We all know that big data is going to change the teaching profession. But what exactly will this transformation entail?

This article explains how analytics will 1) reduce administrative burden 2) address the diverse needs of students 3) improve engagement levels 4) increase flexibility:

“One of the biggest challenges facing schools and administrators today is the growing diversity of the students within their population. A greater diversity of students means a greater diversity of needs to consider. Some struggle because English is not their first language; others have difficulty with focus or organization. Others may be particularly weak in some area but possess unusual strengths in another (which the existing curriculum may not take into account).

As every teacher knows, classroom management is a consummate juggling act. To remain attentive to the needs of all students, teachers must engage the more advanced students while helping the struggling ones catch up. At any given point in a lesson, a teacher must decide whether to move through the material aggressively and add more challenges and twists to the problems presented, or build in more of cushion for those who are confused. Any one of these strategies, including “teaching to the middle,” is bound to leave some students feeling bored or confused.

Blended learning solutions that offer a sophisticated analytics dashboard give both students and teachers more freedom in this respect: students move through coursework at their own pace and teachers retain control over the classroom while gaining insight into the learning process. A teacher might discover through analytics that a student who is weak with math word problems is struggling because he has difficulty with reading comprehension; that teacher can then direct him to material that improves his grasp of syntax and vocabulary. Another student who understands mathematical concepts but has trouble with carelessness in arithmetic can receive feedback about how to develop stronger estimation abilities or check work once completed…”