LACE SoLAR Flare (OU, 2014)
On Friday October 24th 2014, the Learning Analytics Community Exchange (LACE) project – an initiative funded by the EU’s FP7 programme – held a SoLAR Flare event at The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. LACE invited technology specialists, teachers, researchers, educators, ICT purchasing decision-makers, senior leaders, business intelligence analysts, policy makers, funders, students, and companies to Milton Keynes for an exciting day of events and discussion. Around 50 people attended in person, with another 356 from around the world tuning in via the livestream.
Two keynotes took place, one from Alan Berg, talking about the Apereo initiative, and another from Chris Lowis, talking about learning analytics on the FutureLearn MOOC platform. In addition, there were 13 lightning presentations from people working with learning analytics in multiple countries and contexts including the UK, France and Spain and four sub-groups discussed evidence to go into the LACE Learning Analytics Evidence Hub. Of course, quality time was also spent connecting with colleagues, sharing updates on initiatives and exploring potential for collaboration.
Here are some artifacts from what transpired: