Learning analytics and teacher professional experience : critical applied research at a Private International School in Bogotá, Colombia
Briggs, Julia (2022)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022121429806
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022121429806
Tiivistelmä
The use of educational technology is increasing in schools across the globe and is a primary focus of many innovative policy influencing reports from inter-national organisations. Learning Analytics are collecting vast amounts of data on young people for institutions to track learning growth and provide information for designing personalised learning pathways.
The purpose of this thesis was to conduct critical applied research about teacher experiences with Learning Analytics in a Colombian private international school and develop a narrative from shared themes across the experiences.
Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with seven secondary school teachers. A phenomenological framework was applied to the methodology and questions posed to teachers focused on descriptive experiences of how Learning Analytics interacted with the work they do. Ground-ed Theory was used to develop the data processing and analysis.
Key findings of the research show teachers are not confident about institution-al intentions for Learning Analytics and could not point to explicit or clear objectives for how the data were to be interpreted and used. Most participants expressed that they had not received training that was relevant or sufficient to be impactful in their work, and all teachers pointed to a lack of time and a sense of overwhelm, or burden, due to the volume of data produced by the tools. While the teachers shared reflections of not using the data to its full potential and feeling insecure about the role of Learning Analytics in the school, they all described specific opportunities they felt could be realised from proper use and training of the Learning Analytics and the data produced.
The findings indicate that teachers’ perspectives are not forefront of strategic aims within the school and including their experiences, and professional knowledge, would be beneficial to reduce overwhelm and confusion with the tools. Further research is required to include the perspectives of students.
The purpose of this thesis was to conduct critical applied research about teacher experiences with Learning Analytics in a Colombian private international school and develop a narrative from shared themes across the experiences.
Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with seven secondary school teachers. A phenomenological framework was applied to the methodology and questions posed to teachers focused on descriptive experiences of how Learning Analytics interacted with the work they do. Ground-ed Theory was used to develop the data processing and analysis.
Key findings of the research show teachers are not confident about institution-al intentions for Learning Analytics and could not point to explicit or clear objectives for how the data were to be interpreted and used. Most participants expressed that they had not received training that was relevant or sufficient to be impactful in their work, and all teachers pointed to a lack of time and a sense of overwhelm, or burden, due to the volume of data produced by the tools. While the teachers shared reflections of not using the data to its full potential and feeling insecure about the role of Learning Analytics in the school, they all described specific opportunities they felt could be realised from proper use and training of the Learning Analytics and the data produced.
The findings indicate that teachers’ perspectives are not forefront of strategic aims within the school and including their experiences, and professional knowledge, would be beneficial to reduce overwhelm and confusion with the tools. Further research is required to include the perspectives of students.