EC-TEL 2021 Bozen/ Bolzano

Sixteenth European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning

Technology-Enhanced Learning for a Free, Safe, and Sustainable World

Online (Bozen-Bolzano, Italy), 20-24 September 2021

Workshops

Monday, 20 September

Morning

Designing for Responsible Learning Analytics: A User-Centered Approach (DIS4RLA)

Workshop website

In this workshop participants will be offered a creative and fun space to: i) map and discuss different stakeholders’ ethical and privacy concerns when designing LA tools (e.g. pertaining to data collection and unauthorized secondary use) and ii) be involved as co-designers (representing different stakeholders’ roles) of responsible (i.e. protecting and enabling stakeholders’ agency) LA tools. The workshop outcomes will represent the different European perspectives and inform the TEL and learning analytics (LA) communities about LA stakeholders’ concerns and preferred design choices related to the design of sustainable and responsible LA tools.

Workshop organisers:

  • Teresa Cerratto Pargman, Stockholm University, Sweden
  • Olga Viberg, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
  • Cormac McGrath, Stockholm University, Sweden
  • Kirsty Kitto, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
  • Simon Knight, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
  • Rebecca Ferguson, The Open University, UK
  • Barbara Wasson, Centre of the Science of Learning and Technology (SLATE), University of Bergen, Norway

AI for Blended-Learning: Empowering Teachers in Real Classrooms (AIBL)

Workshop website

Research on personalized learning tends to focus on learning environments that are designed for the individual learner. However, in K-12, most of the learning occurs in blended-learning environments, where teachers employ a variety of online and offline activities, combine individual and group work with frontal teaching, and other modalities. This workshop will enable participants to share ideas, insights and tools regarding the use of AI that supports teachers in providing personalized instruction in blended learning environments. The workshop is expected to span half a day, with 2-3 sessions of presentations and discussions, followed by a round table and panel discussion.

Workshop organisers:

  • Elad Yacobson, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
  • Tanya Nazaretsky, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
  • Armando M.Toda, Durham University, UK
  • Giora Alexandron, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
  • Alexandra I.Cristea, Durham University, UK

Designing Learning Technologies for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (LearnTec4EDI)

Workshop website

This workshop addresses the extent to which learning technologies contribute to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) objectives in and outside of learning institutions. Participants are asked to submit a short evaluation of their own previous or current work that addresses the provision of learning technology within an educational context. The themes that we will discuss at the workshop include 1) Learning technologies and their utility for students belonging to ethnic or cultural minorities and underserved populations (EDI), 2) the “prioritization” of normative learning experiences with technology 3) Fairness and Equity in learning technology among others.

Workshop organisers:

  • Tracie Farrell, KMi, The Open University, UK
  • Martin Hlosta, KMi, The Open University, UK
  • Vaclav Bayer, KMi, The Open University, UK

Afternoon

Second International Workshop on Human-Centred Learning Analytics (HCLA)

Workshop website

The term Human-Centred Learning Analytics (HCLA) was recently coined to refer to LA researchers and practitioners interested in utilising knowledge and practice from design communities, such as participatory design and co-design, into data-intensive educational contexts. Although there is a growing interest in designing LA systems with students and teachers, several questions still remain open and there is a need to identify best practices that can be more suitable for LA developments. This workshop invites participants, interested in human factors related to effective design of LA innovations, to contribute towards the creation of SIG and manifesto report of the HCLA subcommunity.

Workshop organisers:

  • Yannis Dimitriadis, Universidad de Valladolid, Spain
  • Roberto Martínez-Maldonado, Monash University, Australia
  • Simon Buckingham Shum, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
  • Fabio Campos, New York University, USA
  • Juan Pablo Sarmiento, New York University, USA
  • Lu Lawrence, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
  • Alejandra Martínez-Monés, Universidad de Valladolid, Spain
  • Davinia Hernández-Leo, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
  • Patricia Santos, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
  • Carla Barreiros, Graz University of Technology, Austria
  • Rebecca Nicholson, Newcastle University, UK

Emerging Technologies and best practices. Community consultation for re-shaping the Future European Research Agenda (DEL4ALL)

Workshop website

DEL4ALL analyzes best-practice and success stories for the benefit of the whole TEL community. DEL4ALL analyzes pedagogical challenges and opportunities offered by the increased adoption of emerging technologies. This analysis will form a basis for guidelines on future research directions, as well as policy recommendations on a European level. During this workshop we will conduct a webinar on the pedagogy and affordances of emerging technologies in education, focus group interviews with selected participants from the conference, and an open roundtable discussion, especially on the interim project results.

Workshop organisers:

  • Fraunhofer FIT, Germany
  • The Commonwealth Centre for Connected Learning (3CL), Malta
  • Open University, UK Martel Innovate, Switzerland

Accessible Learning, Accessible Analytics: A virtual evidence café (edition 2) (ALAA)

Workshop website

Learner accessibility of online learning is often thought as guidelines for web design. Learning analytics offer a new set of possibilities for identifying and removing barriers to accessibility in learning environments. When it comes to increasing access to learning opportunities for people with disabilities, solutions must be developed in the field of learning analytics. This workshop is a step towards developing those solutions through an evidence café with participants discussing technical and pedagogic approaches to accessibility, barriers for disabled students and educators, and challenges for those who design/research learning analytics. The intended outcomes are to raise awareness of accessible learning and analytics, and to build a community of researchers to lead future development in accessible analytics.

Workshop organisers:

  • Tina Papathoma, The Open University, UK
  • Rebecca Ferguson, The Open University, UK
  • Francisco Iniesto, The Open University, UK
  • Dimitrios Vogiatzis, The Open University, UK

Tuesday, 21 September

Full day

Artificial intelligence for creativity in education (AICE)

Workshop website

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are nascent forces for social good, and as they are applied more extensively to both education and learning analytics, they point to unprecedented opportunities to foster creativity in the classroom and beyond. In this full-day virtual workshop, we explore the interdisciplinary nexus of techniques ranging from regression to clustering, decision trees, random forests, and neural networks; and creativity in education. From AI-driven chatbots developed to imitate teachers to interactive smart textbooks and generative modeling-based art classes, there is so much subject matter to be covered. We will hear from three invited speakers and some oral presentations from contributed abstracts submitted to the workshop. There will also be dedicated discussion sections where all attendees can provide their input and chip in to the streamlining of this emerging research community, which will only become more influential in the years to come. Finally, there will be interactive sessions where attendees will engage in exercises to test the value of certain creativity-inducing AI technologies for education.

Workshop organisers:

  • Thomas Y. Chen, Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering

Morning

DIGIVID - Digital Competences - Lessons Learned from Learning and Teaching in the CoVid-19 Pandemic (DIGIVID-DC)

Workshop website

The relevance of ICT-competences in the educational context became clearly visible during the sudden shift from traditional face-to-face to online teaching and learning forced by the Covid-19-pandemic. The workshop is related to the Erasmus+ DIGIVID Project aiming at promoting digital skills for (inclusive) online teaching and learning in instructors in schools and university as well as teacher-students.

With the workshop we want to advance research around ICT-competences in educational settings by bringing together researchers, practitioners and educational developers in an interactive online workshop. We will discuss best-practices/lessons-learned w.r.t (online) teaching and learning; design new visualizations to convey digital skills; discuss implications for supporting reflective learning.

Workshop organisers:

  • Angela Fessl, Institute for Interactive Systems and Data Science / Graz University of Technology, Data-driven Business / Know-Center GmbH
  • Katharina Maitz, PhD, Dep. Data-driven Business / Know-Center GmbH
  • Lisa Paleczek, PhD, Institute of Education Research and Teacher Education, University of Graz
  • Monica Divitini, Department of Computer Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Majid Rouhani, Department of Computer Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Thomas Köhler, Education Sciences Department / Institute for Vocational Education and Didactics / Educational Technology Chair Media Centre / Director / Technische Universität Dresden

Learning Analytics for Smart Learning Environments (LA4SLE)

Workshop website

This workshop aims at discussing the main issues to further research, develop, and implement Smart Learning Environments (SLEs) applying Learning Analytics (LA). Additionally, the workshop addresses how SLEs research and practice can utilise the latest advances in LA. An open Call For Papers is provided and paper presentations are expected from contributing authors. Moreover, fruitful discussions are planned in collaborative brainstorming activities to reach conclusions about the application of LA in SLEs.

Workshop organisers:

  • Davinia Hernández-Leo, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
  • Élise Lavoué, University Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France
  • Pedro J. Muñoz-Merino, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain
  • Miguel L. Bote-Lorenzo, Universidad de Valladolid, Spain
  • Daniel Spikol, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Afternoon

Culturally Aware Human-Centered Learning Analytics (CARLA)

Workshop website

Learning analytics (LA) have been implemented in different ways in different countries. This makes the transfer of LA solutions from one country to another challenging, due to varying contextual, technical, and cultural factors. In this workshop, we aim to identify and discuss possible cultural differences and also similarities–the factors that have hitherto not been extensively studied by LA researchers–for the wider adoption of LA at scale. We will in particular introduce the participants to culture sensitive design and selected design methods that can be used to inform the inclusive and equitable human-centered design approach to LA.

Workshop organisers:

  • Olga Viberg, KTH Stockholm, Sweden
  • Ioana Jivet, TU Delft, Netherlands
  • Maren Scheffel, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
  • Hendrik Drachsler, DIPF/Goethe University & Open University of the Netherlands
  • Mohammed Saqr, KTH Stockholm, Sweden

OER in Higher Education (OER-HE)

Workshop website

OER are an important element in the process of digitizing university teaching and are considered an essential building block for openness in the education system. They are also referring to teaching, learning, and research resources that are published free of charge or under an open license. In this workshop, you will learn what OER are and why they play an important role in higher education. Together we will discuss searching, utilizing and editing of OER. Afterwards, we will introduce a web-based tool for creating OER and transforming existing materials into OER (OER Converter tool) and discuss its functionality.

Workshop organisers:

  • Lubna Ali, Learning Technologies Research Group, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

First International Workshop on Multimodal Immersive Learning Systems (MILeS)

Workshop website

Advances in the fields of wearable sensors, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning make it possible to connect these technologies into integrated learning solutions. The intersection of these fields of emerging technologies is an area of a lot of opportunities for innovative learning systems, but likewise a field of fuzzy expectations. With the interdisciplinary workshop we aim to bring together experts and practitioners from technology-enhanced learning and educational application of technologies to collect ideas, requirements, best practices, example cases in the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Multimodal Systems, Immersive Systems and their application into actual education.

Workshop organisers:

  • Roland Klemke, TH Köln and Open Universiteit Nederland
  • Khaleel Asyraf Mat Sanusi, TH Köln
  • Anja Richert, TH Köln
  • Valerie Varney, TH Köln
  • Jan Schneider, DIPF
  • Daniele Di Mitri, DIPF
  • George-Petru Ciordas-Hertel, DIPF
  • Milos Kravcik, DFKI
  • Ralf Klamma, RWTH
  • Michal Slupczynski, RWTH
  • Mai Geisen, Deutsche Sporthochschule
  • Stefanie Klatt, Deutsche Sporthochschule
  • Tobias Baumgartner, Deutsche Sporthochschule
  • Nina Riedl, Deutsche Sporthochschule

Call for submissions

EC-TEL 2021 offers the opportunity to host half-day or full-day workshops. Organisers interested in coordinating a workshop are requested to submit a proposal by filling out this form (http://bit.ly/EC-TEL21_workshops), no later than 7 May 2021. Successful proposals will be confirmed by 21 May 2021.

Workshops are expected to promote the conference theme – Technology-Enhanced Learning for a Free, Safe, and Sustainable World – and provide a venue for community building and idea generation for emerging research topics to groups of like-minded researchers and practitioners, further elaborating on how learning technologies can add educational value to the different stakeholders and contribute to efficient and effective education. Workshop organisers are encouraged to propose innovative and interactive formats, which will be given priority in the selection process. The workshop selection will be handled competitively to achieve a balanced workshop program. Ideally, the workshop will comprise different formats, combining newly emerging, currently evolving, and established research topics. Proposals will be ranked according to their fit with EC-TEL 2021 conference topics, innovativeness, extent of interaction, overall quality, and comprehensiveness of planning including planned dissemination activities to recruit attendants. In case of overlapping workshops, organisers may be contacted to clearly differentiate the workshops or to merge them. 

The proposal should be submitted via this form (http://bit.ly/EC-TEL21_workshops) and workshop organisers must indicate:

  • Workshop title and acronym
  • Workshop theme, list of topics addressed
  • Motivation on why the workshop is of particular interest at this time
  • Workshop objectives and expected outcomes
  • Proposed schedule and duration (full-day or half-day)
  • Workshop activities that participants should expect
  • The proposed timeline, including a tentative submission deadline for workshop participants.

We plan to support the workshop dissemination by including the workshop timelines and links to their websites on the EC-TEL 2021 conference website. Nevertheless, accepted workshops are expected to launch their websites (latest by 1 June 2021), identify workshop participants, and handle the call for workshop contributions as well as the publication of workshop outcomes. In publishing the workshop contributions, workshop organisers are encouraged to target high-quality publication outlets (international impact-rated journals, including special issues within them).

IMPORTANT: Given the current situation regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, the workshops might take place in an online format, in case the face-to-face conference will not be possible. Hence, workshop organisers should take into consideration that the workshops may be online, face-to-face or blended.