I truly believe that (if used correctly) data can help students learn and teachers teach best. Teachers have always used various forms of data to make decisions. Data Dashboards efficiently visualize this data for teachers and allow them to focus on decision making and teaching.
I am excited for the future of data as more and more educators are seeing data as a way to ensure they have a clear picture of each student as an individual. When we look at the whole child (prior knowledge, ability, interests, aptitude, metacognitive information, etc.) we can better align our instruction, scaffold assignments, and give options for assessment. Thank you to @DennisWPierce of eschoolnews. com for including my voice in his article “What teachers want in a data dashboard“.
If you are looking for additional information on Data Dashboards, Malia Herman’s article “Data Dashboards a High Priority in National Ed-Tech Plan” published in EdWeek is one of my favorites. Malia identifies the six golden rules for using data dashboards and they are spot-on! The rules are listed below and the article explains the rules in detail. Happy reading!
Golden Rules of Using Data with our students
Understand the audience.
Master the Purpose
Connect Dashboard and content providers
Choose Data with Students in Mind
Organize Data into logical groups
Start simple, then Grow Sophisticated