EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF BIG DATA TECHNOLOGIES IN BOOSTING STUDENTS’ LEARNING EXPERIENCE

In the last few years, the propagation of social media platforms has resulted in an explosive growth in the total amount of data that is being generated. This data revolution termed ‘Big Data’ is currently made use of in many fields for a variety purposes. However, one of the major fields in which the use of these massive amounts of data is very promising is education. The objective of this article is, thus, to explore the potential role that big data can play in improving students’ learning experience. In this respect, it was found out that academic institutions can use big data to boost their students’ learning. In fact, it was found out that through the huge amounts of data that students generate while using social media platforms and Learning Management Systems, and based on the information collected on students’ performance, educational institutions can gain valuable insights into how their students are learning. This can help educators choose the learning approach that best suits each of their students. Big data technologies can also provide students with real-time feedback. Instead of having to wait for assignment feedback as in traditional learning, students can be given appropriate and timely feedback, thus, enabling them to monitor the progress of their learning goals. Moreover, the power of big data can be used to offer every student a customized learning experience. Indeed, rather than requiring that all students attend the same lessons and do the same assignments at the same pace, big data technologies can recommend every individual student a personalized and engaging learning experience that goes in line with his typical needs, interests and skills. Given all these benefits, we recommend that education institutions embrace big data technologies to improve their students’ learning experience.