Tony Emmerson

Turning data into insight

By Tony Emmerson, Senior Deputy Head, The English College in Prague

That the use of data in schools is still a matter for debate puzzles me. How can something so useful be in any way controversial? How can there be any doubt that it is a good thing?

The answer, I believe, is in the word itself. We need to talk less of data, and more of insight. Data can mean nothing more than numbers in a folder, gathering dust. Its beauty, or at least its value, is in the eye of the beholder.