Statement regarding COVID-19 outbreak (Coronavirus) from March 13, 2020

Previous statements:

The official statement from March 13, 2020.

Dear Colleagues,

As you know, 2020 is the 10th anniversary of LAK. Everyone was looking forward to celebrating the many accomplishments from this supportive community and hosting everyone in person in Frankfurt. Unfortunately, since our last statement on March 6, the COVID-19 situation continued to change rapidly. New international travel bans were enacted and numerous universities enacted preventive measures that affected a growing portion of our participants, finally the host university in Frankfurt closed its campus until 20th of April 2020. Although this is a difficult decision, the LAK20 main conference will now be delivered in fully virtual mode. 

The event in this new format will be offered to all registered participants during the same dates: March 25 – 27, 2020. Over the following days we will be communicating with speakers, presenters and participants about how to adapt the format. The dates for the event remain the same to allow the most participation, so we ask you to please keep these dates reserved to network with the LAK community! 

All LAK20 registered participants will receive access to all papers (ACM proceedings & Companion Proceedings), access to live and recorded presentations, Q&A and networking opportunities, video recordings and event app access. As you can imagine with an event like this one that takes more than a year to plan, there have been numerous fixed costs that still had to be paid. For this reason, all delegates are eligible for a 50% refund of the conference registration fees. 

In addition, we also recognize the value of face to face interactions usually occurring in the pre-conference workshops. However, for the same reasons explained above, we are forced to cancel all workshops except the 3rd Learning Analytics in Schools (LA4Schools) that will be postponed. All workshop attendees are eligible for a 100% workshop fee refund. Several workshop organizers have planned alternative engagements. Participants may be contacted by the workshop lead(s) to make such arrangements, but they will happen outside the scope of LAK20. Please note that workshop registrations will be refunded regardless of the participation in any alternative format (if this is provided by the leads). 

We encourage you to review the frequently asked questions below. Should you have a question that is not addressed, please reach out to lakconference@gmail.com.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Will LAK20 be rescheduled for later in 2020?
No. Due to the size and logistical coordination required, it is not possible to reschedule for a later date. An event the size of the Annual Conference needs to be scheduled at least 2 years before the event in order to ensure adequate meeting and accommodation spaces.  

Will LAK20 main conference be held in a virtual format?
YES! We are currently communicating with presenters and speakers to coordinate a new program schedule. The virtual program schedule will still take place during the dates of the already scheduled main conference, Wednesday, March 25 – Friday, March 27, 2020 as to hopefully allow as many participants as possible.  

Due to the international nature of our community, there will be *some* time slots that may not work for you to view live. However, all virtual presentations will be recorded and made available to registered participants.  

How do I access the Virtual LAK Conference? We are currently working on the restructured program and the best way to disseminate this information to all registered participants. We will be utilizing Zoom and all registered participants will receive access information by no later than Friday, March 20.  

Will I receive a refund for my main Conference registration now that the face to face event is canceled?
As you can imagine with an event like this one that takes more than a year to plan, there have been numerous fixed costs that still had to be paid. For this reason, all delegates are eligible for a 50% refund of the main conference registration fees. The LAK20 conference organizers will contact you in the following weeks to arrange the refund. We thank you in advance for your understanding and patience.

Will I still have access to conference proceedings, companion proceedings, live presentations and recorded presentations?
All LAK20 registered participants will receive access to all papers (ACM proceedings & Companion Proceedings), access to live and recorded presentations, Q&A and networking opportunities, video recordings and event app access. 

I’m registered for a pre-conference workshop. What is the status of those?
For the same reasons explained above, we are forced to cancel all workshops except the 3rd Learning Analytics in Schools (LA4Schools) which will be postponed. All workshop attendees are eligible for a 100% workshop fee refund. Several workshop organizers have planned alternative engagements. Participants may be contacted by the workshop lead(s) to make such arrangements, but they will happen outside the scope of LAK20. Please note that workshop registrations will be refunded regardless of the participation in any alternative format (if this is provided by the leads). 

How and when will the LA4Schools workshop run?
We are currently exploring dates for postponing the workshop to later in 2020. If you are no longer interested in participating due to the postponement, please let organizers know at lakconference@gmail.com to be removed from the list.

What if I already cancelled workshops and was only partially refunded?
You will receive a full refund.

I am presenting a paper. Should I still follow the instructions released on March 6?
All paper presentations will be done live over Zoom Video Conferencing. The program chairs are currently working to restructure the program to re-allocate the 92 papers being presented into timezones. All presenters/paper authors will be notified of their time slot as soon as possible and will be asked to confirm. Please keep your calendars open during the original conference dates (i.e. Wednesday March 25 to Friday March 27). Pre-recordings are not mandated for paper presentations but can still be uploaded to the cloud space should you like to provide this for the attendees. Further information regarding timing, Zoom instructions and testing will be forthcoming.   

I have a poster/demo. How are these being presented?
Per our March 6 statement and instructions sent to presenters, these instructions are still valid for poster and demo presenters. Each presenter can create a 5-10 minute explanation / demo video and will be invited to upload these to the LAK20 cloud space. In addition, each presenter can upload a pdf poster or handout for the demo. These will be disseminated to all registered participants and attendees will be asked to vote for best poster and best demo. Instructions for voting will be forthcoming.

How can I get reimbursed for travel expenses? Unfortunately, we are unable to reimburse travel expenses. Please contact your hotel, airline, train service, travel agent and travel insurance directly to inquire about reimbursement.  

What about networking sessions? 
We are going to try our best to find common times to fit in dedicated networking time around certain topics, etc. There will also be Q&A opportunities for every paper presentation. Q&A will be moderated by session chairs/moderators.  

What about the panel sessions?
The panel sessions for LAK20 will be rescheduled for a later date within SoLAR’s webinar series.

What about SoLAR’s Annual General Meeting?
The AGM will be run at a later date via webinar format, information will be distributed once finalized.

I have not registered yet for LAK20 but now that it is online, how can I participate? 
We will be posting a Student and Non-Student rate for the LAK20 Virtual Conference by Monday, March 16. Virtual conference registration will remain open for 8 days and will close on Tuesday, March 24 at 5pm CET. 

Why am I not getting a full refund?
As you can imagine with an event that takes over a year to plan, there are many fixed costs that still have to be paid. All LAK20 virtual participants will receive access to all LAK20 papers (ACM proceedings & Companion Proceedings), access to live presentations, Q&A and networking opportunities, video recordings and event app access. Companion Proceedings and all video recordings will not be made publicly available until 90 days after the conference. 

Will presentations be made available to the public after LAK20?
Yes, all video recordings will be made available on the SoLAR Youtube channel 90 days after LAK20. Only registered LAK20 attendees will have access to the videos prior to the 90 days. 

I joined SoLAR when registering for LAK to to take advantage of the member rate for registration. Is my membership still valid?
Yes, membership fees will not be reimbursed due to the year-round member benefits.