course outline

The course will be organised in three blocks. The core learning activity throughout these three blocks will be the creation of hand-drawn visualisations (one in each block), with accompanying written reflections linking your work to the course themes. This will be supported by group discussions and synchronous group video tutorials. At the end of the course, you will produce a final assignment: the ‘digital essay’ (see the assessment section for more details).

Introduction (weeks 1 & 2)
The introductory two weeks of the course will support you in two key ways. Firstly, in developing a critical understanding of the central term and idea in this course: data. Through engagement with selected readings and group discussion, this part of the course will provide you with a foundational sense of the topic, working across technical and social understandings of data and their associated technologies. Secondly, the introductory period will assist you in preparing for subsequent course activity: setting up your personal course blog space, and preparing for the data visualisation task.

Block 1: ‘Learning’ with data (weeks 3-5)

This first block will consider data in education from the perspective of ‘learners’ and ‘learning’, focusing on how data-driven technologies are shaping, not only the student experience, but the underlying assumptions of being a ‘learner’. During this block, you will produce a hand-drawn data visualisation depicting some aspect of your activity around the course. This visualisation should be posted in your blog, and be viewable by your peers (see the assessment). You will begin the block by participating in a ‘Tweetorial’ (week 3), progressing to exploring some data visualisation ideas (week 4), before producing your final hand-drawn visualisation and reflective blog post on the theme of ‘learning’ with data (week 5).

Block 2: ‘Teaching’ with data (weeks 6-8)

The second block of the course will shift to considering ‘teaching’ and the perspective of teachers in relation to educational data, focusing on how particular data-driven technologies are being design and deployed to assist with, and intervene in, pedagogical practices. During this block, you will also produce a hand-drawn data visualisation depicting some aspect of your activity around the course. This visualisation should be posted in your blog, and be viewable by your peers. You will begin the block by participating in a group video tutorial (week 6), progressing to exploring some data visualisation ideas (week 7), before producing your final hand-drawn visualisation and reflective blog post on the theme of ‘teaching’ with data(week 8).

Block 3: ‘Governing’ with data (week 9-11)

The final thematic block will consider the ways data have informed policy and educational governance, examining the ways data-driven approaches align with broader shifts in the sector towards management, measurement, and accountability. Again, you will produce a hand-drawn data visualisation depicting some aspect of your activity around the course. As before, this visualisations should be posted in your blog, and be viewable by your peers. You will begin the block by participating in a ‘Tweetorial’ (week 9), progressing to exploring some data visualisation ideas (week 10), before producing your final hand-drawn visualisation and reflective blog post on the theme of ‘governing’ with data (week 11).

Conclusion (week 12)
The final week of the course will be devoted to two activities: firstly, preparing and submitting your data visualisations blog posts, along with your final written reflection (see assessment); and secondly, planning your final assignment: the ‘digital essay’ (again, see the assessment further details). You will work independently on this task, with the opportunity for an individual support from your tutor.