SoLAR Working Groups
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.
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 Nixon (co-chair), Rogers Kaliisa (co-chair), Heeryung Choi, Cathy Manly, Caitlin Mills, Laura Allen, Dilrukshi Gamage, Adele Smolansky, Olga Viberg
Initiatives & Responsibilities:
- Oversees LAK Conference Scholarship
- Provides recommendations to the SoLAR Executive and LAK Organizing teams to ensure initiatives are creating an inclusive and welcoming space
Working Group Goals:
- To disseminate learning analytics related research and practice through internal and external communications of the society
Working Group Chair and Members:
Ioana Jivet, co-Chair (jivet@sd.uni-frankfurt.de), Yi-Shan Tsai, Rogers Kaliisa, Shibani Antonette, Anouschka van Leeuwen, Olga Viberg, Yizhou Fan, Isabel Hilliger, Mohammad Khalil
Initiatives & Responsibilities:
- Bi-monthly webinar series
- Bi-monthly podcast (SoLAR Spotlight: Conversations in Learning Analytics)
- Monthly SoLAR Newsletters. You can also review our recently published newsletters here.
Working Group Goals:
- To promote and support the establishment of Special Interest Groups within the Society
Working Group Chair and Members:
Rogers Kaliisa (co-chair), Kathryn Bartimote (co-chair), Charles Lang, Kirsty Kitto, J. G.P (Peter) Groothengel, Paul Prinsloo, Shibani Antonette, Lisa Lim
Current 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.
Working Group Goals:
- To maintain the SoLAR website and ensure dissemination of important activities and initiatives within the society
Working Group Chair and Members:
Ioana Jivet, co-Chair (jivet@sd.uni-frankfurt.de), Nicole Hoover
Initiatives & Responsibilities:
- Maintain SoLAR website and Membership system
- Review website and make recommendations to SoLAR Executive for future development and improvement
Working Group Goals:
- To maintain and create new content for the SoLAR Nexus blog
Working Group Chair and Members:
Blazenka Divjak (chair), Barbi Svetec
Interested in writing a piece for Nexus?
Nexus shares LA insights in tasty accessible chunks with the wider community!
This includes educators, designers, leaders and data scientists. If you think you have a story to tell then contact the editors via solarnexusblog@gmail.com. If they invite you to draft a story then you’ll also get great feedback on how to communicate your ideas more effectively.
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); Mohammad Khalil, Alejandra Martínez Monés
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:
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:
Bart Rienties (chair), Kathryn Bartimote, Grace Lynch, Nicole Hoover
Working Group Goals:
- To promote the development of high-quality Learning Analytics educational resources
Working Group Chair & Members:
Bart Rienties (co-chair), Blazenka Divjak (co-chair), Yianna Vovides, Geraldine Gray, Ioana Jivet, Dan Davis, Elke Scheffler, Ying Que, Adele Smolansky
SoLAR In-Cooperated Education Projects:
If you are working on a course or study program (for credit or not, online or not), textbook or any other educational project that would benefit the learning analytics community, consider applying for SoLAR Educational In-Cooperation status. Please complete the educational project in-cooperation web form, which asks you to upload documentation including the target audience, duration and modes of study, any form of accreditation, the learning materials, and your credentials. SoLAR requires that you should attend to ethical considerations in a way that’s appropriate in breadth and depth to the level of the course. If you have any questions please contact us at info@solaresearch.org.
Working Group Goals:
- To promote & create partnerships with related industry that are interested in Learning Analytics implementation and common goals
Working Group Chair & Members:
Olga Viberg (chair)
Interesting in joining this working group and working with Olga? Reach out to solarsocietymgmt@gmail.com.
Working Group Goals:
- To support promising early career researchers who demonstrate the potential to advance research and practice in learning analytics and increase the educational and socio-economic impacts of learning analytics.
Working Group Chair & Members:
Lisa Lim (chair), Bart Rienties, Grace Lynch, Simon Buckingham Shum, Yi-Shan Tsai, Mohammad Khalil
Initiatives & Responsibilities:
Oversees the ECR Research Grant