Networked Learning Conference 2012 Hot Seat
a weeklong discussion (March 12-18)
Simon will be presenting LA: "what are the implications for learning?"
from his abstract:
"...Then there are those of a more cautious nature. So what if we have shedloads of data? Now we can drown faster. Learning, enquiry, argumentation, sensemaking, scholarship, insight — these skills are of an entirely different order, the highest forms of meaning-making, uniquely human. And what have analytics to say about the less tangible 21stCentury skills that we need to nurture if the next generation is to manage the unprecedented complexity and uncertainty that they will inherit from us? Surely data analytics have nothing to say about intrinsic disposition to learn, emotional resilience in the face of adversity, the ability to moderate a discussion, resolve conflict, or ask critical questions? Finally, who is in control of analytics: are they tools to study learners, or tools to place in their hands, to create reflective, more agile individuals and collectives?
Analytics may in time come to be used to judge you — as a learner, an educator, or your institution. The challenge for us is to debate what it means for this new breed of performance indicators to have pedagogical and ethical integrity. What can and should we do, and what are the limits? Do they advance what we consider to be important in learning, teaching, and what it means to be a higher education institution in the 21stCentury?
Are you thinking Dream, Nightmare, or Fairydust?"
use of technology to try to build patterns for what we hope are significant patterns around learns. A dream technology for tracking, or a dumbed down reductionist point of view as a nightmare, or tech vendors seeing a new market and overblown claims.
A new analytics platform
"Some have tried to argue that this technology doesn't work out cost effectively when compared to conventional tests...but this misses a huge point. More often than not, we test after the event and discover the problem--but this is too late."
We are of course, talking about aquarium analytics--revolutionary!! it will continuously track the problems before they affect the fish-- as assured outcome of predictive software.
If we change a few key words, does this seem like your learning ecosystem--maybe we are talking about real students.
Simons neighbor, Mark asked for help to install the fish software--arrows, etc. an exciting sense of control. But you still need to know what 'good'looks like.
SoLAR defines LA: (2nd int. conf, 2012)
"Learning analytics is concerned with the collection, analysis and reporting of data about learning in a range of contexts, including informal learning, academic institutions, and the workplace. It informs and provides input for action to support and enhance learning experiences, and the success of learners."
Again, discussion of the distinction between learning and academic analytics. George Siemens and Phil Long's chart from Educause article shows different stakeholders--who are interested in different outcomes and looking for answers to different questions. Maybe in the future, these will merge. LA is newer and more concerned with the micro-interaction of learners. Success levels and process data about how learners are doing may be important to the academic analytics stakeholders.
Simon urges reflection over learning analytics and the . Power-who is in control and who gets to see it, have to ask?s Principles--ethical principles around mining of data from different sources Pedagogy-we need to ask questions about what kind of learning we need, not just be thrilled at the technology to use it.
DREAM NIGHMARE FAIRYDUST
COMPANIES COMING IN FROM THE BUSINESS intelligence sector, they don't seem to know anything about learning, or how language affects learning, for example IBM Watson. We are sharing personal data--Quantified Self conference-is people sharing health data, about their lives (iPhone Location Data Visualization). Education is in the sights of these businesses, but how will universities et al respond to this new potential? What is the learners response going to be? Will it be forced, voluntary, how much of their own data will they see?
Within the enterprise world, social analytics are becoming a commodity service? Who has the best reputation in their environment?
OU- FLASHMEETING: sufficient context is needed when we are reading off various analytics (Flashmeeting foreign language mentoring)
OU: PREDICTIVE MODELING: Predictive modeling help us to identify patterns of student success that vary between student groups/areas of curriculum/study methods
Benefits:
provides a more robust comparison of module pass rates
support the institution in identifying aspects of good performance that can be shared, and aspects where improvement could be realized. (OU student stats and surveys team--Institute of Educational Technology)
All above still in traditional pedagogy, what about the learning revolution, education reform??
"We are preparing students for jobs that do not exist yet, that will use technologies that have not beeninvested yet, in order to solve problems that are not even problems yet." "Shift Happens" http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com
What kinds of capacities will be needed to deal with this complex world that is here now and is coming?
"The test of successful education is not the amount of knowledge that pupils take away from school, but their appetite to know and their capacity to learn." Sir Richard Livingstone, 1941
How does LA figure into these less tangible pieces. Tectonic shifts in the learning landscape-- tech moving fast (cloud, real time,) free open movement (is increasingly expected-might pay later) social learning (innovation now depends on it, knowledge barely codified before it is out of date), values changing (autonomy, diversity, self-expression, participation becoming more and more important, need to know relevance to own lives of what they are learning), post industrial (new institutional roles in post-industrial education).
All of these are indeed tectonic shifts, we are changing, these are PROFOUND changes in power, relationships, economics, and our very infrastructure--these must figure in to our conception of the future of learning. We must consider these in reshaping learning and education, and in the future of learning analytics. How can LA work with C21 skills, learning to learn, and authentic inquiry? My educational past practice has been with C21 skills, learning to learn, inquiry based programs, project based learning, and I have seen otherwise identified "low" and "unmotivated" students rise to the occasion, become learners, and even experts that give talks for the rest of the class, that assist other students in their areas of expertise, that have a deep curiosity and are excited to learn, thirsty to find out more, curious, interested, and willing to do more than is usually "expected" of students at their levels. These students give up breaks, lunches, and recesses voluntarily when mired in "work" they are completely immersed in. Isnt' this the scene we want in our schools and homes? Isn't this the kind of students we want to encourage? I'm so glad to hear that others see learning analytics as more than just counting the number of websites visited, and the number of posts within an LMS. Good students have learned the game of school--they know what their teachers are looking for and they give it to them, if they are really good, they learn in spite of the chains of traditional schooling. Other students, who don't know the game, don't know the rules, and could care less--but they are students that can be motivated--IF they are given authentic tasks, control over their own learning, and so on.
Now we need to define, and I need to define specifically how learning analytics can be used to assess learning to learn, assess students engagement in authentic inquiry. How can LA contribute to social capital, questioning critically, learning argumentation, citizenship, habits of mind, resilience, collaboration, creativity, metacognition, identity, readiness, sensemaking, engagement, motivation, and emotional intelligence? These are process oriented aspects of learning that I deem as THE IMPORTANT factors in learning.
Simon introduced things that he thinks will be important:
ELLI: Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory
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