Week 3; Blog 3 - Big Data

Week 3; Blog 3 – Big Data

The article is from the following site: http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2011/06/the-limits-of-big-data.php.

This is a very interesting article about how humans have become too obsessed with big data.  The author notes that big companies have been relying on data and there is a belief that lies in the corporate world that having enough data can save the company.

The author moves on to say that she does not buy into the theory that data is the savior to all of our world’s issues.  She argues that sometimes it can be too much and that the data does not always work out because we are humans and humans sometimes change or do not act according to plan.

Although she did not reference education in this article, it has great relevance to my profession.  In the past four years, everything has become about data.  Companies have developed various data-driven software for education.  The argument is that analysis of data will help teachers know what they have to do in order to help each student.  There is no doubt that the data does help me know where students are struggling at. 

However, the data is not the only answer to the problem.  It helps, but it won’t solve everything that is going on in our schools.  Since students are humans, they are prone to outside influences (parental divorce, music, breakups, drug and alcohol abuse, and so on).  As a result, their results on their tests will not always be an accurate  indication of what they truly know.  However, the results will “show” that a teacher failed to teach every student the certain benchmark and thus is a failure and should be removed.  That seemingly has become the belief in education and politics.  Being thrown out in the equation are the relationships that the teacher developed with parents, students, and colleagues.  Being thrown out is the help and guidance teachers offered students that cannot be measured by data.  Being thrown out are the extracurricular activities that teachers dedicated their extra time to in order to help students find things ways to get involved in (school plays, community service organizations, sports, singing, etc.).  These events are just as important (or more important) than students knowing Benchmark 5, Standard 4, Paragraph C, Bulletpoint 8.  Yet the data only assesses this. 

Yes, teaching all the benchmarks is very important.  I use every minute of every hour and do as much as possible to help students learn.  I, like the majority of my fellow colleagues, should not be judged solely on test results.  Other factors – the human factor specifically – must be taken into account when determining my effectiveness as a teacher.  Unfortunately, the data does not measure this.  And I think that my view will, unfortunately, never come into fruition.  

Hopefully, I won’t be another number included in the data of teachers dismissed because of not enough improvement according to the data…

Finley, Klint. “The Limits of Big Data.”  27 June 2011.  Web.  ReadWriteWeb.  3 July 2011.  <http://www.readwriteweb.com/cloud/2011/06/the-limits-of-big-data.php>.