The Siren Song of Big Data.....

 I've always been fascinated by the story of Odysseus and the sirens... that there exist things so seductive that even as the perils become obvious, their song and their  promises of fulfillment make them nearly impossible to resist. The siren song of the 21st century may well turn out to be the song of Big Data. "Come to me, I have every answer you've ever wanted...." In  healthcare, in marketing, in government, in nearly any field that you can think of, and certainly among the education reformers, you can hear the voices of those entranced by its song.  They speak passionately, wonderingly, as if hypnotized, or in love. All voices to the contrary are brushed aside, they hear nothing but the song. Their hallucinations of a future in which every problem is solved because everything is known are vividly described in tones of passion and  reverence. Perhaps there is a certain hubris that comes from working with something as powerful as Big Data that prevents its users from stopping their ears before it's too late. Or maybe they truly don't understand their peril because the song speaks to their deepest desires. Either way, they have fallen under its spell and have become helplessly entranced by the promise of Perfect Knowledge. But unlike Odysseus, they are not tied to the mast, and they are blindly rushing headlong to destruction. So it's up to those of us who have not yet succumbed to the song of Big Data to take control. The parents opting out, the Diane Ravitches, the bloggers, the BATS, it's up to us to do what must be done to save ourselves, our children, and our educational system. It won't be easy. They will fight us with a passion born of unquestioning conviction., and the song will become louder and more insistent. But fight we must, until we are safely through this time of peril. And we must warn others, and help them also to understand the danger.
Don't imagine that I'm a luddite, crying out against technology. I have traditionally been an early adopter of technology and use it in my classroom every day.... I use it;  it does not use me. But lately I've felt that relationship changing as the PARCC tests and VAM have made their way into my life and my classroom. And I've seen and heard the voices of  those hypnotized by the song of Big Data. And they are threatening me and my students with destruction. And so I resist.