Introduction
Select use and combine a variety of software to analyse and present data and information
Self study resources
Data visualisations and inforgraphics from Information is Beautiful. Also see Information is Beautiful links on Pinterest. Find more infographics links here.
Inside the classroom, outside the box: ideas for using infographics in the primary classroom from Jill Thompson. Based on the 4Cs: Collaboration: If students are working together on making these infographics they are collaborating ideas. Critical Thinking: Students are critical thinking about what information should go in the infographic and why. Communication: Students are communicating with each other and also communicating information. Creating: Students are creating an info graphic product.
Resources for lectures or group study
Little Red Riding Hood reinterpreted as a data story by Tomas Nilsson.
Videos to illustrate 'real-life' applications of data collection and analysis:
Pivot Viewer. Rather impressive data visualisation tool from MS Research.
Google Data Explorer. Similar set of tools for visualising big public data sets.
Hans Rosling, Stats that reshape your world view. This and other TED talks from Rosling are very powerful examples of data visualisation.
David McCandless, The Beauty of Data Visualisation. More general TED talk on infographics, from the author of Information is Beautiful (see self-study resources)
Google Docs Form - easy way for trainees to create online surveys, view simple charts and perform more sophisticated analysis in a spreadsheet. Can also be used with pupils.
Resources for use with pupils
Google Trends - great way for children to explore and compare data series. Links nicely with Google Flu Trends.
Piktochart: create your own infographics combining global and local data by adding images, text and data to ready-made themes. Alternatives are easel.ly and infogr.am. A successful Year 3 student project.
A worksheet to use with children in order to teach them the difference between random data and data organised in a table. They initially attempt to answer impossible questions based on random data - they can only really guess the answers. They turn over and answer the same questions once the data has been organised into a data table.
Hackasaurus: mash up and change any web page like magic. Use 'x-ray goggles' to hover over a website to see behind the scenes, then remix, make and share webpages or create your own, all within your browser. This makes it easy for children to tinker and mess around with the building blocks that make up the web. Includes resources for teaching webmaking: printables, cheat sheets, lesson plans, assessment rubrics, and a slideshow.
Popcorn Maker from Mozilla makes it easy to enhance, remix and share web video. Combine video and audio with text, links, maps, pictures and live feeds to make your own interactive newscasts, pop-up videos, multimedia reports, fan videos, guided web tours and more. Remix your favorite videos on YouTube or sounds on SoundCloud, add your own comments and links, or drag and drop in content from across the web.The result is a whole new way to tell stories on the web.
Mozilla Thimble: Thimble projects are hackable webpages that allow you to complete a challenge, play a game or build something cool by editing the code of the page, and learn webmaking skills like HTML and CSS in the process. Beginners can tinker around with template projects such as 'Build your own Awesome Animal', 'Make an Animated Avatar' or 'Make Your Own Meme.' Or you can hack into a pre-made game, customise it and share with friends.
Text2Mindmap: A simple way to organise and classify information and show it visually. Outline your ideas as a list of topics and subtopics and an animated mindmap is automatically generated. You can drag and bounce your mindmap around the screen, edit fonts, colours and lines, rearrange the layout and save as a .jpg. Provides a quick focus on the hierarchical relationships between topics.
The Rebirth of Rails: Amazing infographic video from General Electric about capturing and converting energy from braking to power trains. Also see two more interactives on the theme of trains.
Book Creator App for the iPad- simple book creation for children
CBB app for ipad Creative Book Builder
Popplet for the iPad- organising ideas
Whodunnit? - Analyse a database to solve crimes