Data system is an organized collection of

symbols A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise different concep ...

and processes that may be used to operate on such symbols. Any organised collection of symbols and symbol-manipulating operations can be considered a

data Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...

system. Hence, human-speech analysed at the level of

phonemes A phoneme () is any set of similar speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word from another. All languages con ...

can be considered a data system as can the

Incan The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilisation rose fr ...

artefact of the khipu and an image stored as

pixels In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sma ...

. A data system is defined in terms of some

data model A data model is an abstract model that organizes elements of data and standardizes how they relate to one another and to the properties of real-world entities. For instance, a data model may specify that the data element representing a car be ...

and bears a resemblance to the idea of a physical symbol system. Symbols within some data systems may be persistent or not. Hence, the sounds of human speech are non-persistent symbols because they decay rapidly in air. In contrast, pixels stored on some peripheral storage device are persistent symbols.

Education

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, a data system is a computer system that aims to provide educators with student data to help solve educational problems. Examples of data systems include Student Information Systems (SISs), assessment systems, Instructional Management Systems (IMSs), and data-warehousing systems, but distinctions between different types of data systems are blurring as these separate systems begin to serve more of the same functions. Data systems that present data to educators in an

over-the-counter data Over-the-counter data (OTCD) is a design approach used in data systems (particularly educational technology data systems) and data reporting in order to increase the accuracy of users' data analyses by better reporting data. The approach involves a ...

format embed labels, supplemental documentation, and help system and make key package/display and content decisions to improve the accuracy of data system users’ data analyses.Rankin, J. (2013, March 28)
How data Systems & reports can either fight or propagate the data analysis error epidemic, and how educator leaders can help.
''Presentation conducted from Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership (TICAL) School Leadership Summit.''

References

{{reflist Information systems Databases

Education

See also

References