Digital education governance:Data visualization, predictive analytics, and ‘real-time’ policy instruments

Educational institutions and governing practices are increasingly augmented with digital database technologies that function as new kinds of policy instruments. This article surveys and maps the landscape of digital policy instrumentation in education and provides two detailed case studies of new digital data systems. The Learning Curve is a massive online data bank, produced by Pearson Education, which deploys highly sophisticated digital interactive data visualizations to construct knowledge about education systems. The second case considers ‘learning analytics’ platforms that enable the tracking and predicting of students’ performances through their digital data traces. These digital policy instruments are evidence of how digital database instruments and infrastructures are now at the centre of efforts to know, govern and manage education both nationally and globally. The governing of education, augmented by techniques of digital education governance, is being distributed and displaced to new digitized ‘centres of calculation’, such as Pearson and Knewton, with the technical expertise to calculate and visualize the data, plus the predictive analytics capacities to anticipate and pre-empt educational futures. As part of a data-driven style of governing, these emerging digital policy instruments prefigure the emergence of ‘real-time’ and ‘future-tense’ techniques of digital education governance

Big data in higher education: an action research on managing student engagement with business intelligence

This research aims to explore the value of Big Data in student engagement management. It presents an action research on applying BI in a UK higher education institution that has developed and implemented a student engagement tracking system (SES) for better student engagement management. The SES collects data from various sources, including RFID tracking devices across many locations in the campus and student online activities. This public funded research project has enhanced the current SES with BI solutions and raised awareness on the value of the Big Data in improving student experience. The action research concerns with the organizational wide development and deployment of Intelligent Student Engagement System involving a diverse range of stakeholders. The activities undertaken to date have revealed interesting findings and implications for advancing our understanding and research in leveraging the benefit of the Big Data in Higher Education from a socio-technical perspective

The LAB@FUTURE Project - Moving Towards the Future of E-Learning

This paper presents Lab@Future, an advanced e-learning platform that uses novel Information and Communication Technologies to support and expand laboratory teaching practices. For this purpose, Lab@Future uses real and computer-generated objects that are interfaced using mechatronic systems, augmented reality, mobile technologies and 3D multi user environments. The main aim is to develop and demonstrate technological support for practical experiments in the following focused subjects namely: Fluid Dynamics - Science subject in Germany, Geometry - Mathematics subject in Austria, History and Environmental Awareness – Arts and Humanities subjects in Greece and Slovenia. In order to pedagogically enhance the design and functional aspects of this e-learning technology, we are investigating the dialogical operationalisation of learning theories so as to leverage our understanding of teaching and learning practices in the targeted context of deployment

Intelligent student engagement management : applying business intelligence in higher education

Advances in emerging ICT have enabled organisations to develop innovative ways to intelligently collect data that may not be possible before. However, this leads to the explosion of data and unprecedented challenges in making strategic and effective use of available data. This research-in-progress paper presents an action research focusing on applying business intelligence (BI) in a UK higher education institution that has developed a student engagement tracking system (SES) for student engagement management. The current system serves merely as a data collection and processing system, which needs significant enhancement for better decision support. This action research aims to enhance the current SETS with BI solutions and explore its strategic use. The research attempts to follow socio-technical approach in its effort to make the BI application a success. Progress and experience so far has revealed interesting findings on advancing our understanding and research in organisation-wide BI for better decision-making

Lessons learned in developing a Second Life educational environment

Virtual worlds are rapidly spreading beyond gaming and entertainment into education and the corporate world. Should this trend continue, as forecast by the industry, then immersive applications will become more prominent, with bespoke software developed in the metaverse affording both opportunities and challenges. This paper reflects on the experience of developing a learning virtual space based on Second Life as part of an innovation project at The Open University, UK. The paper focuses on the lessons learnt from the viewpoint of managing the development of the learning environment, and could be of benefit to educators and educational technologists who are thinking to engage in this sort of development

The national challenge: raising standards, supporting schools - gifted and talented pilot programme. Element 2: tracking progress of gifted and talented pupils (National Strategies: national challenge)

"A booklet to help schools involved in the National Challenge Gifted and Talented (G&T) pilot to track progress of gifted and talented pupils... This booklet contains Element 2 of a set of three. The other two are: User Guide and Element 1: Leading and Managing Improvement for gifted and talented education, and Element 3: Guidance on pedagogy for gifted and talented education. Further information on the Gifted and Talented Pilot Programme can be found in 'National Challenge: Raising standards, supporting schools - Gifted and Talented Pilot Programme Introduction and overview'" - National Strategies website

The national challenge: raising standards, supporting schools - gifted and talented pilot programme. User guide and element 1: leading and managing improvement for gifted and talented education (National Strategies: national challenge)

"A booklet to help schools involved in the National Challenge Gifted and Talented (G&T) pilot to support leadership and management of improvement for gifted and talented education. This booklet contains Element 1 of a set of three. The other two are: Element 2: Tracking progress of gifted and talented pupils, and Element 3: Guidance on pedagogy for gifted and talented education. This booklet also contains a user guide for all three elements. Further information on the Gifted and Talented Pilot Programme can be found in 'National Challenge: Raising standards, supporting schools - Gifted and Talented Pilot Programme Introduction and overview'" - National Strategies website