Analytics etc.

July 28th

The Horizon Report

Analytics -what are they and how will they help us teach in the future?

Analyzing data has always been helpful in the classroom.   If all my students get a test question wrong, that's a clear indicator that I need to reteach.  If one or two students get it wrong, then I can work with those students to approach the topic from a different angle.  Using classroom data clearly can direct the teaching that takes place.  However, the analytics that are possible today go far beyond the basics that I have used in the classroom to this point.

How far can we go with analytics is obviously not the right question.  It is unfortunate that we now have the ability to collect all sorts of information on what students are doing.  The right question is more about whether or not we should even think about using the information that it is possible to collect.
However, when I think about the way retailers such as amazon/google gather information about my habits, and then suggest new books/products  that I might not otherwise have come across, I can see a tantalizing possibility out there.  If we could suggest books and possible articles to students, based on what they are reading at the moment, is that helpful?  Or is it  unethical?   Or maybe it's just plain annoying to the student.  I have to admit that I like amazon when it suggests books during a book search, but find it irritating that they send me e-mail suggestions based on books that I have purchased...

I wonder if librarians could come up with some way of saying ""if you enjoyed articles by this author, you should try reading  author XXX.  Would that reduce the frustration level of students actively seeking more information?  But is that really different to the bibliography at the end of an article. Doesn't that point stuents in the right direction (as do the subject guides, to a certain extent).  Maybe it's not quite as effective as a personalized approach based on what you just looked at, but it is still an effective way of guiding students to appropriate info and it keeps their searching skills in practice. After all, if you're continuously offered  information that's relevant, you'll stop looking on your own. Sometimes the search is part of the educational journey.   Whatever we feel, there should still be some privacy about our reading and study habits.

Augmented reality - Will this really be possible in the future for our students?  Some of the things in the Horizon report were really amazing.  I think that this type of technology will open up a lot of doors for students.  I love the concept of being able to "experience" something as if you were really there.   The one possibility of being able to look at a city such as Sydney, the way it was 100 years ago by simply using an app on your smartphone is amazing.   As usual, the librarian's take is on how to make sure that type of info is available to everyone, and not just those who are rich.

If we currently have libraries as public "information stores"  whether that information is available digitally or in print, and we have museums that store artefacts and items from the past - where will this type of information belong?  Seeing a city as it was 100 years ago in digital format brings together libraries and museums in a way that is new, and if we can use this type of augmented reality (AR) to make information available in schools but also to the general public, it would be wonderful.  It's almost a shame to have something that is obviously going to be costly available to students during the school day but not have it be used during the evening or weekends.  Surely something like this could be made available to the schools during the day, but also be available to the public on weekends/evenings.    For some reason, the concept of bringing together museums, libraries and online learning is in my brain. As a community, we spend a lot of money on libraries and museums and also on schools - can we make better financial decisions about expensive software - things like Augmented Reality by having a center for Augmented Reality that could be used all day, rather than just  a portion of the day by school members?
http://www.howstuffworks.com/augmented-reality.htm   This is a link to a really interesting explanatory website.  I don't always understand how things work, but this was a good explanation.  If we spend money on this type of thing for online or offline learners - it should be made accessible to everyone rather than just one group of students.

http://augmentedrealityevent.com/  It seems like there's a convention out there for just about anything.  This would have been interesting to attend but this is definitely going to be big business in the future.... of course, that means it's not going to be inexpensive... which brings me back to my original concerns.

Games:  Games have always been popular and certainly can be educational.  Will we begin to use games more in the classroom as technology develops?   I think the potential is there but using games in the online asynchronous classroom might be difficult unless assigned as a homework or extra curricular activity.  I also think that cost will play a role.   It's not inexpensive to create a full graphic game and site licenses for a University might be prohibitive.  On the other hand, we have some very creative app designers out there and some apps are incredibly useful learning tools and are free or less than $5 - affordable for most students.  This is a form of gaming that's already here, familiar to most students and affordable.



The Horizon Report - I had no idea this existed but went back and looked at a copy from a different year.  It will be interesting to go and read them all and see how close they were with their predictions...