Using Big Data for Educational Decisions: Lessons from the Literature for Developing Nations

Abstract

Educational leaders from developing countries may be tasked with using big data to help inform educational decisions. Although many researchers have explored how to use big data or datasets to help solve educational problems, few studies have articulated how educational researchers and leaders from developing nations can use big data to make educational decisions. This study provides a literature review and takes a position to help educational leaders from developing nations use big data to make educational decisions and understand the strengths and weaknesses of using data to drive decision making. Moreover, this study addresses how datasets may be limited and how educational leaders can understand these limitations when using big data.

Keywords

• education
• datasets
• big data
• decision making
• developing nations
• equity