As I reach the end of the introductory section of this module ‘Critical Data and Education’, it provides me with an opportune moment to reflect on my reasons for studying this course; what I hope to achieve at the end; and what particular aspects of the topic of ‘data’ interest me most. In this short post, I’ll
Reasons for studying the course
I started studying the MSc Digital Education at September 2020 and since my first course ‘IDEL’, I’ve been drawn to the topic of data. When the courses have given me the flexibility to explore this area, I have done so. In my IDEL essay I looked at ‘Who Benefits from Digital Education?‘ where I took a critical view of the role of BigTech companies and their unrelenting attempts to infiltrate education during the pandemic. I continued to explore data in other courses and most recently looked at whether teachers can play a bigger role in the development of educational technologies.
My last module was actually Research Methods, but my reason for studying this earlier than recommended, was that I wanted to study Critical Data and Education, as this is a course that I believe will play a key role in helping me define my dissertation topic and question. Up until this point, I have looked at critical perspectives of data on a fairly macro level, largely focussing on BigTech companies. Whilst hugely relevant, these perspectives have always felt too vast for a dissertation and I honestly wouldn’t know where to start. Through studying this module I hope to sharpen my focus and identify an area of critical data and education that I can explore in my dissertation.
What I hope to achieve by the end of the course
I’ve probably alluded to this in the paragraph above, but through studying this course I hope to achieve two things. Firstly, I hope to delve deeper into the topic of critical data. In the past I’ve been drawn to the topic of critical data, but it’s sometimes been just one element of a larger topic. In this course, I can focus on critical data practices over a longer period of time and in more depth than previously afforded.
Through focussing on critical data over 12 weeks, my second hope is to come away with a clear – or at least clearer – understanding of my dissertation question, which I’m certain will be on the topic of critical data in Higher Education.
What particular aspects of the topic of ‘data’ interest me most?
Coming from a background as a Learning Technologist, I feel well-versed in speaking to people about the affordances of digital technologies. However, prior to starting the MSc in Digital Education, I realise I probably only had a fairly surface-level appreciation of how data is being used through these technologies. I guess I was focussed on the bits people see – the ‘front-end’ as developers would say.
I’m really interested in a number of different areas from the practices and malpractices of Big-Tech and EdTech companies in education, and their predominant focus on decision makers and students in favour of academic staff.
On the institutional side of things, I am also interested in the more local practices that happen within schools colleges and universities. On this topic, I’m interested in the challenges HE are facing now with resourcing people who can contribute to such discussions of datafication. Whilst we want academics, researchers and digital education professionals in these discussions, it’s not easy to resource or support this, with increasing demands such as higher student numbers. Often the focus is on expansion which results in more of a dependency on choosing off-the-shelf cloud-based technologies and solutions. In an ideal way institutions would first establish clear strategy, policy and workflows for data use first and foremost. However in practice this is not often the case and decision-makers are listening to the voices of external EdTech companies who claim increased efficiencies, scalability and automation.
2 replies on “Introductory Post: Reasons, Reflections & Hopes for CDE”
These are really good and thoughtful reflections Ross. I’m looking forward to seeing your data visualization and reflections on ‘Learning with data’ with your background as a Learning Technologist. It seems to me, from your above comments, that you should have much to say about the ways ‘learning’ is variously considered across Learning Technology design in universities, the Edtech industry, and Big Tech. Like you, I’m a little concerned by increasing dependencies on cloud services, and the possibilities of long-term lock-ins. This may be a question of values. What kind of values do tech companies prioritize? A big cloud operator like AWS seems to see education as a kind of individual acquisition of on-demand skills–that is largely how some of its educational offerings appear. But this would seem at odds with how many university staff and students themselves think about education or learning, and the value they place on them.
Thanks for your comments Ben, this is giving me lots of food for thought. I’m busy wrangling with ideas for my learning with data visualisation now, but finding it surprisingly hard to capture. I guess however the fact that I’m struggling to represent this – even in an unbound analogue and creative form – speaks volumes of the complexity of any attempt to try and datify learning.