Education data: a matter of trust, pedagogy and citizenship
Moderated by Philippe Ajuelos, Ministry of National Education, the round table brought together Jennifer Elbaz (CNIL), Gwen Cognard (Cabri Maskott), Muriel Poisson (IIEP-UNESCO) and Murielle Lavelle-Cassano (Ministry of National Education).
Protective data: trust, privacy and digital citizenship
In the digital age, educational data is no longer just technical information: it touches on identity, privacy and fundamental freedoms. Protecting the data of students and teachers does not mean hindering innovation, but rather creating the conditions for trust. Privacy is becoming a civic skill, and data protection a learning process in its own right. Teaching young people to understand what happens to their digital footprints, deconstructing the illusion that "I have nothing to hide", and developing a culture of confidentiality are now major educational challenges. Protective data thus acts as a foundation: without trust, there can be no sharing, no innovation and no virtuous use.
Learning data: a lever for pedagogy
Data from educational activities makes it possible to visualize learning processes that were previously difficult to observe: time spent, strategies, errors, and progress. This can become a powerful lever for differentiated teaching and personalized support. Teachers can fine-tune their practices, while students gain a better understanding of their own learning paths. Data thus becomes a tool for intellectual empowerment, provided that it remains at the service of education and not solely for the purposes of assessment or control.
Public data: openness, shared value and the common good
The opening up of educational data represents a profound transformation of public action. By making data sets accessible, institutions promote transparency, stimulate research and encourage innovation. Data becomes a common good, shared between the state, researchers, local authorities, journalists and citizens. This logic of openness transforms the relationship between the administration and society: it is no longer based solely on authority, but on trust and cooperation. The more data is reused, cross-referenced and enriched, the more it gains in quality and collective value.
Data literacy: training, acculturation, empowerment
The central issue remains that of training. Training in the use of data is not just about teaching technical skills, but also about developing critical thinking when it comes to figures, graphs and algorithms. It is about acculturating the entire educational community – pupils, teachers, parents – to understand the mechanisms of data production, processing and use. This aims to empower the citizens of tomorrow, so that they can exercise informed control over their own digital footprints and participate fully in democratic debate.
Educational data is neither neutral nor incidental. It is a major lever for transforming schools, provided that it is supervised, understood and shared. The challenge is not to produce ever more data, but to develop a collective data culture based on trust, responsibility and the common good.
