Mine Your Own Business: Using Data Mining to Glean Tech PD Topics for Teachers

Resources to devote to faculty technology professional development are scarce. Typical methods (surveys and other assessment instruments) for identifying areas of technology-based professional development for teachers are time-consuming at best and unreliable at worst. This session will present a model for leveraging data you already have in your IT help desk database—data you collect every day—to identify specific, relevant, and valuable areas for faculty technology professional development. Data mining is a popular and powerful means to extract value from data. Mine your own business and understand exactly where your faculty needs help. No tech skills required.

Outcomes: Understand what data mining is and how it might be applied to a help desk database, and for which purposes * Learn how help desk database mining can highlight areas of technology weakness and opportunity among a department or faculty body * Develop an overview plan of how to apply data mining to your institutional help desk database