Predictive Analytics and Education

I'm beginning to read and hear more discussion about how predictive analytics could impact education.

So what exactly is predicitive analytics? According to Predictive Analytics World:

Predictive analytics is business intelligence technology that produces a predictive score for each customer or other organizational element. Assigning these predictive scores is the job of a predictive model which has, in turn, been trained over your data, learning from the experience of your organization.

Predictive analytics optimizes marketing campaigns and website behavior to increase customer responses, conversions and clicks, and to decrease churn. Each customer's predictive score informs actions to be taken with that customer — business intelligence just doesn't get more actionable than that.

In other words, Google, Bing, Chrome and every other search engine has been using predictive analytics in your online searches in hopes of refining your choices and maximizing your user experience.

So what does predictive analytics have to do with education? As Tom Vander Ark states, "I’m enthusiastic about the potential for data to improve global learning outcomes.  Predictive analytics have transformed every consumer activity and, as more learners engaged in digital experiences with embedded measurement, they will transform learning."

I believe education is undergoing a monumental shift from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more individualized and personalized model and predictive analytics has the potential to keep students more actively engaged in the learning process. Also, as we continue to mine (transform large data sets into intelligence) and gather data, the security and privacy of student information is paramount.

Additional Resources:
PAR Framework
Predictive Analytics Presents: A Typical Day in 2020
Blended Learning and the Promise of Data
Big Data is Opening Doors, but Maybe Too Many
Data for Action 2012: Focus on People to Change Data Culture