Open data in the teaching-learning process

Open data is an increasingly used resource for the training of students at different stages of the education system and for the continuous training of professionals from all sectors. There is already little doubt about the growing importance of all the skills related to data analysis and processing in relation to almost any knowledge discipline. Similarly, skills related to visualization and the construction of stories based on the conclusions drawn from any data analysis or modeling are increasingly needed to complement and extend the ever-necessary skills to communicate and present results of any kind of work.

Throughout the process of training professionals related to data science and artificial intelligence, open data is a valuable resource for gaining practical experience with the techniques and tools that are common in the profession. However, the effects that the use of data, usually open, has on the learning of other subjects, on the acquisition of other types of skills and even on the motivation of students towards learning, are also beginning to be appreciated.

As early as 2013, research that conducted a detailed quantitative comparison of different educational approaches adopted by 39 schools in New York City showed that the use of data to guide the educational programme was one of the five main policies that had an effect on improving academic performance.

Although the use of open data in the classroom has not been widely studied, the limited research conducted so far suggests at first glance that there is a lack of awareness of open data among educators. While we do not have a consolidated understanding of the effect of the use of open data in educational settings as it is not currently a widespread educational resource, there does appear to be a set of early adopter educators who make substantial use of open data in their teaching programmes.

The research "The use of open data as a material for learning" by the Institute of Educational Technology is based on the qualitative analysis of the experience of a group of these pioneering educators to draw a number of conclusions about the value of using open data in teaching.

One of the starting points is that open data does not seem to offer completely new educational or pedagogical methodologies, but rather its use complements existing concepts of teaching and learning such as research-based or project-based learning or personalisation of learning. Two conclusions stand out in this respect:

1. Open datasets used as part of learning projects in any subject are usually relevant to the learner, either because they describe issues in their geographical or social environment, or because they relate to current issues or their own hobbies. Research shows that the mere use of these datasets that arouse student curiosity during the learning of any concept has positive effects on the motivation of students to go deeper into the subject and appreciate its usefulness.

2. The use of open datasets offers the possibility to propose more advanced activities without increasing the difficulty of the training programme. Examples are cited in the research ranging from the use of open data to support the statistics training of high school students to the use of open scientific databases in the area of genomics to support the teaching of bioinformatics concepts. In this way students can acquire more advanced knowledge and skills that would otherwise probably only have been produced in the field of professional activity or would have been discarded due to insufficient time in the programme. This effect, especially at higher education levels, would also contribute to closing the gap between the education system and professional practice.

Although their effect has not yet been studied, open data competitions are another vehicle for channelling the practical training of students and for creating new educational resources. Increasingly, universities or secondary schools are encouraging teams to participate in regional or national open data competitions as an activity within certain subjects. Some competitions, such as the Castilla y León open data competition, even have a special category with a corresponding prize reserved for the participation of students.

Along the same lines, Barcelona City Council has been organising the Barcelona Dades Obertes Challenge for four years, which aims to bring the benefits of open data closer to the public and to promote its use in the city's educational centres. The challenge combines competition between schools, which have to develop a data-based project, with a specific training plan on open data for teachers, so that they can guide their students.

The fact that there is no more widespread use of open datasets in educational programmes can be attributed to factors such as the lack of teacher training or the difficulty in adapting existing data. Most open datasets come from professional environments such as scientific research or public service administration and learners and educators may not have the literacy or resources to take advantage of them even though tools are emerging that simplify some of the complexities of working with open data. In this regard, a stronger relationship and joint work between educators and learners and dataset producers could also encourage the deployment of more learning programmes.

This is why there are interesting initiatives such as UDIT (Use Open Research Data In Teaching) launched in 2017 with the aim of encouraging and helping higher education teachers to incorporate open research data and other open science concepts into their teaching to improve the learning process.

The International Open Data Charter already recognises the importance of engaging "with schools and higher education institutions to support further open data research and to incorporate data literacy into education programmes". The value of open data in the learning process has not yet been sufficiently explored. As an example, the usual discourse of the open data community always highlights the potential economic and social value of reuse, but not so much the potential of its use in education.

Content prepared by Jose Luis Marín, Senior Consultant in Data, Strategy, Innovation & Digitalization.

The contents and points of view reflected in this publication are the sole responsibility of its author.