One of the most polarizing trends to emerge from the rapid growth in technology over the last decade or so is the concept of data.
The easy part is its accessibility. When things are digital, they’re simple to save, share, analyze, and repackage. This can be either good or bad, depending on what data is being collected, and whether or not the user knows it is being collected.
How this can work in education depends on your perspective. In a fully research-based and data-driven learning environment, said data is the fuel for everything. All planning of instruction, all assessment of learning, all revision of planned instruction based on data. If education is continuing down this path–and as clean and tidy as that sounds, no system is without compromise–data mining then becomes not just a trick or tool, but what drives the learning of tomorrow.
Infographic source collegestats.org