Big Data in Modern Education
Dr. Jae H. Paik opens the presentation at the Future Education AI Forum 2022
On November 11, 2022 Dr. Jae H. Paik and Dr. Igor Himelfarb presented at the Future Education AI Forum at Seoul University. The theme of the 2022 forum was “Curating the Future of Schools”, and focused on how the evolution and increased adoption of artificial intelligence will shape the future of education.
The use of data science has been growing exponentially. EdTech is also growing, with more and more investment especially after the pandemic. As education is no longer confined to just a classroom, or only focused on memorizing text and facts, it is important to better understand the best strategies for supporting student learning.
Paik and Himelfarb’s presentation was titled “Big Data in Modern Education”. It began with an overview of the current field of how data science is being used in the field of education. Paik argues that data science in K-12 is currently underdeveloped. She highlights the importance of using data science to better understand the comprehensive learning experience of students, and shift the focus away from only academic scores or outcomes. Data science can help us understand the underlying processes of students’ learning behavior. Using the power of data, educators can better understand the needs of their classroom through visualizations and detailed information about the performance of their students. From there, educators can make decisions about how to best support their students. Individualized learning plans can also be generated for students, helping students and educators create realistic and achievable goals.
Paik introduced a current project with I-TokTok (아이톡톡) , an online platform used by K-12 students in Gyeongsangnam-do (a province in South Korea). I-TokTok has been used to analyze student learning behaviors through two perspectives - academic skills and socio-emotional skills. Himelfarb further explained how machine learning is being used with iTokTok to explore student’s learning behaviors and provide recommendations for future EdTech development and implementation.
Himelfarb leaves us with an important conclusion, that students are not computers - but artificial intelligence and machine learning can become more like students to optimize and personalize the learning experience.
Watch the full presentation (slides presented in English with Korean audio) here.