Can Engagement Data Help Address Concerns Over Decline in Student Focus?

Education is an immensely powerful tool — empowering us with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed, whether through a trade, or further qualifications like studying an online MBA. Initially, it can be difficult to recognise the role that education can have on our lives, and as a result, it’s easy to dismiss the effects of education while we are young.

As a result, teachers constantly battle against the explosion of technology in the modern classroom — a key battleground in the fight for quality, focused education. With so many flashy distractions, from social media to video games, what can teachers do to keep students engaged in classwork?

Could the answer lie in tracking student engagement? Recent releases from educational technology firms offer a solution — live student engagement tracking, offering real-time insights for teachers. While this seems like a promising idea, could implementing this have a measurable impact on student performance? In a world where advertisers are roundly criticised for marketing toward children, how can safeguards be implemented to mitigate student privacy concerns?

Worlds of Distraction

Let’s face it: technology is everywhere. From the streaming services that provide us with media to the tablets and computers that enable us to create, students are immersed in technology even before they enter the classroom.

In the classroom, teachers already feel the burden of overwhelming classroom sizes, a lack of support, and challenging student behaviours. From that point on, it becomes quite simple for a student to put their head down, dig into their tablet, and watch videos, often unquestioned by teachers who simply are overwhelmed by the workload — a longstanding problem for even the most senior teachers.

It’s important to recognise that this explosion of technology in the classroom is nobody’s fault. It’s a byproduct of the times — where technological innovation and ingenuity from Silicon Valley have shaped classrooms in extraordinary ways. If you were a student bored in a classroom, it makes sense that you’d turn to the wonders of the Internet to stay engaged.

An Increasingly Digital Classroom

Could the answer to a technology-driven problem be, somewhat ironically, more technology?

Take, for example, a tool that can track when a student is paying attention to the work that a teacher has placed on a whiteboard. Many modern technologies can track facial movements and where students click on a screen. The data is rich enough to be fed back into a database — allowing a teacher to gain live data on which students are paying attention in a class versus simply disengaging with content.

This can significantly benefit teachers, particularly in large or obstructed classrooms. For example, a teacher can quickly identify if a classroom is disengaged with what’s being taught and pivot to regain attention.

Experts Note Privacy Concerns

It must be said, however, that these sorts of technologies, while incredibly powerful, can also come with incredible amounts of risk. For many critics, the perceived benefits of engagement data are partly outweighed by the potential for digital data to be used for harm.

For example, how can safeguards be put in place to ensure that teachers and students alike cannot misuse or abuse the data they have access to? What about the role that engagement data could play in active surveillance — is it really necessary for a teacher to know if a student is studying late at night or early in the morning?

It’s important to recognise the role that teaching has had in shaping today’s world and how it shapes the next generation of workers. Engagement data, in part, provides a powerful tool to enhance the capabilities of teachers — offering a unique opportunity to capture student attention when it is lost, rather than simply not addressing it.

Critically, though, engagement tracking comes with risks. Rushing irresponsibly into the tracking of students presents risks from both privacy and ethics perspectives — and teachers, parents, and students alike must work together to address their concerns — before any procedures are implemented in the classroom.

In closing, perhaps it’s appropriate to consider Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s words — just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should.

Image credit: iStock.com/Drazen Zigic