Co-designing Data-Driven Educational Technology and Practice: Reflections from the Japanese Context

• Published in: Technology, knowledge and learning knowledge and learning, 2024-12, Vol.29 (4), p.1711-1732
• Main Authors: Ogata, Hiroaki, Liang, Changhao, Toyokawa, Yuko, Hsu, Chia-Yu, Nakamura, Kohei, Yamauchi, Taisei, Flanagan, Brendan, Dai, Yiling, Takami, Kyosuke, Horikoshi, Izumi, Majumdar, Rwitajit
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Co-design; Context; COVID-19; Creativity and Arts Education; Data collection; Decision making; Design analysis; Digital literacy; Education; Educational Technology; Extracurricular activities; Higher education; Industrial development; Information literacy; Infrastructure; Learning; Learning analytics; Learning and Instruction; Original Research; Pandemics; School closures; Science Education; Students; Teachers; Teaching methods
• ISSN: 2211-1662; 2211-1670
• DOI: 10.1007/s10758-024-09759-w

This paper explores co-design in Japanese education for deploying data-driven educational technology and practice. Although there is a growing emphasis on data to inform educational decision-making and personalize learning experiences, challenges such as data interoperability and inconsistency with teaching goals prevent practitioners from participating. Co-design, characterized by involving various stakeholders, is instrumental in addressing the evolving needs of technology deployment. Japan's educational context aligns with co-design implementation, with a learning and evidence analytics infrastructure facilitating data collection and analysis. From the Japanese co-design practice of educational technologies, the paper highlights a 6-phase co-design framework: motivate, pilot, implement, refine, evaluate, and maintain. The practices focus on data-driven learning strategies, technology interventions, and across-context dashboards, covering assorted learning contexts in Japan. By advocating for a co-design culture and data-driven approaches to enhance education in Japan, we offer insights for education practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and industry developers.