Open data to train future professionals

By 2020, the amount of data stored in IT systems will be doubled compared to 2018. Given this scenario, it seems logical that the demand for professionals with analytical and data management capabilities is growing, something we have already spoken about on numerous occasions.

One way to boost the learning of these skills is through open data and its use in the classroom as another educational resource. The development of collaborative projects where students have to search and filter information, analyse data or generate visualizations have a place in almost all subjects. With this type of project, students can acquire a great diversity of capacities: from the use of technological tools and the capacity for analysis and argumentation, to the improvement of so-called soft skills such as teamwork - also fundamental for professional development -.

The first step: train teachers

One of the fundamental pillars for open data to be integrated into classrooms is the previous training of teachers. In this sense, programs such as Use (Open Research) Data in Teaching project (UDIT) try to help higher education professors to be able to use open research data in their classes. Among other activities, the website offers courses that show good practices and examples of learning activities based on the reuse of open data.

Along the same lines, the National Library of Spain and Red.es have created the BNEscolar educational platform with digital content prepared from the documentary collection of the Hispanic Digital Library. The website includes a search engine to facilitate the location of the desired resources, as well as workshops, videos, educational sequences and interactive challenges (such as an escape game). The contents of BNEscolar are aimed at pre-university students, with special focus on the latest levels of Primary and Secondary Education.

Contests and activities to boost the use of data in classrooms

In addition to these platforms, concrete activities, contests and challenges that seek to promote the use of open data among the youngest citizens are also increasingly common. Examples are the Reto BCN Dades Obertes or the Open Data Contest of Castilla y León, which included a special prize for students in each of the main categories, as well as a specific category for the creation of teaching resources that could be used in the classrooms. Another example is Escuelas Comciencia initiative, created by the Observatory of Scientific Communication and the Cyberimaginary research group, where students learn to carry out a research project using open data.

But we can also find such initiatives internationally. The programs developed by Technovation stand out here, aimed at identifying problems in student communities and solving them using disruptive technologies. An example is Technovation Girls, aimed at girls around the world. This program seeks to teach girls how to identify a problem and brainstorm ideas to solve it, and create an application to launch a business. Also noteworthy is the AI ​​Family challenge contest, which brings learning to the family environment, another of the fundamental foundations of children's education. The AI ​​Family Challenge invites families to learn about Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and solve a problem using data tools and AI systems. The original approach of the contest, in which parents and children combine their abilities and learn together in a fun way, has driven the success: 7,500 people from 13 countries participated in the first edition. The deadline for submitting to the second edition will be open until February 2020.

The importance of government involvement

The results obtained in all the previously highlighted activities have been very positive, clearly showing the benefits of incorporating open data in classrooms: the improvement of technological and analytical capabilities, but also of critical thinking.

But if you want to go one step further, it would be advisable to incorporate open data directly into educational plans. This is what Switzerland has done through the Lehrplan21 plan, adopted to standardize education in the 21 German-speaking and multilingual cantons. The plan includes the learning of basic concepts related to data in the educational itinerary: structures, formats, management and analysis of databases, etc.

These types of measures are essential if we want to promote more active learning, where open data helps students to better understand their environment, in a reasoned way, to become the professionals that our future needs.