Even though the end-of-year work rush hasn’t quite settled… 2019 is coming to an end, and 2020 is just around the corner. It has been 20 years since the turn of the millennium. Does that mean it has been 20 years since I graduated from university (undergraduate)? Time flies so fast. I was involved in various research projects, and it was a very fulfilling year. I would like to thank everyone who has collaborated with us, everyone who provided us with research fields, and everyone who has cooperated with our work. I am grateful for all the various connections I have made. My students also worked very hard! Thank you all very much.

This year, in addition to the ongoing Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) project (led by Professor Ogata of Kyoto University), I began participating as a principal investigator in the Cabinet Office’s Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) (Kyoto University/Kyushu University team) and the AIP Acceleration Research project led by Professor Shimada (Faculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Kyushu University). The theme is “Construction of a Learning Analytics Platform for Realizing Sustainable Learner-Centered Education,” and I am in charge of research from the perspective of fostering learner autonomy. This is also quite a big project. I look forward to working with the three-team structure: Professor Shimada’s data analysis and related system development team, and Professor Uchiyama’s (at the University Library) Learning Analytics research team for extracurricular learning. We started in April, and my team designed and developed a dashboard for learners using logs from BookRoll, a digital textbook/material viewer. Metaboard is designed to aggregate knowledge map analysis, browsing records of recommended information, and real-time analysis results. Next year, I would like to use it in classes so that students can utilize it to improve their own learning. Regarding the results of this research, the design of the learning dashboard was accepted at CELDA 2019, and the prototype development was accepted as a poster at LAK.

In the SIP project, we are working in collaboration with Kyoto University, the Fukuoka City Board of Education, and a high school in Fukuoka City to conduct classroom research using BookRoll and the dashboard. Our team has held close meetings with the teachers, the vice-principal, and the city board of education to examine the results of learning log analysis and discuss how to implement them in class. One of our research results was accepted for the Practitioner Track of Learning Analytics and Knowledge 2020, which will be held next March. We are also currently submitting to a workshop at LAK2020.

My own Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research was also accepted this year. It was selected under Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (General). The theme is “Development and Evaluation of an Advanced Interaction Platform to Support the Iteration between Individual and Collaborative Learning.” I would like to thank the reviewers. Thank you very much. This research is also progressing, and we are planning to integrate a Learning Analytics platform into the C4 system we have developed so far. By combining the logs of BookRoll, which focuses on individual learning, with the analysis of group work, we aim to create a mechanism that links individual and collaborative learning with data, analyzes it, and provides feedback to learners so that students can learn effectively. Results are also being produced sequentially here.

The research project on agricultural human resource development (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)) led by Professor Riichiro Mizoguchi, which combines field sensors and Learning Analytics, also started its system at the end of August. Classes that actually utilized the system have begun. It was used in a class for growing Chinese cabbage and Japanese radish, and the harvest is already finished. Data has been collected here as well, and data analysis is underway. Next fiscal year will be the final year of this grant. As an education team (Professor Goda at Kumamoto University, Professor Yamamoto at the University of Tokyo), we will do our best to achieve research results that can contribute to agricultural human resource development.

I also had other good experiences. From the end of September to the beginning of October, I participated in the UNESCO EduSummit 2019 in Quebec City. At EduSummit, we discuss what kind of education should be provided by industry, academia, and government with an eye on the SDGs, what methods should be used, and the precautions and countermeasures to take. We then propose this to UNESCO as a report. We will also conduct research related to the content discussed. Thankfully, I received an invitation from Professor Ogata, and Professor Shimada from Kyushu University and I participated in the Learning Analytics group. Many prominent researchers in Educational Technology and Learning Sciences participated, and although I was nervous, we brought our own practices and research to the table and had good discussions. The report has already been published.

UNESCO EduSummit 2019 Action Agenda https://edusummit2019.fse.ulaval.ca/sites/iscar17.ulaval.ca/files/edusummit2019_actionagendas.pdf

After leaving Quebec, we held seminars at NYU-LEARN with Professor Alyssa Wise at New York University and at Teachers College, Columbia University with Professor Charles Lang, where Professor Ogata, Professor Shimada, and I introduced our research projects and results. This was also a great stimulus for advancing our research, as we were able to see the hubs that are leading Learning Analytics. It was a very valuable experience.

To summarize this year, my achievements included one review paper, one paper (international journal), 13 international conferences, and two book chapters. I think the number of achievements is satisfactory, but I was the first author on only one international conference paper (IEEE TALE 2019). I feel a bit conflicted about that, but once you have four or five students and start managing projects, research guidance becomes the focus, and it’s hard to find time to write yourself. Perhaps I have reached that stage in my career. While I am happy that research has become active, projects are booming, and I can conduct research that contributes to education and learning, there is also a sense of loneliness. That said, I am happy that my doctoral student had their first paper accepted by an international journal. This should be a big step in my experience as well, and it leads to confidence. I was very happy about this.

Professor Kanji Akahori (currently Chairman of ICT CONNECT 21), who was my research supervisor during my master’s and doctoral programs, has been active for a long time and has been writing papers as a first author. That image is still burned into my mind, and I thought, “This is how a researcher should be.” Remembering that, I would like to be able to produce results as papers next year.

And so, 2019 is coming to an end. Thank you for all your support this year. I wish you all a happy new year.