Big Data Techniques to Improve Learning Access and Citizen Engagement for Adults in Urban Environments

This presentation explores the emerging concept of ‘Big Data in Education’ and introduces novel technologies and approaches for addressing inequalities in access to participation and success in lifelong learning, to produce better life outcomes for urban citizens. It introduces the work of the new Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) at the University of Glasgow, presenting a case study of its first data product – the integrated Multimedia City Data (iMCD) project. Educational engagement and predictive factors are presented for adult learners, and older adult learners, in a representative survey of 1500 households. This was followed up with mobility tracking data using GPS data and wearable camera images, as well as one year’s worth of contextual data from over one hundred web sources (social media, news, weather). The chapter introduces the complex dataset that can help stakeholders, academics, citizens and other external users examine active aging and citizen learning engagement in the modern urban city, and thus support the development of the learning city. It concludes with a call for a more three-dimensional view of citizen-learners’ daily activity and mobility, such as satellite, mobile phone and active travel application data, alongside administrative data linkage to further explore lifelong learning participation and success. Policy implications are provided for addressing inequalities, and interventions proposed for how cities might promote equal and inclusive adult learning engagement in the face of continued austerity cuts and falling adult learner numbers

The impact of social identity and cultural capital on different ethnic student groups at university

This research examines the experience of students from different student groups in higher education in Britain, asking the following questions: Is there any effect of different ‘University Cultures’ on students’ experience of higher education? How do different groups of students understand the concept of ‘belonging’ and ‘identity’ within a University? Do different student groups have different expectations and experiences of higher education? The research will draw on a range of social theories such as Social Capital, Cosmopolitanisation, Identity and Belonging and Mobility, assessing their relevance to the experience of different ethnic students in higher education (HE). Three HE institutions will participate in this project; a large comprehensive University, a campus based old University and a specialist college. A variety of quantitative and qualitative methods will be employed to maximise the breadth and depth of information gathered. Data collection will include a large scale questionnaire, focus groups and educational life history interviews with students from three differing institutions. Outcomes will inform the national debate about degree outcomes for different student groups and satisfaction levels between some student groups

Big Data Techniques to Improve Learning Access and Citizen Engagement for Adults in Urban Environments

This presentation explores the emerging concept of ‘Big Data in Education’ and introduces novel technologies and approaches for addressing inequalities in access to participation and success in lifelong learning, to produce better life outcomes for urban citizens. It introduces the work of the new Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) at the University of Glasgow, presenting a case study of its first data product – the integrated Multimedia City Data (iMCD) project. Educational engagement and predictive factors are presented for adult learners, and older adult learners, in a representative survey of 1500 households. This was followed up with mobility tracking data using GPS data and wearable camera images, as well as one year’s worth of contextual data from over one hundred web sources (social media, news, weather). The chapter introduces the complex dataset that can help stakeholders, academics, citizens and other external users examine active aging and citizen learning engagement in the modern urban city, and thus support the development of the learning city. It concludes with a call for a more three-dimensional view of citizen-learners’ daily activity and mobility, such as satellite, mobile phone and active travel application data, alongside administrative data linkage to further explore lifelong learning participation and success. Policy implications are provided for addressing inequalities, and interventions proposed for how cities might promote equal and inclusive adult learning engagement in the face of continued austerity cuts and falling adult learner numbers

Student diversity, extra-curricular activities and perceptions of graduate outcomes

This research will examine how different student groups engage with extra-curricular activities and what effect these activities have on their degree and graduate outcomes. Recent research has indicated that different student groups have different degree and employment outcomes, this research examines how different student groups engage with extra-curricular activities and what effect these activities have on their degree and graduate outcomes. It examines what extra-curricular activities students participate in and whether different groups have preferences for different types of activities (i.e. are there patterns of participation in certain activities by certain groups of students) and if so what impact does this patterning have on graduate employment potential. Extra-curricular activities are broadly defined in this research, such as part-time work, involvement in University union clubs and societies, (and different types of clubs and societies, cultural, sporting and other), other University related activities such as volunteering, class representation, etc. and other activities outside of University life, such as family commitments and community activitie

Enhancing the Experience of International Doctoral Researchers - Key Messages

No abstract available

The role of big data in elucidating learning cities ancient, present and future

No abstract available

Lifewide learning in the city: novel big data approaches to exploring learning with large-scale surveys, GPS, and social media

Despite UNESCO’s Learning Cities agenda, which argues for the mobilisation of resources to promote education across all sectors and environments, there is little evaluative research on learning city engagement which is both naturalistic and empirically rigorous. The research on informal adult learning in urban contexts is particularly sparse. This paper provides a case study of informal learning and lifewide literacies amongst Glaswegian adults using three distinct approaches to data collection: a household survey capturing rich data on learning attitudes, behaviours, and literacies; GPS trails that track mobility around the city; and the capture of naturally occurring social media. The work operationalises learning city indicators, and explores domains beyond education, some of which have not previously been considered in surveys of adult learning, for example, physical mobilities and transportation patterns. We use the theoretical concepts of Social Identity and Social Capital to situate social inclusion within explanatory frameworks which interpret marginalisation in groups, places and the less tangible domain of informal learning in order to interpret our multi-strand dataset. A triangulated analysis of city-wide participation in lifewide learning reveals a demographic picture of groups marginalised from learning opportunities and practices. Examples of this include older adults in areas of deprivation and households in precarity. We conclude with a call for new approaches to exploring learning participation which offer novel methods to evidence informal learning and lifewide literacies

Big Data, Lifelong Learning and Learning Cities: Promoting City-Discourse on Social Inequalities in Learning

The Key Features of Learning Cities, published by UNESCO (2013), laid out possible indicators through which learning communities, cities, and regions could support and evaluate learning engagement and urban success, within a context of international collaboration. This briefing paper presents an overview of Learning Cities from the perspective of operationalising a range of indicators, illustrating the role of ‘Big Data’ in in this pursuit. We also argue for public engagement opportunities to be embedded within social science research. Such discourse and debate regarding individual motivations, decisions and ambitions, may highlight where lifelong learning opportunities are needed, and for the wider value of active citizenship. The present work, of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) at the University of Glasgow, is a key investment for researchers to more easily access the potential of big data for addressing city challenges, such as learning inclusion. UBDC exemplifies how novel, open, big data can be applied to assess learning engagement in an urban context, embedded in place and with considerations of demographic and deprivation changes. The principles of our research relate to Learning City frameworks, and have been inspired by the PASCAL Observatory’s Learning City Network, as well as the existence of a Memorandum of Agreement between PASCAL and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. Using Learning City Frameworks and applying innovative Big Data approaches offers educationalists avenues for exploring learning engagement in our own regions, as well as future global comparisons of Learning Cities. More importantly, novel and interdisciplinary approaches can help us use our city data, to open discussions about learning inequalities, specifically promoting lifelong learning and lifewide literacies for more engaged citizenry

Capturing lifelong learning data through international surveys and novel innovative methods

Previous literature has highlighted the predominant use of qualitative research methods within the field of adult education. While a wide range of opportunities to exploit and gather large scale quantitative data are available, these avenues remain underexplored. The aims of this chapter are twofold. First, it familiarises readers with a range of datasets gathered through international survey programmes managed by International Governmental Organisations. Examples include the European Commission’s Adult Education Survey, the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), UNESCO’s Literacy and Assessment Programme (LAMP) and the World Bank’s STEP Skills Measurement Programme. It links the existence of these survey programmes to a wider debate on the use of benchmarks and indicators underpinning data-driven policy approaches. Second, it discusses examples of the application of novel and innovative methods that have been used to capture lifelong learning data in real-world projects. It highlights the work undertaken by the University of Glasgow’s Urban Big Data Centre, and zooms in on research undertaken within the Integrated Multimedia City Data (iMCD) project. Its work is being discussed against wider developments in relation to the use of ‘big data’ in the social sciences. Throughout the chapter, we reference the limitations of large survey and innovative data work, such as issues relating to privacy and the difficulties in including hard-to-reach groups. We focus on cooperative work in interdisciplinary teams with colleagues from varying methodological backgrounds who can contribute to projects underpinned by triangulation to provide comprehensive answers to relevant research questions

The role of numeracy and financial literacy skills in the relationship between information and communication technology use and travel behaviour

The present research examines the role of maths-related literacies, or competencies, in influencing the relationship between ICTs and travel behaviour. We adopted a Bayesian approach to jointly model the frequency of different types of internet use, and total travel distance per traveller, with respect to measures of lifewide literacies (other than reading), specifically in the form of numeracy and financial literacy questions. Our findings revealed that participants with higher levels of these literacies used the internet more frequently, and travelled further than those with fewer skills. These literacies were directly associated with total travel distance, as well as indirectly associated through internet use. Our results therefore imply that a strong policy aim to improve maths-related literacies could have implications for mitigating the effects of social exclusion in the digital age