Mission & Values

The Centre for the Science of Learning & Technology (SLATE) is an R&D learning sciences unit, which contributes to international research and national competence development on the use of data and data approaches in understanding education and lifetime learning.

• SLATE will advance knowledge by exploring and clarifying concepts such as learning analytics, big and small data in education, artificial intelligence in educaiton, assessment for learning, and creativity, learning & technology, in all facets of human learning.
• SLATE draws together researchers from multiple disciplines including information science, cognitive science, and pedagogy, and thereby conducts integrated research that will advance the frontiers of sciences of learning, as well as inform education practice and policy.

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History
January 2015 the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (KD)  invited Norway’s 4 largest universities to apply to host a learning centre in Learning Analysis (LA). June 2015 KD announced that SLATE at the University of Bergen (UiB) had won the bid and been granted funding.

The Ministry’s over-riding goal is that the new Centre will contribute to building up a research environment in the young and developing field of Learning Analytics that will have both national and international impact. Read the Press Release from KD (in Norwegian) here. 

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SLATE at UiB
UiB is committed to supporting SLATE. The Centre is a unique university-wide initiative. All the University Faculties signed the application for the multi-disciplinary Centre, which is administratively placed at the Faculty of Psychology. UiB’s Rector, Dag Rune Olsen notes that UiB prioritises learning environment development highly. Vice-Rector, Oddrun Samdal, underlines that UiB has a strong tradition in developing high quality learning environments.  Read more (in Norwegian) from the UiB news service. 

Professor Barbara Wasson, from the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, is the Director of SLATE. See a video of her presentation from SLATE’s official opening June 2016.