THE IMPACT OF PLATFORM- BASED DATAFICATION ON PEDAGOGY

Abstract

urpose: This qualitative meta-synthesis examined how the impact of digital datafication on pedagogical practices in European schools is addressed in existing research. It explored the interplay between school governance, datafication and digitization of teacher and student practices.

Theory: To conceptualize the assumption that school governance is generally the reason for the datafication of schools, I adopted Foucault’s conceptual construct of governmentality.

Method: Twenty-four studies, published between 2004 and 2021 were obtained from five electronic databases (Web of Science, SCOPUS, ERIC, Education Complete (via EBSCOhost platform and Google Scholar), citation chasing, and manual searching. Studies that focused on data practices, the use of learning technologies, and performance-based accountability were scrutinized, and relevant data extracted, coded, analyzed to identify recurrent themes which were synthesized to generate the findings of the study.

Results: A synthesis of the outcomes from most of the studies indicated that data practices, integration of learning platforms/technologies and performance- based accountability had both positive and negative effects on pedagogy in European schools, although result of one longitudinal study pointed out that cases examined could not establish how learning analytics specifically led to positive impacts in schools. One striking relevance of the findings from this study is the indication that the interplay of datafication enablers/elements appeared to expose teachers to precipitators of mental and psychosomatic health issues, and it also revealed the absence of students voices in studies exploring datafication in schools.