Ryan Idea Lab“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” ( Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam )
As India emerges as one of the major global powers, the country is building a strong focus on its education system. The New Education Policy (NEP 2020) is a proof to India’s commitment to revamp its education landscape to build better citizens for tomorrow. NEP 2020 focuses on reducing student drop-out rates, ensuring inclusivity in education, enhanced training to teachers, and personalized learning experience to students.
Technology has emerged as a trusted ally in realizing these goals. In particular, data analytics is proving itself as a powerful tool in the education sector. From identifying learning patterns to improving academic outcomes, data analytics has enabled a paradigm shift from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more personalised, data-driven approach.
In this blog, we explore how data analytics is shaping modern education experience. It is important for parents to understand this trend, which will help them support their children’s learning and development.
The Role of Data Analytics in Education
Data analytics in education means collecting huge volumes of data points– such as academic performance, attendance, participation, and behaviour- from various digital sources and interpreting the collected data using machine learning techniques such as classification, grouping, and regression. These techniques help to identify patterns and reveal valuable and actionable insights from the data points.
Personalised Learning Experience for Every Child
One-size-fits-all doesn’t apply well to pedagogy design. Fitting every child’s learning preference is not only impossible but also a futile attempt to generalize. Also, evaluation of all children based on one academic outcome–exam scores/grades–is not an efficient method to assess their learning.
Instead of evaluating all students based on a written exam, the modern approach evaluates them on several characteristics on a regular basis. Educators use a scientifically developed evaluation rubric to evaluate students’ performance on a scale of 1 to 5. They collect data from the written assessments, project works, classroom participation, group discussions, participation in sports etc., that are conducted regularly throughout the year.
Data analytics methods reveal the learning outcomes and preferences in a more structured and comprehensive manner, so that educators can easily identify the individual needs and customize the delivery of learning to individual students.
Early Identification of Students with Special Needs
Data analytics helps quickly identify academic or emotional difficulties faced by children and thus helps in timely intervention to address those issues. Patterns such as sudden and significant drops in performance, irregular attendance, or diminishing engagement indicate that students with such outcomes might be facing academic or emotional difficulties. This data helps schools to act proactively and address such issues by having open conversation with the affected students, devising a personalized revision plan focusing on the improvement areas, or even counselling the student for emotional support. Without such insights provided by data analytics, schools might resort to blaming and even penalising the student for poor performance without understanding the underlying issue. Such early identification of issues and timely positive intervention also assure parents that their children stay motivated, supported, and confident in their learning journey.
Improved Student Retention
Data analytics helps in monitoring and understanding student engagement levels through various metrics such as attendance, participation, and online activity. By identifying factors that influence student engagement, institutions can implement strategies to foster a more engaging learning environment. Moreover, analytics can track retention rates and pinpoint reasons for student attrition, allowing for the development of programs and interventions designed to keep students enrolled and motivated throughout their educational journey. Engaging students through personalized and interactive learning experiences, supported by data-driven insights, contributes to higher retention rates and better overall educational outcomes
Enhanced Teaching Strategies
Data analytics tools also help teachers enhance their teaching strategies. Access to real-time data helps improve their efficiency in delivering the knowledge to students. By analysing class-wide performance and engagement, teachers can identify which teaching strategies are working best, and which topics need to be retaught or revised differently.
Data analytics help in teacher evaluations also. In India, there has been no efficient teacher evaluation methods. The teachers are usually evaluated based on their years of experience; However, the modern educational landscape requires teachers to constantly upgrade their skills and aptitude. Data analytics methods help analyze data points on teacher performance such as creative thinking, efficient usage of digital tools for knowledge delivery, empathy, subject knowledge, emotional quotient etc.
Strengthening School-Parent Partnership
With modern education technology, parents are no longer limited to annual report cards or quarterly meetings to track their child’s progress. Many schools now provide access to digital dashboards or parent portals, offering real-time updates on academic performance, attendance, assignments, and even behavioural trends. For instance, Ryan Schools offer NeverSkip Parent App that helps parents track all these parameters at one place.
This transparency not only keeps parents better informed but also helps create a stronger partnership between home and school. When parents understand how their child is progressing and where they need support, it becomes easier to collaborate with teachers to reinforce learning at home.
What This Means for You as a Parent
When schools embrace data analytics thoughtfully, parents can expect:
- More personalised and effective learning for their child
- Timely updates and fewer surprises
- Proactive and timely interventions from teachers and counsellors
- Greater transparency and collaboration with the school
In short, it empowers the school, the teacher, and the parent to work together in supporting each child’s unique academic and emotional needs.
Conclusion
In today’s fast-changing academic scenario, the ability to understand each learner deeply and respond to their personalized needs is the quality that sets great schools apart. Data analytics is a powerful enabler of meaningful, inclusive, and personalised education.
