Teachers' data literacy for learning analytics: a central predictor for digital data use in upper secondary schools

Area of Science:

• Educational Technology
• Teacher Professional Development
• Data Literacy in Education

Background:

• Schools increasingly utilize digital platforms for educational data.
• Teacher data use and data literacy are critical research areas.
• A key challenge is integrating digital data into pedagogical practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate teacher digital data use in Swiss upper secondary schools.
• To identify factors influencing teachers' adoption of digital data for teaching.
• To assess the relationship between technology availability and teacher data practices.

Main Methods:

• A survey study involving 1059 teachers in Swiss upper secondary schools.
• Descriptive analysis of survey responses on technology access and usage.
• Multilevel modeling to predict teacher digital data use based on various factors.

Main Results:

• Over half of teachers have access to data technologies, but only a third actively use them.
• One-quarter of teachers feel confident using data to improve teaching.
• Teacher data use is predicted by school-level factors, positive beliefs, data literacy, technology access, and student device use.

Conclusions:

• Providing data technologies alone is insufficient for effective teacher data use.
• Strengthening teacher data literacy and fostering positive beliefs are crucial.
• Interventions should focus on both skill development and pedagogical integration of digital data.