The new Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge, or LINK, Research Lab at The University of Texas at Arlington has announced a full slate of fall events to begin a conversation on digital learning that includes experts from the around the globe.

"UT Arlington is joining some of the nation's most prestigious campuses in establishing a hub for examining the role of online learning in the present and the future of education," said George Siemens, executive director of the LINK lab. "The future is digital and we have to understand what role we play in that. We also want to explore how methods from the digital learning world can enhance and strengthen on-campus interactions."

The LINK lab was established earlier this year under the leadership of Siemens, an internationally known expert on digital learning. Siemens was one of the originators of open online courses, a trend that later became known as massive open online courses or MOOCs. He has been funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to research MOOCs as an emerging model of learning. Earlier this month, the National Science Foundation also awarded funding to a project in which Siemens will join University of Michigan researchers in exploring ways to use data from online learning communities.

In October, LINK will host an invitation-only conference titled "Impact of MOOCs on Traditional University Education." Attendees will include representatives from Harvard, Columbia University, Georgetown University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The lab also will feature a fall colloquium that is free and open to the public. Events will be in the Rady Room on the sixth floor of UT Arlington's Nedderman Hall and streamed online at www.uta.edu/linklab. The guests and topics are:

• Noon-1 p.m. Sept. 29 - Cultivating the Seeds of Mentorship: Students as Resources for Creating a Conducive Online Learning Environment - Carolyn Rosé, associate professor of language technologies and human-computer interaction in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Sept. 30 - Toward Better and More General Prediction Models of Engagement - Ryan Baker, associate professor of cognitive studies at Teachers College, Columbia University.
• Noon-1 p.m., Oct. 1 - Connecting Pedagogical Intent with Analytics in a Flipped Classroom - Abelardo Pardo, associate head of teaching and learning and lecturer at the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, The University of Sydney.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Oct. 2 - Every Move Is A Good Move! The association between the built environment and physical activity - Danijela Gasevic,research associate at cardiac services, Royal Columbian Hospital, New Westminster, BC, Canada; and a PhD candidate in the department of biomedical physiology and kinesiology at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
• Noon-1 p.m. Oct. 3 - From Research to Policy: Moving Learning Analytics Toward Institutional Adoption - Shane Daw Add Media son,director of the Learning and Teaching Unit, and associate professor of technology enhanced learning at the University of South Australia.

A full list of LINK events coming up is available at http://www.uta.edu/linklab.