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Keynote speakers

Tinne De Laet

On the (non)sense of chances of success and predictions in Learning Analytics Dashboards

Tinne De Laet

Bio: Tinne De Laet is associate professor at the Faculty of Engineering Science, KU Leuven. After her degree in mechanical engineering and a PhD in robotic, she obtained a tenure track position, focusing on engineering education and supporting and counselling of students in particular during the transition from secondary to higher education. She is the Head of the Tutorial Services of Engineering Science, providing her with first-hand experience on the transition from secondary to higher education and student advising and tutoring. SHer research focuses on using learning analytics, conceptual learning in mechanics, and study success of STEM students and always aims at bridging the gap to educational practice. he has been involved in a coordinated multiple European projects on learning analytics including ABLE and STELA  and LALA. Since 2018 she is chairing the Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center  (LESEC) an the SEFI  working group of engineering education research. She has been involved in the organization of several conferences and acts as the program chair of the EC-TEL 2021 conference .

Abstract: The keynote will provide a “reality check” on Learning Analytics Dashboards. This reality check is based on the experiences from developing, researching, piloting and upscaling dashboards providing support to higher education students and student advisors. I will draw on these experiences to present recommendations for future scalable learning analytics dashboards. Finally, I will elaborate on the new research direction of explainable AI and its potential to bring predictive models to educational practice.

Dirk Ifenthaler

Guiding the Implementation of Learning Analytics for Study Success

Bio: Dirk Ifenthaler is Professor and Chair of Learning, Design and Technology at University of Mannheim, Germany and UNESCO Deputy Chair of Data Science in Higher Education Learning and Teaching at Curtin University, Australia. 

His previous roles include Professor and Director, Centre for Research in Digital Learning at Deakin University, Australia, Manager of Applied Research and Learning Analytics at Open Universities, Australia, and Professor for Applied Teaching and Learning Research at the University of Potsdam, Germany. He was a 2012 Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, at the University of Oklahoma, USA.

Dirk’s research focuses on the intersection of cognitive psychology, educational technology, data analytics, and organisational learning. His research outcomes include numerous co-authored books, book series, book chapters, journal articles, and international conference papers, as well as successful grant funding in Australia, Germany, and USA. 

He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Technology, Knowledge and Learning, Senior Editor of Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Learning Analytics and Artificial Intelligence for Education.

Abstract: Study success includes the successful completion of a first degree in higher education to the largest extent, and the successful completion of individual learning tasks to the smallest extent. Recent developments in learning analytics, which are a socio-technical data mining and analytic practice in educational contexts, show promise to enhance study success in higher education through the analysis of data from learners and learning processes for providing meaningful feedback and scaffolds when needed. 

In a systematic review based on more than 6,000 studies, we identified empirical evidence demonstrating how learning analytics have been successful in facilitating study success in continuation and completion of students’ university courses. However, rigorous evidence on a large scale to support the effectiveness of learning analytics for supporting study success is still lacking.

The presentation will highlight drivers for successful implementation of learning analytics for supporting study success while the implementation of learning analytics at higher education institutions may have broad implications for the organisation and its stakeholders (e.g., students, academic staff, administrators) including changes in learning culture and educational decision-making. Hence, change management seems to be an essential prerequisite when implementing learning analytics, while change management includes approaches to prepare and support organisations and its stakeholders in making sustainable and beneficial organisational change.

Annika Agélii Genlott

Digitalization in education – a national and regional concern,

Bio: Annika Agélii Genlott, PhD (Informatics), works as a project leader at the Swedish Association for Local Regions (SALAR) and was the project manager of the national action plan for the digitalization of education, handed over to the Swedish government in 2019. In 2020 Annika finished her dissertation on how digitalization within education can be more effectively lead by principal organizers of school in the local regions of Sweden. 

Abstract: DDigitalization in education comprises a wide range of areas, comes with both pros and cons and often creates a divide between practitioners within the sphere of education. In October 2017, a digital strategy with overall goals to be reached in 2022 was adopted by the Swedish Government since the non-equivalence between schools, students and teachers all over the country had become both a fact and an increasing problem. In March 2019 a national action plan for the realization of the strategy was handed over from the Swedish Authorities of Local Regions (SALAR) to the Swedish Government. What has happened since then on both a national and regional level and what happens when the national digital strategy of Sweden ends in 2022? In order to benefit the most from digitalization, technology overall and more specifically the use of learning analytics has to be implemented into pedagogy - only then it can become a lever for sustained transformation of practice and improvement of learning results. This seminar concerns the mutual and necessary leadership of digitalization on both a national and regional level.