Is Data Corrupting Education?
Global experts on education and technology will be in Berlin this week for a debate about how data is changing education.
Mass data collection, sharing and analysis affect everyone who uses technology. What does that mean for the way we learn? Is the focus on data corrupting education? Are we leaving enough space for creativity, imagination and the experience of the teacher? Should we just be glad thatdata can benefit teachers and students alike, helping to prevent learners from struggling unnoticed, picking the wrong classes and dropping out?
A panel of experts will discuss these issues during a special debate on Thursday evening (4 December) at ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN, the largest global conference on technology supported learning and training, which will attract over 2,000 participants from 99 countries when it commences this week. The provocative motion for debate is: ‘This House Believes that Data is Corrupting Education’.
Opposing the motion will be will be one of the world’s leading Internet experts, Prof Dr Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, and Dr George Siemens, co-inventor of the MOOC. Dr Mayer-Schönberger, author and Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University’s Internet Institute, said:
“We must harness data whilst making sure we remain its masters. We must carve out a space for the human – for our irrationality, our creativity, our imagination, for acting in defiance of what the data says.”
Arguing alongside him will be Dr George Siemens, the Executive Director of the Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge Research Lab at University of Texas, Arlington. Technology, networks, analytics, and openness in education form the core of his research, though he is perhaps most widely known as the co-creator of the first ever MOOC (along with fellow OEB 2014 keynote, Stephen Downes). In addition, Dr Siemens is a founding member of the Society for Learning Analytics Research, which explores the role and impact of analytics on teaching, learning, training and development.
Speaking for the motion will be Dr Ellen Wagner and Inge de Waard. Dr Wagner says that the term ‘data’ has become a meme. “Data-as-a-meme ends up standing for everything from loss of privacy, profiling and exclusionary practices, to personalisation, student success and institutional efficiencies.”
Based in the US, Wagner is the Chief Research and Strategy Officer for the PAR (Predictive Analytics Reporting) Framework, a non-profit multi-institutional data mining collaborative that uses predictive models to reveal patterns about student loss and momentum. In other words, she explains, they use data to find out what causes students to drop out.
Inge de Waard is currently working towards a PhD at the Open University and researching self-determined learning in MOOCs for experienced online learners. Her work follows the concept of ‘heutagogy’ developed by Stewart Hase and Chris Kenyon in the early 2000s, which prioritises student-centric learning and ‘learning how to learn’ over the traditional mode of teacher-centric pedagogy.
Also participating in the debate will be an audience of several hundred international education, technology and training experts. A vote will be taken at the end of the debate.
ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2014, the largest global e-learning conference for the corporate, education and public service sectors, takes place in Berlin, 3 – 5 December, 2014. The conference features over 90 parallel sessions and an abundance of networking opportunities, as well as an extensive exhibition area with 75 international exhibitors.
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Notes for Editors
ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2014
20th International Conference on Technology Supported Learning and Training
December 3 – 5, 2014
Organisers: ICWE GmbH, Leibnizstr. 32, 10625 Berlin
Contact: Ms Rebecca Stromeyer, [email protected], Tel.: +49 (0)30 310 18 18-0, www.online-educa.com
Press Contact:
Georgia Gilson + Melanie Wollenweber
ICWE GmbH
Tel.: +49 (0)30 310 18 18 - 0
Fax: +49 (0)30 324 98 33
[email protected]
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