Welcome to Week 6, your Big Data stop on our Mobile Learning journey. Please start your week on big data by filling out our SURVEY. After you have completed the survey, we would ask that you navigate to our OER to explore our big data content. Within our OER, you will find multiple ways to discuss and explore thinking around big data. We have optimized the website for mobile use, so please feel free to explore this OER from the convenience of your mobile device. Later on in the week, a second blog post will follow that will include the collected data from our survey. Please check back later on in the week to explore this data and reflect on the meaning of it.
This OER was created by Janice, DeeDee, Stephen, Emily, and Kelvin.
**UPDATE** – Please find the results to our Big Data Survey HERE. Please let us know your thoughts and thinking around collecting big data and using big data to make academic performance predictions.
Very well done project – Kudos!! Previously, I wasn’t very clear on the concept of what ‘Big Data’ was, or how it applied to my teaching, but your site is very well laid out with multiple resources. Thank you for your hard work.
Hi Big Data Group!
You have a lot of information on Big Data and how it can be used in various ways in the classroom.
I humbly offer some things to consider for your project.
What is the connection between Big Data and Mobile or Open Learning?
How is Big Data better understood through the lens of mobile learning?
How is big data exemplary of mobile learning? how is your project itself exemplary of mobile learning?
How is the experience of Big Data different through mobile vs desktop/brick and mortar classroom?
What are the mobile learning potentials of Big Data? How can Big Data improve the 5 affordances of mobile?
Great job! You depict a big picture on big data, especially in the educational context. I can feel that you are using some strategies of Bid Data in building the web site: by transmitting information in the same time as collecting it. You visualize the data from surveys through multiple forms.
I like your big data survey on the “more” page, which gives me a kind of connection with my classmates (I am assuming that these responses came from my classmates). By viewing the charts, I don’t need to know who is who, but I do know more about myself in this class, how many others are similar or not similar to me. I guess we can use big data in the same way to help learners know more about their learning progress.
Adorable your work about Big Data, Congratulations
It seems to me that Big Data is like a spirit or ghost surrounding us, reading and predicting our movements. Sometimes, it can be beneficial, such as an APP that indicates the best route for a trip. Another time, it can be stressful, such as an unstoppable Whatsapp, calling our attention continuously. In my opinion, the core point is to build rules and limitations for invasiveness that Big Data collection allows. For example, a patient in a hospital has a confidential medical record. Should not we control who will manage our web data? What is personal information that we permit to be collected and used? Are we ready and aware of the consequences of the public exposition in the long run?
Hey Week 6 gang!
Good job on your OER, I liked the overall layout of the website, especially how some things were presented, like the How To windows, or how the info is presented in Future Outlook. I did find the Security and Privacy page initially confusing, I think because of the word “back” on the two expansion buttons, when you aren’t actually going “back”. I found the information included in the OER to be informative, though I did find the video content and “read the paper” content to be quite dated – much of it seemed to be from 2014/15. But again, I learned from the content included and appreciated the format in which it was presented! Thanks!
Hi Week 06 Team
The OER on Big Data was very informative, especially the ‘How To’ page. Collection of Big Data for education is important for research, analysis and generating predictive models. However, the government should be vigilant and take strict measures when it comes to policy making and generating regulations to keep data private and secure. Overall a good read!
Thank you for sharing your education resource with us.
Hello Team 06!
I really liked how you stated clearly the expectations for every page. The interactive activities were very aligned with the content. I found that your initial Big Data survey elicited the typical mistrust I feel whenever presented with such personal identification questions. I would like to ask then – why did you ask each question? Why my age, marital status, and family size? How is each question pertinent to gathering the data you wish to gather? How accurate do you expect the data to be? It would be great to have a conversation about the actual data one wishes to gather, and then to ask the most precise questions to gather that data, without the extraneous information that does not necessarily add to the main objectives.
Thank you!
Evelyne
Hi Evelyne,
Thanks for your comments and questions. The basis for the questions asked came from this research study: (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304549988_Big_education_Opportunities_for_Big_Data_analytics)
with some explanation on our results page: (https://deedeeperrott.wixsite.com/etec523bigdata/basic-11)
I like that you commented on the discomfort of answering such personal questions, as that was anticipated. It is likely also an example of some of the personal information that is collected about us without explicitly answering survey questions. We didn’t ask the questions in order to do any analysis, as that is not our goal or area of expertise, rather we asked them as examples of the type of information that can be collected and used in predictive analytics. I think another thing to consider with big data is that it can involve the collection and storage of massive amounts of information, not all of it relevant to a given analysis or topic, but available for analysis if it becomes useful. this is again where privacy and ethics come into play, and questions of how all this information will be used and who has access to it? (In our case we have no interest in exploiting or sharing any information that was collected).
Janice,
I shared the same questions as Evelyne, and when I read your response I was reminded of the importance of trust. As online classmates we don’t really know that much about one another, and yet because of the nature of the course and the fact that we share enough similarities, a sense of trust exists. I know for me my level of trust of a person or website dictates whether I am willing to share accurate personal information with them. So, thanks for being trust worthy!
Thanks Dana,
That does raise a good point that we make judgement calls all the time on who we will provide our information to and where we choose to be more cautious. Who and what to trust (websites, vendors, sources…) is an important aspect of digital literacy. I’m glad that you felt you could trust your classmates!
The topic of Privacy and Security was quite relatable as currently I am the instructor for a cybersecurity course offered in our school district that was supplied by the cybersecurity company, Palo Alto Networks. Our district was approached by this company to train students to fill a need in the tech industry that is seriously lacking experienced workers. Palo Alto developed their own program of online courses aimed at college aged students and now want to offer that education and training for senior high school students. Currently our district is in its’ 3rd year of running cybersecurity courses so it is still a relatively new opportunity.
The issue with the increase in growth of big data is that there are not enough people trained or specialized in cybersecurity to meet the demands of many governments, industries and companies. Palo Alto Networks claims that cybercrime damage costs are estimated to reach over $6 trillion annually by this year and there are currently 3.5 million unfilled jobs related to cybersecurity.
Even more surprising to me is that the high school students that enrol into these cybersecurity courses already know about the high demand for people trained in cybersecurity and already have a good understanding of the basics.
If you would like to know about about the program for students:
https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/services/education/academy#Students
Hi Neill,
Thank you for adding some very interesting insight and resources to our conversation. I figured that this was a problem, but I had no idea how big the scale of the problem was. Courses like the one you describe speak to the every growing need for education to shift it’s thinking around what we are teaching students, and how we can prepare them for the job market of the future. Through the preparation of our students with 21st Century skills, we will hopefully start to develop a world that is more prepared for the stark realities of technology and its place in our futures.
Thank you again for adding some valuable, first hand experience to the conversation.
One of the most interesting aspects of education today is that curriculum goals are now more focused towards developing critical thinking skills in students because for many of them, their future careers and occupations do not yet exist!
I was able to find this article that goes deeper into the topic:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/how-colleges-are-preparing-students-for-jobs-that-dont-exist-yet
Group 6:
Your OER provides a nice wide perspective to the possibilities and limitations of Big Data. I needed to take a second look due to a little confusion with the navigation, but it has all been resolved. Overall, the information was well presented and what I would expect to be discussed concerning Big Data. Nice job.
Hi Brittany,
Thank you for taking the time to explore our OER. The topic of “big data” was a little overwhelming to take on given its breadth, but I am glad to hear that you found all of the information that you expected within our design.
Your OER provided a variety of ways to think about big data, and for someone like me, you were able to introduce me to a concept I know nothing about and make it super interesting at the same time. I also understood a variety of practical applications without having to do too much searching to find them. I think your OER is organized beautifully and the images you chose were soothing, for such a dense topic! I also loved your introductory survey, you had me hooked from the beginning. Great job this week!
Jen
Hi Jen,
Big Data is fascinating and it’s impact on education is growing. Thanks for the comments. It sounds like the survey served it’s purpose well!
The survey was a great way to demonstrate Big Data in action. Even though I’m not teaching this class, it gave me insight into aspects of my A2 that are like to benefit this particular group or not. I think many educators wonder how Big Data can help evolve our everyday practice into something more intentional, and the two-part survey example helps clarify what that process could look like. Well done!
Thanks Lyndsay. We hear so many negatives about big data as it relates to social media algorithms. I like you comment about it becoming more intentional and to me this could have many positive effects in education such as identifying students needing early interventions.
Honestly really enjoyed this OR, I really didn’t know much about Big Data before this and it feels like you delivered an entire course load of knowledge in a short and concise format. Great work, I honestly was bummed out a little when it was over……….
Thanks for the comments Michael. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Big Data is a big topic so it’s great to hear the OER felt concise.
I really enjoyed exploring your site, and feel like I know much more about big data than I did a few days ago! I appreciate the way you offered a variety of options to explore on your “How to…” page, to allow us to zoom in on areas of interest. The videos you included are interesting and very relevant to education. I was particularly intrigued by Khurram Virani’s Tedx Talk, as it helped me to get my head around the relevance of big data in education. Being an elementary teacher, I keep coming back to the question of how big data could be used to benefit my young students. They are not big producers of digital data, and much of the information I use to inform and personalize their learning comes from my interactions with them and the material. Do you have any thoughts about this?
Thank you for your comments Wendy. Your question is one that our team pondered as well, much of the available information and research about big data and education is focused on post secondary. This year, young students around the world suddenly began to produce more digital data and fully online or hybrid learning is still a reality for many. I wonder if some of those digital interactions will continue even as we gradually return to “normal” sometime (hopefully) soon. I think that in the coming years we will begin to see more data and analytics for younger students, as our digital interactions become even more prolific. Wearable technologies, learning apps, smart paper to digitize hand written or drawn work, biometrics from cameras, the list goes on. The data trend is likely to continue and presumably it will trickle down to our younger students. The data will be out there. As more information and analytics become available, we will have to continue the serious discussions and questions about privacy, bias and other risks.
This is a superb OER! The layout is beautiful and you hit all the major points that a teacher would want to learn about. I especially enjoyed the section on bias. Thank you for sharing sample companies that we can already look into. What does a classroom using Big Data look like to you? Do students have e-texts that track their reading and a portion of each class is dedicated to online practice quizzes? Would the classroom be more flipped to allow for more engagement with data collecting activities? What do you think about China’s recent push for biometrics in the classroom? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMLsHI8aV0g I am interested to hear your thoughts on this video.
Hi Ying,
Gig data in the classroom is more easily collected when using online platforms, information such as the time spent on each question on a quiz, and the type of questions that students are getting wrong more, can be extracted and analyzed. A classroom doesn’t have to be flipped in allow for data collection. I think whether or not to conduct an online activity in class or at home depends on the kind of information educators are looking to gather. For example, I think gathering information on students’ studying habit at home (in a flipped classroom setting) may allow educators to gain in sight into if previewing and reviewing material at home on a daily basis has a correlation with higher test scores.
Thanks for sharing the videos on the use of AI in the classroom in China. I think it’s amazing that there’s a great push for using technology in the classroom in China, however, the use of AI is still at a very untested stage. As the video says, the use of the headband measuring brain wave activities is highly inaccurate, but the teachers are observing better behavior in the classroom. I would be curious to see some studies being done on this where a control group is included, to see if the perception of wearing a headband, which the students know that their teachers and parents could receive information about their concentration level would make them focus more.
This is a great resource with lots of great learning opportunities! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Emma!
We appreciate your response. Thanks for being the first one to check us out and leave a comment! Please let us know if you have any additional thoughts on your experience moving through the OER. We welcome any suggestions!
Emily