The Digital Learning Research Network met at Teachers College, Columbia University on April 27-28 for its initial meeting. The main purpose of this meeting was to work together to identify research clusters to generate projects. George Siemens (Principal Investigator, UT Arlington) and Yvonne Belanger (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) kicked off the meeting with a discussion about the Gates Foundation strategies to remove barriers in education, particularly for at-risk/underrepresented student populations. Each institution then presented on their research capacities and opportunities for collaboration, followed by discussion of research cluster integration. The partners enjoyed dinner at Harlem’s Floridita before adjouring for the day.
The second day started with a debriefing on the previous presentations and discussion to develop themes. Partners settled on four main themes for work: Interventions, Onboarding, Social Support, and Engagement. Partners broke into groups to determine how these themes work in the represented university and community college systems. At the end of the meeting, the University of Texas at Arlington team synthesized the group work to help form projects.
Attendees included: The University of Texas at Arlington (George Siemens, Justin T. Dellinger, Laurel Mayo), The University of Arkansas System (Harriet Watkins, Michael Moore), The University System of Georgia (Myk Garn), California Community Colleges Online Education Initiative (Carol Lashman, Pat James), Carnegie Mellon University (Carolyn Rose), The University of Michigan (Stephanie Teasley), Smithsonian Institute (Jacquie Moen), Stanford University (Candace Thille), Teachers College (Ryan Baker, Luc Paquette), and SRI International (Barbara Means)