Big data can be defined as the vast amount of information that we generate daily. Big data is your institution’s most powerful tool, this is because administrators, teachers, and students leave an inexhaustible trail of data during their time at your institution hence this data can be used to provide insight into your performance both at a high level and at a granular level.
How do Educators make good use of Big Data?
Data has been in existence for long before computers, the only difference is that technology has enhanced the rate at which data is generated daily. We generate at least 2.5 quintillion bytes of data on a daily basis thanks to mobile devices, the Internet of Things(IoT), and social media among other sources of information.
Undoubtedly, Traditional tools cannot capture, store and manage this voluminous amount of data as it is too complex to be captured by such tools hence there is a need for a better way to store this data. A data management program helps with all this by compiling and aggregating all relevant sets of data into an easy-use,easy-to-understand dashboard using the correct software. This article teaches you how to find the right data analytics platform for your school.
Educators, decision-makers, and stakeholders are now using data analytics programs to uncover institutional problems and find possible improvements.
Note that the value of big data is determined by how you use it, not by how much you have. With that in mind, below are a few benefits that Big data Analytics add to Education;
1. It assists you in finding answers to challenging questions
The best way to get answers or develop solutions to hard challenges is to evaluate your present data. From the past data, you learn more once you know about it.
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If you work in higher education, you may note that there is a drop in the number of enrollments. The use of big data gives you the context cues you need to figure out where, when, and how your enrollments are changing. Most importantly, statistics can assist you in answering enrollment questions such as:
Is there a reduction in one department or the entire institution?
Is there a specific professor whose classes have a poor turnout?
Is it possible to combine any portions in order to boost productivity?
2. It is easily accessible
It is cumbersome and tiresome to search through file cabinets, however, it’s much easier to find what you’re looking for since big data relies on technology to record, store and manage information.
In addition to infrastructure, institutional silos can make it difficult to share information. Leadership can be familiar with the information that teachers cannot access and can create barriers to growth and understanding. With the right software, Data Analytics helps you create a more collaborative environment as Dara is one central location and all you need is the internet to get access to what you need. Most software tools are available from browsers such as google chrome and safari, so you don’t even need to install any programs or plugins.
3. It saves money
Proper resource allocation is essential for higher education and data is crucial to this efficiency.
For one thing, the data can provide information on the number of school enrollments in various class sections. If ENG 102 has 5 sections and only 2 are full, you can merge the remaining 3 to save resources such as classroom space, teacher time, and energy consumption.
From the perspective of infrastructure, cloud-based systems have the potential to reduce data storage costs and free IT departments. In the past, data had to be manually sorted and posted, but this has proven to be time-consuming and can take even weeks if not months. Further, if you need to create custom reports on a regular basis, it can take as long. Employee’s time can be spent on more important tasks. Analytical programs automate much of this tedious task, and the luxury of digital information makes accessing data faster and easier, saving you money in the long run.
Cost savings also adds to the benefit of the adoption of higher education. Based on past academic performance, your data can show which future students are likely to succeed in your institution and which are likely to fail or drop out. This helps create a more successful acceptance process that maximizes each student’s ROI.
4. Data Analytics is fast
Putting all of your school’s information in one central location saves a lot of time that would have gone into sorting data just to find information about a particular report or a particular student.
With Big data available in real-time, you can make decisions faster than ever before and this has proven useful during the registration period when educators are tracking numbers in preparation for the next semester. You can automate the year-over-year registration report to get a better understanding of registration performance compared to the previous year. From this, then you can make a decision on the same day to improve or continue the stability of your registration.
5. It helps you adapt
Data Analytics helps you identify trends that you can use to develop new classes, teaching strategies, and other methods to get what your students need
A good example is community colleges which are mostly populated by adults who are balancing work, families, and their education. One of the requirements when looking for such schools is flexibility. However, With the expansion of online learning, many of these adult students are finding online classes more convenient than late night or weekend classes since it’s suitable for certain types of classes-like ones that don’t require hands-on learning — ..Perhaps on-campus biology course enrollment is stable but on-campus English courses are declining. You can customize the course content so that you can always have the best.