Analytics: Blazing a Trail in Learning and Education
It is natural to imagine the future, but there is no assurance that the future would be what we imagined. Did anyone of us think that the development of digital classrooms could turn to be virtual and remote so soon? It is the reality of today’s education system.
However, the stable sight of education relies on emphasising new technologies like ubiquitous computing devices, flexible classroom designs and innovative visual displays. When the classrooms soothe the students and the staffers, the big data and analytics shape the future of the education system. Data is the asset of the tech world. It is changing the way that the education system works by predicting accurate decisions that improve organizational output and productivity. Still, many believe in their gut feeling and experience when it comes to predictions in higher education levels.
Data has an influence on all industries. It has taken a remarkable stand on establishing its state in the medical field. The old school way of doctors going through all the patients’ files and reports to get to a guess on their current report is long gone. The data collections and build-ups on the patients’ former illness, medical reports and prescriptions will lead the data analytics to come to a predicted accurate answer on the patients’ health condition. It also reminds the risk factors in the patients’ current state. Insurance companies are also switching to the analytics model to predict high-risk customers.
Education may have turned its face to modern technologies now, but for ages, it has been inefficient in data use. Higher education delayed in adapting to the analyzed evident data and feedback. There was a delay in action and opportunities for intervention due to lack of evaluation on student dropouts every year.
Things need to be changed and improved in order to get to the next level. Guidelines were given on the education development for decades now to reform the efficiency and quality of the subject. Now, it is time to stick to the internet, mobile technologies and open education to upgrade the level. Apparently, the decision making is still at a hanging state without proper analysis. Thus, by including analytics into education will help in a better framework on decision making.
Explicit data is the byproduct of the internet, computer, mobile devices and enterprise learning management systems (LMS). General classroom teachings and hallway conversations tend to wither from memory at a certain point of time. But online learning, digital students’ records, student cards, sensors and mobile devices now attract data trails and activity streams. Educators could improve the learning process by having an insight into the techniques.
A deeper analysis of data of students will also provide an overview on their performance and indicates if a person is at high-risk to dropout. Some higher education has begun considering using data analysis to increase the success rate and confidence among students, better their learning techniques and understanding. For example, EDUCAUSE and the Next Generation Learning Challenge (NGLC) is focusing on possibilities that can be achieved by modelling learning interactions based on large-scale data collection.
More data is also trouble as it suffocates the running system. Using analytics on big data requires careful thinking about what we need to know and what data is most likely to tell us what we need to.
