How to Gain Knowledge When Data Are Shared? Open Government Data from a Media Pedagogical Perspective

Abstract

Numerical data are becoming one of the dominant codes for describing society. Public services are sharing Open Government Data (OGD) as public goods. Academic interest so far has focused on political, technical and organizational implications. Educational research has been widely neglecting OGD. I argue that contemporary media pedagogy needs to productively and critically consider this development in research and practice, engaging with the question of how these data can be turned into knowledge. What objections to OGD as a political project have emerged, and what skills are required by data users? Apart from giving examples of how data use can be learned and supported, this paper illustrates and discusses potentials and risks for OGD use in terms of learning and subject transformation. Various objectives for media pedagogy – such as media, digital and data literacy, numeracy and picturacy – will be discussed in order to draw conclusions on a conceptual level. This paper aims at a differentiated approach to OGD and data education, taking into account their growing importance as well as emerging paradox constellations.