Dr. Dragan Gasevic
Dr. Gasevic is a Canada Research Chair in Semantic and Learning Technologies and an Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at Athabasca University. Dragan is a co-founder and the current President-Elect of the Society for Learning Analytics Research. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University, Associate Adjunct Professor in the Learning and Teaching Unit at the University of South Australia, and an IBM CAS Faculty Fellow. A computer scientist by training and skill, Dragan considers himself a learning and information scientist developing computational methods that can shape next-generation learning and software technologies and advance our understanding of information-seeking, sense-making, self-regulated and social learning. Funded by granting agencies and industry in Canada, Australia, USA, and Europe, Dragan is a recipient of several best paper awards at the major international conferences in learning and software technology. The award-winning work of his team on the LOCO-Analytics software is considered one of the pioneering contributions in the growing area of learning analytics. Recently, he has founded ProSolo Technologies Inc. that develops a software solution for tracking, evaluating, and recognizing competences gained through self-directed learning and social interactions. 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 (LASI) in 2013 and 2014. Currently serving as a founding editor of the Journal of Learning Analytics, Dragan is a (co-)author of numerous research papers and books and a frequent keynote speaker.
On October 14, from 12:30 until 1:30 pm (Central Time), in the Rady Room (601 Nedderman Hall)
Dr. Gasevic delivered the following public presentation:
Title: Learning Analytics are about Learning
Abstract:
The analysis of data collected via interaction of users with educational and information technology has attracted much attention as a promising approach for advancing our understanding of the learning process. This promise motivated the emergence of the new research field, learning analytics, and its closely related discipline, educational data mining. This talk will first introduce the field of learning analytics and touch on lessons learned from some of best-known case studies in the research literature. The talk will then identify critical challenges that require immediate research attention in order for learning analytics to make a sustainable impact on the research and practice of learning and teaching. The talk will conclude in discussing a set of milestones selected as critical for the maturation of the field of learning analytics. The most important take away from this talk will be that learning analytics are about learning and that computational aspects of learning analytics are necessary to be integrated deeply with the existing research in learning sciences and education.