Evaluate 2.1.1 Data Driven Instruction, Analytics, & Reporting Tools

In the last few years I have served as both the US History Content Leader (an ambassador-like position between our BOE and my school) and the Social Studies Department Chair.  In both capacities, I have been very involved in reviewing and reporting data as a means to drive instruction at the classroom, school, and district levels.  In a virtual setting, my background in analytics would serve as a good foundation to the vast amounts of information available for each student within an LMS & Student Information System.

[Image Source]

Below are three descriptions of how reporting tools and analytics could assist virtual teachers as they practice data driven instruction.

Enrollments & Attendance
An important element in data driven instruction is the use of reporting tools for communication purposes.  In the online classroom, communication goes both ways.  First, some reporting tools communicate to the teacher the enrollment information and gives a snapshot of who is "attending" and how they performing.  Second, virtual teachers must utilize this data to contact students and parents as part of ongoing communication in order to encourage academic growth.

Monitoring Course Progress with Observational Data & Analytics
It is paramount that virtual teachers use the observational data tools frequently in order to properly monitor a student's progress within the course.  When considering why a student is not performing well in an online course, this is a great place to start.  Similar to when I used Moodle in my own classroom, I could easily distinguish the students who performed well in the course because they were the same students who spent the most time working through the resources and materials placed on the website.  This information is extremely effective when communicated to stakeholders.

Students Monitoring Their Own Learning
The e-learning setting encourages students to become an autonomous learners in many ways: from the acquisition of information through asynchronous assignments to the access of data tools for progress monitoring.  In order for a student to become a successful self-monitor, the virtual teacher must communicate this expectation as paramount to student success and must also provide quality feedback for students to reflect on.