In this presentation the key tools and frameworks will be shared for all who wish to build and enable a ‘start up’ culture in a school, institute or organisation. The talk will illustrate the core principles of Lean and Agile development that have formed the foundation for success in small innovative teams from Silicon Valley to the townships of Africa. If autonomous self-organising teams are working together to shared principles and success criteria, (and they measure how they are collaborating and progress against clear analytics and goals) this can make a real difference and empower people, whatever the objective you are trying to achieve.

Dominic Graveson is an independent consultant in the digital transformation and e-learning arenas. Challenging and positively disruptive, he has experience across multiple business areas including public sector, education, media, finance, broadcast, publishing, technology and third sector. Experienced in both the management theory and day to day reality of enterprise digital change, development and delivery at large scale.

His most recent role was as Senior Head of Development: Learning, Media & Collaboration at The Open University, UK – where he led a large team of developers building and maintaining the student delivery platforms.

The presentation will be the introduction of learning analytics, setting it in the context of big data and the increasing role of technology in learning, emphasising the role of analytics for supporting learning. Some examples will be given, and the points will be highlighted where we have the best evidence for learning analytics being helpful. The presentation will end with some suggestions – some practical, some conceptual – for how researchers and practitioners could move forward.

Dr. Bart Carlo Rienties is Reader in Learning Analytics at the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University UK. He is programme director Learning Analytics within IET and Chair of Student Experience Project Intervention and Evaluation group, which focusses on evidence-based research on intervention of 15 modules to enhance student experience. As educational psychologist, he conducts multi-disciplinary research on work-based and collaborative learning environments and focuses on the role of social interaction in learning, which is published in leading academic journals and books. His primary research interests are focussed on Learning Analytics, Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, and the role of motivation in learning. Furthermore, Bart is interested in broader internationalisation aspects of higher education. He successfully led a range of institutional/national/European projects and received several awards for his educational innovation projects.

Illustrations from keynotes:

Illustrator: Igor Ribič

ePIRLS is a a new inovative assessment of IEA Progress in International Reading Literacy Survey. ePIRLS uses an engaging, simulated Internet environment to measure fourth grade students’ achievement in reading for informational purposes. In April 2015 data collection of ePIRLS was finished in 15 countries. We will present the data and experience from Slovenia where more then 1100 students were assessed in ePIRLS Field Trial. Survey in Slovenia is coordinated by Educational Research Institute and implemented by the school coordinators and teachers at the sampled schools in accordance with international protocol. In spite of many obstacles, schools were very successful in collecting the data.

Marjeta Doupona is a researcher at the Educational Research Institute in Ljubljana. She holds a diploma degree in journalism and a master’s degree in sociology of culture (applied linguistics). Her main research interests are literacy and the use of ICT. She is the national coordinator of the international literacy study Progress in International Reading Literacy (PIRLS), within the framework of which she has also been a member of the international group of experts of the IEA in the field of computer-based literacy assessment methodology.
As a member of a group of experts, she was actively involved in the literacy project of the National Education Institute of Slovenia. She was also a member of the National Literacy Board.

Illustrations from keynotes:

Illustrator: Igor Ribič

Usually you teach something you know very well, you probably know the results of learners projects and what the discussions would be alike. The other way would be giving classes in which you don’t know what will happen – the learners explore and analyse the world with methods of empirical research and create completely new knowledge. The students get an idea for their research from the current issues of the class, preparing the research instruments – like surveys, focus groups or even experiments. The next steps are collecting and analyzing the data and present the results. This teaching method has a lot of advantages: The students have to examine the aspects oft the issue very carefully, collecting and analyzing data is interesting even if you are not enthusiastic about the topic and the students are usually very proud oft the results. By gaining first experiences in planning of empirical projects, data acquisition, as well as analyses and documentation, students acquire important methodological skills. The main goal of this speech is to present this method of teaching and give practical advices for implementing it in various learning settings. This method combine the two aspects of learning from learners and the using of data in the process of learning.

Maria-Christina Nimmerfroh holds a diploma degree in psychology from Goethe-University of Frankfurt. She specialized in industrial/organizational psychology and clinical psychology/psychotherapy.
She works at the Goethe-University of Frankfurt as lecturer at the Department for Psyhcology, as well as a journalist specialized in IT and media.
Her main research interests are CBL and e-learning, work motivation, organizational leadership and psychological measurement.

Illustrations from keynotes:

Illustrator: Igor Ribič

The challenge for lots of teachers is to recognise that education is not contained within the four walls of their own classroom. Whatever happens in one classroom should be part of the wider school development and ultimately the ecosystem of education. In this session, Diana will share some of her insights from the Living Schools Lab project and the Creative Classrooms Lab project where she has been responsible for the observation and documentation of innovative practice on the use of technology in schools across Europe. Diana will explore how schools can use the evidence from one classroom to inform practice across the school.

Diana Bannister is the Development Director for Learning Technologies in the Faculty of Education, University of Wolverhampton.  She started her career as a Primary teacher and Deputy Headteacher, but then moved in 2001 to the University to lead projects on technology and school improvement. In 2009 she began working with schools across Europe, helping teachers to make effective use of technology to support learning and teaching.  She regularly leads professional development sessions with school leaders and teachers exploring strategies for school development. Diana has worked with and visited schools in over 30 countries observing and documenting practice understanding how to mainstream change in schools.

Illustrations from keynotes:

Illustrator: Igor Ribič