First call for contributions:

LAK13: Third International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge

8-12 April, Leuven, Belgium http://lakconference.org

Papers and Workshop/Tutorial Proposals due November 1, 2012 Doctoral Consortium, Poster and Workshop Participation Submissions due January 31, 2013

The International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference, now in its third year, is a venue for reporting and advancing research at the nexus of two emerging societal phenomena. First we are witnessing the rapid expansion of the use of technologies in supporting learning, not only in established institutional contexts and platforms, but also in the emerging landscape of free, open, social learning online. Second, the unprecedented availability of data that learners generate in the process of accessing learning materials, interacting with educators and peers, and creating new content in these technological settings, coupled with advances in analytics and data mining, knowledge modeling and representation and open data offer great potential for research into how learning takes place in socio-technical settings and the development of new forms of analytics that can inform learners and educators. Learning Analytics research brings these technical, pedagogical, and social domains into dialogue with each other to ensure that interventions and organizational systems serve the needs of all stakeholders.

THEME: Dialectics in Learning Analytics The first two conferences have established the range of issues and approaches of concern in leveraging the availability of data about learning with powerful computational, representational and visualization techniques. This third conference will be designed to consolidate the field by bringing these many voices into dialogue in a "middle space" under the overarching theme of "Dialectics in Learning Analytics", which has these facets:

The Middle Space: The conference will explore the middle space within which Learning and Analytics intersect, and seeks proposals for papers and events that explicitly connect analytic tools to theoretical and practical aspects of understanding and managing learning.

Productive Multivocality: Learning analytics is multidisciplinary, drawing on theories and methods from diverse research traditions. Our community includes educators, learning scientists, computer scientists, administrators, and policy makers, among others. The middle space serves as a topical "boundary object", enabling productive discourse between these many voices.

The Old and the New: We are facing a centuries old problem: to improve learning, but we are trying to solve it using a new set of tools, not available before. We address these problems in the city of Leuven: centuries old, lively new.

TOPICS We invite submissions on topics including but not limited to the following: * Conceptual -- New models of learning enabled by analytics -- Personalization and adaptation in the learning process through analytics -- Learner modeling -- The analysis of emotion, flow, and affective data in learning environments -- Ethical considerations (e.g., privacy and ownership) -- Learning analytics for accreditation -- The influence of analytics on designing for learning -- Learning analytics patterns -- Organizational dynamics and adoption strategies -- Educational research methods and learning analytics -- Learning analytics in relationship to other fields (e.g., educational research, educational data mining, web science, etc.)

* Technical Innovations for Sensemaking -- Network analysis methods for understanding learning -- Visualization techniques -- Attention metadata for learning -- Data mining and machine learning techniques in learning analytics -- Natural language processing and text mining in learning analytics -- The role of knowledge representation and ontologies in learning analytics -- The semantic web and linked data applied to learning analytics -- Analytic tools that could be used for learning -- "Big Data" applications and opportunities in learning and education -- Learning environments enhanced with analytics -- Architecture of learning environments and implications for learning analytics -- Recommendation Engines -- Interfaces for learning analytics -- Decision-support systems for learning

* Applications and Use Cases -- Interventions based on analytics -- Visualizations to support awareness and reflection -- Social and technical systems to manage information abundance -- Personalization and adaptation of the learning process -- Corporate and higher education case studies of learning analytics -- Learning analytics for intelligent tutoring systems -- Open data and data access for learners -- Harmonizing individual learning with organizational learning -- Organizational learning and knowledge sharing models -- Use of learning analytics in centralized (learning management systems) and decentralized (personal learning environments) settings -- Planning, deploying, and evaluating enterprise-wide learning analytics

SUBMISSION TYPES

Primary Participation

Full and Short Papers, Design Briefings, and the abstracts for Panels, Workshops and Tutorials will be published in the main proceedings. Submissions in these categories are due November 1, 2012.

-- Full Papers Use a full paper to share substantial conceptual, technical and empirical contributions, following the advice to authors given above. Submit up to 10 pages in the conference paper format.

-- Short Papers, Design Briefings, and Formal Demonstrations Use a short paper to share preliminary conceptual, technical and empirical contributions, or substantial contributions that can be reported briefly. Short papers can also share a design concept or tool that addresses a challenge of interest to interface designers, system architects and programmers. A formal demonstration of interactive software or tools may also be proposed: such submissions should include at least one link to a current demo movie. Submit up to 5 pages in the conference paper format.

-- Panels Panels provide the chance for delegates to hear a range of speakers address a topical issue, e.g. diverse approaches to a problem, or a debate a hot topic. Submit up to 4 pages in the conference paper format suitable for publication in the proceedings, including an introduction to the nature and importance of the issue to be addressed and panelists' position statements. Submit 2 additional pages (not to be published in the proceedings) with the names and qualifications of confirmed panelists and discussants and a summary of how your panel format will ensure that there is interaction between panelists rather than consisting of a collection of disconnected talks.

-- Workshops Workshops (8-9 April, 2013) provide the opportunity to explore learning theory, analytics, methods and tools in depth. Workshops should be designed to take advantage of the interactivity afforded by this format, and should not consist merely of a day of talks. They may include for example, experience sharing and brainstorming, interactive demonstrations, data analysis by multiple analysts, problem solving sessions, and a few short and/or enlightening presentations. The length of the workshop sessions can range from a half to a full day (consisting of two to four 1.5 hour blocks between breaks). See web site for submission format.

-- Tutorials Tutorials (also 8-9 April, 2013) provide the chance to take participants deep into a specific tool or technique in which you are experienced, or an introduction to a topic/class of tools. The time could range from a 1.5 hour session to a full day (consisting of two to four 1.5 hour blocks between breaks). Please use the workshop/tutorial template for submissions.

Secondary Participation

Submissions for the following forms of participation are due January 31, 2013.

-- Doctoral Consortium A one-day consortium will be organized for doctoral students who are about to defend or have recently defended their proposals. Participating students will have the opportunity to present their proposed research to reputable faculty in learning analytics and obtain valuable advice. Other professional development and social networking activities will be included. Details for submission requirements will be forthcoming in a future call.

-- Informal Demonstrations A space (table top surface) and designated times for informal demonstrations of relevant software will be provided at the conference. Submit one page that includes a 1-line title, name of presenter, and an abstract limited to 100 words suitable for printing in the conference guide. Demonstrators should be prepared to interact with several conference participants at a time in an interactive and not excessively scripted manner.

-- Posters Posters are suitable for describing late-breaking results or for engaging conference participants in discussion of preliminary ideas or findings. Submit a 1-line title, the name(s) of the presenter(s), and an abstract limited to 100 words suitable for printing in the conference guide. This should be followed with up to two pages describing the concept or results to be presented, the expected interactions with conference participants, and the poster format that will support these interactions. (If available, a high-resolution image of the poster provided as the second page can fulfill this requirement, and is preferred. Easily visible graphics and large brief texts are encouraged rather than small text.)

-- Workshop Participation LAK workshops will provide conference participants with opportunities to interact intensively on a topic of shared interest. Workshop calls for participation will be distributed shortly after the December 14th workshop acceptance notification date. January 31st will be the uniform date for priority submissions for participation in workshops, although we encourage workshops to accept later submissions on a space-available basis. Workshop organizers will specify submission requirements.

SUBMISSION FORMAT AND PUBLICATION LAK 2011 and LAK2012 were published in the ACM Digital Library International Conference Proceedings Series. We plan to do the same following the granting of ACM In-Cooperation status to the conference. Author guidelines are available at http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates (option 1).

RELEVANT DATES November 1: Paper, Workshop, and Tutorial Proposals Due December 14: Notification for Papers, Workshops, and Tutorials January 31: Workshop Participation, Poster, and Informal Demonstration Submissions Due February 15: Workshop, Poster, and Demonstration Notification February 15: Final Papers Due March 1: Early Registration Deadline April 8-12: Conference

CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS

General Chairs -- Erik Duval, Belgium -- Xavier Ochoa, Ecuador

Program Chairs -- Dan Suthers, USA -- Katrien Verbert, Belgium