Wednesday 2 March 2016

Keynote excerpt on 2 Big Data facts impacting #education #learninganalytics #data

About a year ago I was asked to be part of a keynote debate at Online Educa Berlin. The excerpt was part of the keynote debate that is a much loved item at the Online Educa Berlin conference. The idea behind the keynote debate is to discuss in a parliamentary fashion a specific online learning motion. Each panel member can attempt to interrupt the speaker who has the floor, and it is each of the speakers challenge to keep on top of what they want to say, while stopping the other panel members to interrupt.

This keynote was on Big Data and its impact on education; Big data is changing all aspects of society, as Online Educa Berlin is one of the leading eLearning conferences, this debate put forward the motion: "big data is corrupting education". During the keynote debate an argument for or against the motion is made, each time by two speakers. The speakers in this keynote debate were Ellen Wagner, Victor Mayer Schönberger, George Siemens and myself. Together with Ellen Wagner I was supporting the motion.

The full debate can be seen here, if you scroll to the right in the keynote section. OEB offers a wide collection of recorded material from keynote speakers, and it is a treat.

As each speaker only gets 8 - 10 minutes to defend or reject a motion, I decided to focus on two aspects of Big Data impacting education: creating a bigger digital divide, and reproducing the norm. So here is the video of this keynote.