The Learning Analytics Knowledge (LAK) conference is one of the premier research forums in Learning Analytics. Created by the Society of Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR), it is an open and welcoming space, offering researchers and practitioners alike an opportunity to showcase their work and exchange ideas. SoLAR is an open research community, with conference papers and their Journal of Learning Analytics (JLA) all open access under a creative commons license.
LAK23 was a hybrid event hosted in Arlington, Texas, USA. Whilst some colleagues attended in person, my self-funded status meant I was very definitely an online attendee. It was great therefore to see the lengths presenters and support staff went to to make sure sound and visuals were working well both in the room and for the online audience. The hybrid status also meant presenters did not have to travel, in-keeping with the inclusive nature of the conference.
I was privileged to be able to present a poster of my PhD research pilot study, along with a 3-page paper in the companion proceedings (p.86). It was great to get experience of the peer review process, both as an author and reviewer, and as a successful applicant (poster) and unsuccessful (I originally submitted a short paper which was not accepted with some very valid and useful commentary).
LAK24 is already being planned, in Kyoto, Japan. See you there?
Sarah Alcock 