Forget Big Data in Education–Little Data Is Making Learning Personal

‘We need to look at what data makes possible in the interaction between one teacher and one student.’

All the data in the world is useless if students and teachers don’t have a chance to connect on a personal level.

The Innovation Academy workspace at Dysart Unified School District outside Phoenix looked more like a tech startup’s headquarters than a classroom. On one side of the room, students wearing special tinted glasses studied electric circuits at virtual reality stations. On the opposite end of the bright, airy space, another small group of students experimented with piecing together real-life circuits that beeped, buzzed, and blinked when connected.

In the middle of all this activity, seventh-grader Jacob Higuera sat alone with his laptop, intently typing out a social studies assignment. It was only the fifth day of school here in Surprise, Arizona, but he was already getting used to this unconventional classroom setup. He was enjoying being able to make his own daily schedule and having the freedom to work on lessons at his own pace. But Higuera, one of 90 sixth- through eighth-graders participating in the Innovation Academy pilot program this year, still had one big concern.

Jamie Martines, The Hechinger Report

Full Story: https://www.wired.com/2016/11/forget-big-data-little-data-making-learning-personal/