SoLAR Spotlight: Conversations on Learning Analytics

The Society for Learning Analytics Research is proud to present “SoLAR Spotlight: Conversations in Learning Analytics,” a new podcast series for our growing community!

The series is meant to create more spaces for our community to collaborate and share the work that is being done around the world, and where we discuss some big ideas and trends in research and practice of learning analytics. Our podcasts will be offered on a bi-monthly basis. We hope you’ll follow along and share your ideas and feedback with us!

The podcast series is available on Soundcloud, iTunes and Spotify, so you can listen to it on your favourite platform!

If you would like to share your thoughts on the content of our podcast or take a guess on the answer to the ‘Two Truths and One Lie’ game that we played in the podcast, please Tweet us @solaresearch using #solarspotlight. You can send specific feedback on podcast episodes and suggest potential topics and speakers by emailing solar.spotlight.podcast@gmail.com.

Episode 9: 21st Century Skills and Learning Analytics featuring Ruth Deakin Crick (Jearni, UK & University of Technology Sydney, Australia) and Elizabeth Koh (National Institute of Education, Singapore)

Soundcloud | iTunes | Spotify

This episode of the SoLAR Spotlight podcast series features Ruth Crick and Elizabeth Koh as guests, hosted by Shibani Antonette. They talk about key skills to nurture among 21st century learners for the future and how learning analytics can play a part.

What is your takeaway of this podcast? What is the lie that Ruth and Elizabeth tell in the 'two truths and a lie' game? Let us know on twitter using the hashtag #SoLARspotlight on Twittter.

Episode 8: Turning Crisis into Opportunities - EdTech, Analytics, and Education featuring Allison Littlejohn (University College London, UK) and Mike Sharkey (Arizona State University, USA)

Soundcloud | iTunes | Spotify

With the rise of EdTech in the past decade and its rapid growth during the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns about education being disrupted and redefined have increased. What are the changes that the current trends bring to learning and teaching? What are the responsibilities that the learning analytics community share in using data to enhance learning? In this episode, Yi-Shan Tsai discuss these issues with Allison Littlejohn and Mike Sharkey. What are your thoughts on this topic? Please share with us on Twitter using the hashtag #SoLARspotlight.

Episode 7: Diversity and Inclusion in Learning Analytics Research featuring Angela Stewart (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)

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This episode of the SoLAR Spotlight podcast series features Angela Stewart from the University of Colorado Boulder as guest and is hosted by Maren Scheffel. They talk about aspects of diversity and inclusion when it comes to learning analytics research, e.g. diversity in teams, biased algorithms and resources to educate oneself with regards to diversity in academia and the BLM movement.

The resources Angela shared and also others are listed on SoLAR's "Statement of Support and Call for Action" page

Do you have any resources to share? And what do you think is the lie that Angela tells in the 'two truths and a lie' game? Let us know on Twitter using the hashtag #SoLARspotlight.

Episode 6: Privacy and Ethics in Learning Analytics, featuring Paul Prinsloo (University of South Africa, South Africa) and Kirsty Kitto (University of Technology Sydney, Australia)

Soundcloud | iTunes | Spotify

This episode of the SoLAR Spotlight podcast series features Paul Prinsloo and Kirsty Kitto as guests, hosted by Shibani Antonette. They talk about privacy and ethical concerns in learning analytics and ways to overcome them.

What is your takeaway of this podcast? What is the lie that Paul and Kirsty tell in the 'two truths and a lie' game? Let us know on twitter using the hashtag #SoLARspotlight.

Episode 5: Measuring Learning Analytics Impact, featuring Bart Rienties (Open University, UK) and Linda Corrin (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia)

Soundcloud | iTunes | Spotify

LA is a young but fast growing field. As we are about to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the field next month in Frankfurt, it’s important that we take some time to think about what we have achieved with LA and where the evidence of impact is. In this episode, we discuss the topic of measuring impact with Dr Linda Corrin from Swinburne University in Australia and Prof Bart Rienties from Open University in the UK

Episode 4: The Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference, featuring Hendrik Drachsler (Goethe University, Germany), Nicole Hoover (SoLAR, USA), Vitomir Kovanovic (University of South Australia, AUS) and Grace Lynch (SoLAR, AUS)

Soundcloud | iTunes | Spotify

This episode of the SoLAR Spotlight podcast series features Grace Lynch, Nicole Hoover, Vitomir Kovanovic, and Hendrik Drachsler (four members of the LAK20 organising team) as guests and is hosted by Maren Scheffel. They talk about what it is like to organise the Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference and provide some insights into what will happen at this year’s edition of LAK - the 10th anniversary of the conference!

Episode 3: Giving a voice to stakeholders in Learning Analytics design, featuring Ed de Quincey (Keele University, UK) and Kenneth Holstein (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)

Soundcloud | iTunes | Spotify

This episode of the SoLAR Spotlight podcast series features Ed de Quincey and Kenneth Holstein as guests, hosted by Shibani Antonette. They talk about involving stakeholders such as students and teachers in the design of learning analytics using participatory design approaches.

What is your takeaway of this podcast? What is the lie that Ed and Ken tell in the 'two truths and a lie' game? Let us know on twitter using the hashtag #SoLARspotlight.

Episode 2: Scaling Institutional Readiness, featuring Prof Tinne De Laet (KU Leuven, Belgium) and Dr Julio Guerra Hollstein (Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile)

Soundcloud | iTunes | Spotify

This podcast features a conversation on the topic of institutional readiness for learning analytics with Prof Tinne De Laet (KU Leuven in Belgium) and Dr Julio Guerra Hollstein(Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile). Tinne and Julio share with us their experience in preparing higher education institutions to adopt learning analytics, including research activities, stakeholder engagement, and policy development.

Episode 1: Learning Analytics - Past, Present, and Future, featuring Professor Abelardo Pardo (University of South Australia, Australia) and current SoLAR President.

Soundcloud | iTunes | Spotify

In this very first episode of the SoLAR Spotlight podcast, our three hosts Shibani Antonette, Maren Scheffel and Yi-Shan Tsai talk with Abelardo Pardo, the current president of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR), about past, present and future of learning analytics.

What is your takeaway of this podcast? What is the lie that Abelardo tells in the "two truths and a lie" game? Let us know on twitter using the hashtag #SoLARspotlight.

If you want to know more about SoLAR, get in touch via solaresearch.org or tweet us @SoLAResearch.