Learning Analytics: enabling or transforming
education?
Professor David (Dai) Griffiths
The Institute for Educational Cybernetics The University of Bolton
What makes Learning Analytics
different from other TEL?
Actionable (it supports, or takes over decision making)
Intelligence (it knows something you don't know)
● Earlier educational technologies supported the practice of educational
managers and teachers, or entirely replaced them.
● Learning Analytics, Educational Data Mining, Big Data claim insight into
education which is more extensive and reliable than that of education professionals.
● This morning the Commission said that putting computers in the
classroom won't work if the teachers aren't ready
● I do not think we can understand Learning Analytics or Big Data from this
Policy: When I was at school...
Anthony Crosland, Secretary of State forEducation and Science 1965-67
“The nearer one comes to the professional content of education, the more indirect the
minister’s influence is. And I’m sure this is right … generally I didn’t regard either myself or my
officials as in the slightest degree competent to interfere with the curriculum. We are educational politicians and administrators, not professional educators.”
Kogan (1971) cited in Bassey, M. (2005). Teachers and Government: a history of intervention in education (p. 48). London. Retrieved from http://www.atl.org.uk/Images/Teachers and government.pdf
The current Secretary of State for
Education, Michael Gove, 2010
“I want to see more data generated by theprofession to show what works, clearer
information about teaching techniques that get results, more rigorous, scientifically-robust
research about pedagogies which succeed and proper independent evaluations of interventions which have run their course. We need more
evidence-based policy making, and for that to work we need more evidence.”
dashboard.ofsted.gov.uk
“The School Data Dashboard I am launching today raises the stakes. Many governors know their school well already. But for those that don’t, there are now no excuses. Inspectors will be very critical of governing bodies who, despite the
dashboard, still don’t know their school well enough.”
“A growing instrumentalism” (KPIs)
•
Seddon argues● These techniques represent the imposition of top down
targets for public services
● They imply a de facto purpose
● They create pressure to pay attention only to those
aspects of education which are given significance and are the deliverable indicators.
•
What is PISA doing to education?•
What do University rankings do?Seddon, J. (2008). Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: The Failure of the Reform Regime and a Manifesto for a Better Way. Axminster: Triarchy Press.
A modus vivendi
•
Educational managerso indicate goals for teachers and learners
o provide a framework for activity
o ensure the results meet minimum standards.
•
Teacherso fill in the details with their professional skills and
ethical integrity
o respond to the needs of individuals
•
Both believe that they are responsible for the learningHow does analytics act here?
•
Learning Analyticso radically reduces the effort involved in
gathering information
o automates the analysis of data
•
Analytics applications are intended to enhance learning. Do they in fact promote managerial control of education????
•
Learning Analytics is primarily a management tool, and will marginalise the role of the teacher•
Data should guide education policy•
Analytics transforms the system that it is looking atAnother paradigm: Course signals
project, Purdue University (1)
•
Predictive student success algorithm run on-demand by instructors.•
Four categories of data;o Marks in course to date
o interaction with LMS compared to peers o prior academic history
o student characteristics, such as residency,
•
Red - yellow - green prospects for success.•
Lecturers can then design an intervention scheduleo Post a traffic signal indicator on a student’s LMS
o E-mail messages or reminders
o Text messages;
o Referral to academic advisor or academic resource centres
o Face to face meetings with the instructor
•
The teacher retains controlAnother paradigm: Course signals
project, Purdue University (2)
???
•
The benefits of big data and analytics outweigh the threats it poses•
Big data and analytics will be a valuableWonga
•
This is BIGGGGG data. In education we
mainly have modest data sets so far
•
6 minutes to decide on your credit
worthiness
•
Money in your account in 15 minutes
Douglas Meril: Google's former chief
information officer, founder ZestFinance
“We feel like all data is credit data, we just don’t know how to use it yet. This is the math we all learned at
Google. A page was important for what was on it, but also for how good the grammar was, what the type font was, when it was created or edited. Everything.” ZestFinance looks at 70,000 signals and feeds them into 10 separate underwriting models. In milliseconds an applicant's risk profile is generated.
Evgeny Morozov
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/01/wonga_lenddo_lendup_big _data_and_social_networking_banking.single.html
???
•
Big data will know more about learners than teachers do•
Educational institutions should not use online productivity tools•
Big Data will inform university admissions•
Twitter and Facebook will sell profiling information to educationIs there another paradigm for Big
Data applications
•
The Institute for Educational Cybernetics has been how can we use this technology in adifferent way
???
•
Big data will know more about learners than teachers do•
Educational institutions should not use online productivity toolsPearson results 2012
http://www.pearson.com/news/2013/february/pearson-2012-results.html Sales (millions) Operating Profit ($ millions) Growth N. American Education 2685 536 3% International Education 1568 216 10% All Pearson 6,112 936 4%Pearson
“We’ve been listening to what students, educators and administrators have been saying about what they need in order to achieve success. We’ve
learned that empowering them with
understandable insights from data and analytics accelerates student achievement, improves
instruction and increases student retention.”
Pearson Education. (2012). Data and Analytics.Pearson Learning Solutions. Retrieved August 7, 2012, from
Analytics and marketing
•
“More than 6 million students around the world are now using Pearson MyLab & Masteringproducts. … Integrated usage of these
programs has shown to provide measurable gains in student retention, subsequent
success, and overall achievement”
http://www.pearson.com.au/why-pearson/technology-learning/mylabsmastering/proven-results/
and lobbying...
“We have made no secret over a number of years of our ambition to contribute to higher education provision in the UK, and we fully endorse the
[government’s] intention to enable Pearson, and other commercial providers like us, to enter the marketplace with greater ease,”
Consultation response to the government’s higher education White Paper, released to Times Higher Education under the Freedom of Information Act.
???
•
Big data and analytics will drive the privatisation of education•
Big data and analytics will bring cheap and effective education to the deprived• Learning Analytics is primarily a management tool, and will marginalise the role of the teacher
● Data should guide education policy?
● Analytics transforms the system that it is looking at?
• The benefits of big data and analytics outweigh the threats it poses
● Big data and analytics is a valuable tool for learners and teachers decision making
and personal and institutional reflection?
• Big data will know more about learners than teachers do
● Educational institutions should not use online productivity tools? ● Big Data will inform(s) university admissions?
● Twitter, Facebook, or someone similar, will sell profiling information to education?
• Big data and analytics will drive deep change in education
● privatisation of education?
● cheap and effective education to the deprived?
Consortium
•
LACE— Learning Analytics Community Exchange•
FP7-ICT-2013-11•
Coordination and support action•
1,299,406.00 EU contribution•
30 monthsConsortium
•
Open University of the Netherlands•
The University of Bolton Cetis/IEC•
The Open University, United Kingdom•
Hogskolen I Oslo og Akershus Hioa, Norway•
Statens skolverk Skolverket Sweden•
Kennisnet Netherlands•
Infinity Technology Solutions•
European Distance and e-Learing Network•
ATIT BVBA BelgiumPartners...
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Are passionate about the opportunities afforded by current and future views of learninganalytics and educational data mining
•
Are concerned about missed opportunities,undesirable consequences of mis-application, investment funding failing to realise value,
market failure, etc.
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Intend to reduce risk and increase benefit by bringing together research, policy and practice.Objectives
•
Promote knowledge creation and exchange•
Increase the evidence base•
Contribute to the definition of future directions•
Build consensus on interoperability and data sharingActivities
•
Integrate communitieso conducting LA/EDM research o early practitioner adopters
o building first-generation commercial or
open-source software.
•
Create knowledge base of evidence.•
Explore plausible futures to assess differences of opinion about the feasibility and desirability of possible futures.About to start
•
Project kick-off in January•
Initial Web site up http://www.laceproject.info/•
Please sign up for our mailing list to keep up to date with the project•
1978 to 2012o CEO pay increased about 875 percent (more than double
stock market growth)
o Typical workers pay grew 5.4%
•
CEO-to-worker pay ratioo 1978: 29.0-to-1
o 1995: 122.6-to-1
o 2012: 272.9-to-1
•
What is going on?Economic Policy Institute http://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-2012-extraordinarily-high/
Unexpected results of data
● 1992 new executive pay disclosure rules ● Boards compare similar executives.
Compensation consultants construct a “peer group” and survey pay.
● “Competitive benchmarking” (at least 50%) ● Disclosure creates a model of a competitive
market for executives which otherwise does not exist.
Elson, C.M. & Ferrere, C.K., 2013. Executive Superstars , Peer Groups and Overcompensation : Cause , Effect and Solution and Solution. Journal of Corporation Law, (Spring).
