Have you heard of “DRIP”? It stands for “Data Rich, Information Poor”. The purpose of this phrase is to convey the idea that we have all of this data in schools, but cannot organize it in a way that will give us the information to make responsive instructional decisions.
photo credit: Images by John 'K' via photopin cc
But what if this is not case? What if we are actually data poor? When we consider only quantitative measures during collaboration, such as test scores and interim assessments, we miss out on a lot of information we can glean from more qualitative, formative assessments. These might include surveys, images, audio, journaling, and student discussions.
In this post for MiddleWeb, I profile two teachers in my district who have leveraged technology to better inform their instruction and student learning. The videos and web-based products the students and teachers develop are captured as close to the learning as possible. The results are dynamic, authentic, and minimally processed.
In tomorrow night’s All Things PLC Twitter chat (follow #atplc), we will pose questions to dig more deeply into what data means in the modern classroom. There are too many ways for learners to show what they know to ignore the potential of connected learning and continuous assessment. Join us at 8 P.M. CST for this discussion.