SoLAR Working Groups
Join us in working toward the mission of the society. Get involved with a SoLAR Working Group today!
The SoLAR Executive Working Groups are governed by the SoLAR Executive Committee. The Executive committee is made up of elected members as per the SoLAR by-laws. In addition to the SoLAR Executive, there are working groups created to further the mission and vision of the SoLAR community, as needed.
- Working group chairs are Executive members who lead and oversee the working groups.
- Each working group chairperson can volunteer or be nominated.
- Working groups can be comprised of Executive members and non-executive SoLAR members.
- Working groups work outside of regular executive meetings.
- Update and bring forth proposals to the SoLAR Executive as needed.
- Each working group operates on an annual basis and is reassessed with every new executive team.
If you are interested in joining a SoLAR working Group, please reach out to the individual Working Group Chair and/or our Event & Management Coordinator, Nicole at info@solaresearch.org.
Inclusion Working Group
Working Group Goals:
- To develop and implement initiatives aimed at the society's goal to promote, elevate and foster an open and inclusive environment; recruit a balanced, diverse (gender, geographic, thematic, etc.) and welcoming membership.
Working Group Chair & Members:
Nia Dowell, Chair (nia.dowell@uci.edu); Maren Scheffel, Elle Wang, Stephanie Teasley, Cathy Manly, Gol Irgens, Angela Stewart, Shenita RayRecent and/or Past Initiatives:
- Announced the formation of the first LAK Conference Scholarship to support individuals in the field of learning analytics who live and work in regions of the world that are underrepresented at LAK to attend the conference.
- Orgainised "Speed Mentoring" Network Session at LAK19. The session was geared toward students and early career researchers as they discussed and asked questions to Senior researchers in the community.
- Created and distributed an Inclusion and Diversity survey to all SoLAR members and the LA community.
Communications Working Group
Working Group Goals:
- To disseminate learning analytics related research and practice through internal and external communications of the society
Working Group Chair and Members:
Yi-Shan Tsai, Chair (Yi-Shan.Tsai@ed.ac.uk), Vitomir Kovanovic, Shibani Antonette, Anouschka van Leeuwen, Yizhou Fan, Melanie Peffer, Isabel HilligerRecent and/or Past Initiatives:
- Launched bi-monthly webinar series in August 2019
- Launched a bi-monthly podcast (SoLAR Spotlight: Conversations in Learning Analytics) jointly with the inclusion working group in July 2019
- Strengthened the SoLAR monthly newsletter with robust information for SoLAR members and the broader LA community. Sign up here for our mailing list. You can also review our recently published newsletters here.
Special Interest Groups Working Group
Working Group Goals:
- To promote and support the establishment of Special Interest Groups within the Society
Working Group Chair and Members:
Shibani Antonette, Chair (antonette.shibani@uts.edu.au); Charles Lang, Kirsty Kitto, Kathryn Bartimote-Aufflick, J.G.P. (Peter) GroothengelCurrent SoLAR SIGs:
- Graduate Student Special Interest Group
- Learning Analytics - Asia
- Multimodal Learning Analytics Across Spaces (CrossMMLA SIG)
- Special Interest Group on Writing Analytics (SIGWA)
- Learning Analytics Community Europe (LACE)
- Learning Analytics for Latin America (LALA) SIG
- Methodology in Learning Analytics (MLA) SIG
Interested in joining an already existing SIG?
Reach out to the SIG coordinator at any of the pages above.Interested in establishing a new SoLAR SIG?
Please review the SoLAR SIG guidelines. Once you have reviewed the guidelines and would like to proceed to submit a proposal to the SIG working group, please complete the Google Form to submit your proposal for review. All SIG proposals are reviewed by the SIG working group and then require approval by the SoLAR Executive Committee. Notifications of SoLAR decision will be made no later than 8 weeks after submission.
Website Working Group
Working Group Goals:
- To maintain the SoLAR website and ensure dissemination of important activities and initiatives within the society
Working Group Chair and Members:
Bodong Chen, Chair (chenbd@umn.edu), Vitomir Kovanovic, Nicole Hoover, Erkan ErRecent and/or Past Initiatives:
- Integrated LAK conference website into the main SoLAR website
- Launched brand new re-designed solaresearch.org in September 2019
- Improved membership portal for better functionality for member renewals
Events Working Group
Events Working Group
Working Group Goals:
- To encourage and support learning analytics related events that are hosted by a wide diversity of communities, in order to further the mission of the society by expanding the field of Learning Analytics.
Working Group Chair & Members:
Isabel Hilliger, Chair (ihillige@ing.puc.cl); Oleksandra Poquet
Event In-Cooperation - If you are organising a conference, local LASI, seminar, symposia, workshop, tutorial, or a similar academic event that relates to learning analytics, you might want to apply for SoLAR’s event in-cooperation. Take a look at our event in-cooperation guidelines; if you think that your event meets the criteria you can then fill out our event in-cooperation web form.
Recent SoLAR In-Cooperated Events:
Membership Working Group
Working Group Goals:
The Working Group aims to work on initiatives to expand membership benefits and increase overall membership for the society. The membership working group also coordinates the Institutional Briefs that are released to all institutional members twice per year.Working Group Chair and Members:
Craig Thompson, Chair (craig.thompson@ubc.ca); Oleksandra (Sasha) Poquet; Grace Lynch, Nicole Hoover
Education Working Group
Working Group Goals:
- To promote the development of high-quality Learning Analytics educational resources
Working Group Chair & Members:
Simon Buckingham Shum, Chair (Simon.BuckinghamShum@uts.edu.au); Dan Davis, Geraldine Gray, Ioana Jivet, Yianna VovidesSoLAR In-Cooperated Education Projects:
- Learning Analytics Series in EdX - May 2018