How data and digital technologies can transform education systems

Digital transformation is reshaping many elements of society across the world. As new technologies arrive, they fundamentally alter how people exchange information and organize activity. Yet despite this upheaval, education is still suffering from a global learning crisis. Digital technologies have the potential to power learning in an age of disruption: improving learning outcomes, and making systems work better for students, teachers, and decision makers. In this chapter we discuss how this is only possible if systems are designed around data. Mass investment in digital hardware for hardware’s sake has been shown time and again to be blunt and ineffective, yielding few gains. Simply having computers or phones is not enough to create a learning society. Instead, education leaders need to think about what data exists, how to collect, standardize, and put data to use. This can allow better resource allocation, personalized support for students, more rapid curriculum reviews, and more, leading to a learning society for all.