31 July 2015, Prague, CZ

Learning analytics and educational data mining have become mainstream research topics, with corresponding rich achievements, results and developments. However, unfortunately the community is quite fragmented. Thus, the main goal of this summer camp is to bring together all the European players in the fields of learning analytics and educational data mining, in particular those from the relevant European-funded projects, and to find synergies and common goals. As opposed to conventional conferences or workshops, this summer camp aims to establish concrete collaborations and common projects.

The summer camp is based on an in-depth presentation of the projects and research directions, the search for common ground, and the alignment of common strengths. This event is not intended as an exchange of knowledge and solutions, but rather, a joint effort to bring together what we have to a concrete and broad application in the European educational landscape. Essentially, the major aim of the summer camp is to find joint solutions to the ‘impact’ we are expected to make. We believe that streamlining our expertise and the solutions that already exist can bring us a big step towards achieving our shared goals. This is not trivial, however, since it requires a team that is big enough to comprise major knowledge, while also small enough to be able to really accomplish our ambitious, but important goals. Together we can form a team that is strong enough to accomplish this.
 

In addition to sharing what we are doing, the dedicated goal of the summer camp is to compile a joint publication, far beyond regular proceedings, of a road map towards making learning analytics and data mining outcomes an everyday part of education, no matter what the age group or mode of learning. Not least, we want to develop very concrete new project ideas, and form new, specialized interest groups.

In summary, the key goal of the LEA’s BOX project is to fill a “cardboard box” full of the most useful things that will help to make a difference in learning. This summer camp is a call to join this vision!