Module 2A

Working with data

Goals of this module

  • Locate where data collection, analysis and visualisation fit within the Australian and Victorian curricula for Digital Technologies F-10.

  • Explore the many options available for students to:

    • collect / acquire data

    • manipulate and analyse data

    • produce visualisations and present information


1. Pre-survey

Complete the short survey below before starting the module. This is to get you thinking.

Answers are not part of any summative assessment.

2. Collecting data

Watch the video below.

2A First video - Collecting data.mp4

Links relevant to the video:

Reflection

Consider which of the following data sources are you least experienced with: paper tallies and notes, paper surveys, online surveys, images and audio, sensors, online repositories.

Where might you start utilising it in your classroom?

3. Spreadsheet skills

The video at right gives the rationale and details for this activity.

Then choose one of the activity options below. (Click to expand.)


2A Activity prompt - spreadsheets.mp4

Beginner
(new to spreadsheets)

We recommend completing a group of 3 tutorials at GCFLearnFree.org, as linked below. You can choose to continue beyond these initial tutorials in your own time.

Microsoft Excel:

  1. Getting started with Excel

  2. Creating and opening workbooks

  3. Cell basics

Google sheets:

  1. Getting started with Google Sheets

  2. Modifying columns, rows and cells

  3. Understanding number formats

Advanced
(familiar with spreadsheets)

Many teachers and students stop after learning to do data entry - loading or typing data into a spreadsheet. But the real power of spreadsheets comes with using formulas.

We recommend completing a group of 3 or 4 tutorials at GCFLearnFree.org, as linked below. You can choose to continue beyond these initial tutorials in your own time.

Microsoft Excel:

  1. Simple formulas

  2. Complex formulas

  3. Relative and absolute cell references

  4. Functions

Google sheets:

  1. Creating simple formulas

  2. Creating complex formulas

  3. Types of cell references

  4. Working with functions

AI
(let me do something else!)

Try out Google Teachable Machine using your own webcam, microphone or photos. The homepage linked below contains tutorial videos if you are having trouble getting started.

Google Teachable Machine is an online tool for training and observing a machine learning AI system. You can train it to recognise objects in images, poses and sounds.

(For more advanced users, the trained model can even be put to use to make decisions within conventional code. See this lesson at Digital Technologies Hub.)

CAUTION

Student privacy should be considered when using this tool with your class. Rather than photos of student faces, consider using hand gestures, semaphore, toys or emojis.

4. Other ways to analyse data

View the video below.

2A Second video - data science.mp4

Links relevant to the video:

Reflection

Linda McIvor touches on the importance of context and how different stories can be brought out of the same data. Consider ways that you and/or your school can build students' Critical and Creative Thinking while they engage in data analysis work within Digital Technologies and other learning areas.

  • It might help to review the content descriptions for the Critical and Creative Thinking capability in the Australian or Victorian curricula.

5. Exploring modern presentation modes

Choose one of the two options below (click to expand the task underneath).

Infographics (left) are relevant across most year levels, while Dynamic Data Visualisations (right) are most relevant in Secondary years.

image CC-BY Bruce Clay, Inc (Flickr)

Infographics

An infographic presents visual information quickly and clearly, often with an emphasis on elegant or beautiful design.

Task

Read this article introducing infographics for classroom teachers.

  1. What makes an infographic different from a single chart or paragraph of text?

  2. Consider what software is available to your students to build infographics. Popular options include:

    • Microsoft PowerPoint

    • Canva (online tool)

Dynamic data visualisations

Dynamic data visualisations are interactive and/or utilise live data.

Examples:

  • This bubble chart at Google public data incorporates an additional "axis" of information (time) via a scroll bar and play button.

  • This bar chart at Our World In Data allows the user to select which countries to display.

Task

Explore one of the three tools below.

  1. Students can create interactive tables and charts within Microsoft Excel using Pivot Tables, as explained in this video.

  2. Online tools like Google Data Studio allow rapid creation of dynamic charts. This tutorial introduces Google Data Studio.

  3. For Upper Secondary students, your school may wish to consider a full analytics tool like Tableau of Power BI. This DLTV webinar introduces these two tools for a teacher audience.

6. Assessment

Complete the assessment below to finish this module.

Assessment is to assist self-evaluation. Results are not used for grading.

7. Further resources

All done!

Don't forget to note down any thoughts or questions for the live component of the workshop.

Click home to access another module.