Exclusive Interview With Dr. Andrew Peterson
Dr. Andrew Peterson
Dr. Saba: What attracted you to the field of technology in education?
Dr. Peterson: I was working as a psychologist and director of a family and child guidance in Pennsylvania. The clinic was part of the community mental health center in a rural area in the Allegheny mountains. One typical client would be a family with a child who was failing in the public school. The tendency in a medical model was to blame the problem on a physical dysfunction with the label, “dyslexia.” The research literature was very unclear, but it was easy to name and medicate. To me it seemed more like “fear of failure” and a lack of training in phonics. Getting the student into a different environment was wroth a try. The TI-99 computer was such a domain for the learner to obtain the skill of reading without the scrutiny of adult critics. Maybe educational technology could help … and now we have Kahn Academy and more!
Similar insights were gained later in graduation education and small business consulting. The Internet could be a platform for a more effective and personal sort of training, especially when combined with local mentoring, too. Seminary education could be done with the best of lectures at a distance while still in the authentic community of present church and neighborhood. Business could be conducted online with a great savings of time and money. And even healthcare could see a more personalized medicine. Each time, distance education has been a key tool for improving day to day life. I believe, the new predictive analytics aka Big Data is the next step in the progress of our economy and standard of living. It is a good tool to add to the “ed tech” toolbox.
I believe, the new predictive analytics aka Big Data is the next step in the progress of our economy and standard of living. It is a good tool to add to the “ed tech” toolbox.
Dr. Saba: You have been involved in distance education for a considerable period of time. What are some of the current trends in the field as you see them?
Dr. Peterson: I am seeing distance education applied to new topics, using new learning management systems and in more of a competitive marketplace now. Most areas of education are now addressed with distance learning. Even the more intuitive and sensitive topics such as personal counseling and medical diagnosis can be trained online. Customized certificates are now as important as formal degrees due to the increased division of labor in technology and the speed of change in industry needs.
Several years ago, the learning management system (LMS) became the backbone of any distance learning program. After the first wave of commercial packages such as Web CT, eCollege and Blackboard, there was an open systems group of applications for LMS, Moodle being most popular by far. Now, smaller companies with agile applications are coming to the table, for example, Canvas and Pathwright. This next generation of LMS is more of a “just in time” sort of guidance rather than posting a syllabus with assignments for the learning to figure out. Also, there is a need for fitting in more “informal learning” opportunities on the virtual campus.
Thirdly, we are seeing more competition in tuition and fees as part of the overall realignment of education moving from public systems to private and home operations for children and adults. While instruction is more valuable than ever for the student and the marketplace, the efficiencies from technology and communication are arriving, too. The smart phone is huge in our every day experience in contemporary society. And instructional systems are adapting to this platform by the droves. The competition will drive down prices even as distance educators meet the demand. Thus, distance learning will receive more attention from marketing and retention experts that ever.
Dr. Saba: Let’s focus on big data analytics; why is it important?
Dr. Peterson: Big Data is the short-hand term for the huge increase in the volume, velocity and variety of data collected, archived and searched. The hardware and software is now affordable as Moore’s Law marches on to more and more computer capacity. Yet, a fourth V, value, must realized for progress to be maintained. How can the data be used to recruit more customers, serve the customers and retain more customers? In education, we apply these questions to students and to donors. Applying significant business or operational questions to data analysis project is the starting point. This is the basis for data preparation, which is 80 to 90% of the work for predictive analytics. As the new packages of algorithms are run in the data set, new hunches and questions arise. Significant results are then displayed with the most relevant numbers, reports and images.
Big Data is the short-hand term for the huge increase in the volume, velocity and variety of data collected, archived and searched.
The goal in the culture of the school or company is to have “data driven solutions”, cf. Rapid Insight. Leaders must repeat the plea for evidence-based thinking as opposed to old, staid traditionalism. This approach is not opposed to critical, philosophical thinking. The analysis of numbers must be guided by sophisticated intuition. But there must be openness to empirical test as a decentralized market compares and contrasts vendors of every product on the Internet. Or the school will be left behind as online students browse the availability options per quality, price and convenience. Both old and new institutions are examined for their results more than their past reputations. What have you done for me lately!?
Dr. Saba: What methods and tools you have found useful for big data analytics
Dr. Peterson: The successful use of big data analytics does require some organizational change in most cases. Leadership and staff must be motivated to ask questions and formulate operational queries for building the data set and then using it for new understanding. There must be a culture of data driven conversation. Systems for predictive analytics should be set up as self service for the leaders and the staff. Manipulating the data in search of answers to specific questions is part of the Big Data culture. Those who know the domain of the enterprise lead the development of the questions to guide the data analysis.
Software tools for both structured and unstructured data are either commercial or open systems. The open systems are free but they do lack technical and functional support in this complicated new endeavor. The commercial packages have the incentive to provide customer service from their different approaches. Blackboard analytics is an extension of the LMS, but is more descriptive than analytical with its statistics. Companies like SAS have successful products but they are heavily template and lack the flexibility and precision of others. IBM SPSS Modeler is more flexible but can be expensive and less on customer service than smaller providers. It is worth looking at new entrants, such as Rapid Insight, who are working with best practices and place a high priority on educating the customer. And Excel will be a key tool whatever analytics package is selected.
Dr. Saba: What are some of the future developments in the field from your perspective?
Dr. Peterson: Educational technologists are in the perfect position to build consulting practices and role positions in large and small companies. How to use the Internet for promotion, learning and retention? This is the opportunity of our age. As online campuses are built, marketing is key to a successful enterprise. Often neglected, it is the starting point to distance education. The products can be purely distance or in a hybrid mode. On campus and online mixes are increasingly accepted and common in curriculum development as a new instructional design, including the “flipped classroom.” Visualization will be important for instruction and for display of data analytics.
The educational technologist seems to be poised to use valid and reliable distance education to solve problems and help others. According to a traditional aphorism: “Those who say it cannot be done, should at least get out of the way of those who are doing it …!”
We expect the private applications of predictive analytics in distance and local education to far surpass public efforts with Big Government. There will be an increased de-centralization of knowledge. More variety of ideas will be considered faster and in greater number. At the same time local community can be stronger and more progressive with the online resources more available and tuned to personalized needs and opportunities. How to use Big Data? The educational technologist seems to be poised to use valid and reliable distance education to solve problems and help others. According to a traditional aphorism: “Those who say it cannot be done, should at least get out of the way of those who are doing it …!”
Dr. Andrew Peterson
Andy Peterson, Ph.D. is a leader for educational technology in the fields of education, business and healthcare. He administers the design, development and evaluation of curriculum and instruction with online technologies and new media. Experience includes the founding and growing of a multimedia development center at UC San Diego and a full-orbed virtual campus at Reformed Theological Seminary. He has served many clients around the country with the use of digital platforms for marketing, teaching and learning. He earned an MA from UC Berkeley in educational psychology and PHD from University of Pittsburgh in educational technology. Predictive analytics aka “Big Data” is the latest tool to be added to the client toolbox for growing his clients as sustainable and profitable enterprises.
