How ‘much’ engaged are you? A case-study of the datafication of student engagement
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21785682 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chris Zomer (0000-0003-2206-4462, Deakin University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 166-180 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Learning Media and Technology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1743-9884 • E-ISSN: 1743-9892 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17439884.2024.2437547 |
| OpenAlex | W4405110394 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 44 |
Teachers are increasingly reliant on data dashboards developed by EdTech companies to interpret their students’ learning and behaviour. This article presents the findings of a walkthrough of the engagement dashboard and Live Feed of Education Perfect, a popular learning platform in Australian and New Zealand schools. Using the poststructuralist idea of logics, I will demonstrate how the platform closes off certain understandings of engagement and how this fits an overarching paradigm of neoliberal governance in education. Education Perfect rewrites engagement into something that is measurable, quantifiable and something that can (and should be) used for surveillance and accountability purposes. This puts an imperative on teachers to maximise their students’ engagement metrics. The logics of engagement data that underpin Education Perfect, and learning platforms alike, not only legitimate the increased dataveillance of students, they also gradually erase less measurable aspects of engagement
Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Student engagement · Early Childhood Education and Development · Educational and Psychological Assessments · Innovative Education and Learning Practices · Psychology
What is user engagement? A conceptual framework for defining user engagement with technology
Withdrawing From School
Student engagement in high school classrooms from the perspective of flow theory.
The national survey of student engagement
Measuring cognitive and psychological engagement
Datafying the teaching ‘profession’
The datafication of discipline
School Engagement
Valuable data? Using walkthrough methods to understand the impact of digital reading platforms in Australian primary schools
Educational data advocates
‘Technology is not created by the sky’
Datafication Meets Platformization
Simulacra and Simulation
Learning ‘in the hive’
The walkthrough method
Neoliberalism and education
Secondary teachers’ conceptions of student engagement
Biopower and school surveillance technologies 2.0
School choice
Data justice in education
Knowing the (Datafied) Student
Effective Teaching, Student Engagement in Classroom Activities, and Sex-Related Differences in Learning Mathematics
The teacher's soul and the terrors of performativity
The surveillant assemblage
Dashboard stories
When data is capital
Seven reasons to question the hegemony of Visible Learning
Atmospheres of progress in a data-based school
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |