching practice. Learning analytics capitalizes on the data intensive, technological base that supports contemporary formal and informal learning to extend capacity and understanding of learning processes in contemporary environments. It is of little surprise that the field of learning analytics is a rapidly expanding area of research and practice, drawing the attention of governments, foundations, and academics. Our conference provides the opportunity to consider these opportunities and challenges and the role learning analytics can play in both applied and theoretical contexts. LAK12 will bring together a diversity of researchers focused on the many inter-disciplinary fields associated with learning analytics. Who Should Attend? Learning Analytics and Knowledge 2012 is a multidisciplinary conference for: * learning scientists * (computer) scientists and data/knowledge engineers * researchers in education, sociology, psychology, information science * educators at all levels * Institutional/ Organizational data analysts * training and development professionals * educational and academic leaders * business leaders * course management system developers and leaders The Learning Analytics and Knowledge conference will explore the current state of learning analytics, knowledge modelling and representation, knowledge work and analytics, and plan for needed research, technologies, and processes to advance the field. Conference Chairs * Shane Dawson, University of British Columbia, Canada (sdawson @ exchange .ubc .ca) * Caroline Haythornthwaite, University of British Columbia, Canada (c. haythorn @ ubc .ca) Program Chairs * Dragan Gasevic, Athabasca University, Canada (dgasevic @ acm .org) * Simon Buckingham Shum, Open University, UK (s. buckingham. shum @ gmail .com) Workshops Chair * Rebecca Ferguson, Open University, UK (r. m. ferguson @ open.ac.uk<http://open.ac.uk>)