Connecting data to actions for improved learning
Cathy Cavanaugh, Director of Teaching and Learning, Microsoft Corporation
How are we learning from learning? Educators learn by teaching and by feedback (explicit or body language) as well as by sharing expertise with each other. But still limits on dissemination of knowledge about teaching and learning.
Everything in a student’s life has an impact on their learning. What has the greatest impact? Pre-2010 we got data from:
- observations, checklists
- assessments
- LMS logs
- SIS -> demographic data
Found students at a novice level did better if they logged into the LMS less often but for longer. At the advance level the opposite was true. But when talking to other educators in other programs found that the factors are different. Context is vital.
Factors we can use in 2015:
- observations, checklists
- predictive analytics
- voice, gesture, ink input
- making
- games
- badges
- social network analysis
- LMS logs
- self-reports
- assessments
- adaptive systems
- device usage
- effort
Using machine-learning they were able to predict with high accuracy which students are likely to pass the class.
At one high school found that one policy (re dressing for PE) was causing students to fail. Could quickly change the policy.
Doesn’t need to be institutional data – student wearing a wearable tracking health data, could also be tracking their ability to learn.
Augmented reality -> lots of opportunity to get a lot more data.
Internet of things
(Azure) Machine-learning service can ingest data from variety of sources, run analytics/predictions, and output to data dashboards. Drag-and-drop interface.
Q: Security and privacy when processing on the cloud?
A: Each institution will need to grapple with it. Accounts are secure. Some aspects accessible to institution, others to student only.
Q: When do analytics become creepy rather than helpful?
A: When something is too detailed it doesn’t feel helpful. Need to move deliberately, pilot projects, maybe with grad students who are thinking about their learning.