EDU Analytics - Learning Analytics Blog: June 2012

Friday, June 15, 2012

Some Learning Analytics Companies to Watch Out For...

Visualizing Processes

Name of the Tool

Visualizing

URL of the Tool

http://www.visualizing.org/

Please select the one, primary category for this tool: Communication Tool, Collaboration Tool, Productivity Tool, Creativity Tool, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Tool, Reflection Tool, Feedback Tool, Networking/Social Tool, Presentation Tool

Creativity Tool

Please describe this tool in your own words in about 150-250 words.

As mentioned in the mission statement of the website, this site was created to make data visualization more accessible to the public. Data visualization is a necessary component of conveying complex processes or large amounts of information for comparison to others that may not be familiar with the material, process or subject matter. Making this more accessible to the public does a great service since our world has become so information rich. Big Data is something that can overwhelm if it is not communicated in such a way that is not only organized, but also interesting and intelligible to others. The addition of a social media component to this website is par for the course. THe sense of community that people have come to know and expect is no different for this website. Being able to view so many different examples of so many different types of data visualization in one place is a nice concept. One thing for this site to be wary of is that others may be wary of so many of these sites popping up everywhere that it can just get lost in the shuffle.

What do you need to know before using this tool? (What skills do you need to have?)

You will need to be pretty good at Data Visualization.

What do you need to have before using this tool? (Resources)

Artistic ability. Spacial/Visual capabilities, Gimp or an Adobe Photoshop-type tool to create your visualizations with.

How do you use this tool? (Write the basic steps using a numbered list)

1) Create your own visualizations (on your computer) using your image manipulation skills and software and post it to this site.

2) In order to post your dataviz to the site, you must register by creating a new account. Fille out your name and preferred username. If your username has already been chosen by someone else, you will need to select another one. Here is what the new account form looks like:

3) Finish filling out the short registration form and click the "Create new account" button. Remember to check BOTH "agree" boxes AND to put your answer in the "Math question" at the bottom of the form.

4) After you are finished with the registration form, you will receive a notice that you will need to check your email account in order to confirm registration.

5) In your email, you should receive an email like the one below. Clicking the confirm link will take you back to your account.

6) Here is your account. Now all you have to do is update it if you want or upload some of your dataviz projects for the world to see.

7) By clicking the "Update your profile" button, you may update your profile information.

If applicable, please create an example with this tool and either embed in your blog or submit the URL.

I chose not to create a data visualization to post to the web site via my account because creating one is quite time consuming and is a very involved process…even for a basic data visualization.

Please describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment (150-250 words).

You would probably want to surf the site and curate different visualizations that are great examples of what it is that you are trying to help your students learn. Based on what they goal of the project or assignment, there are several ways to create a "dataviz." Please see the site below for a more detailed breakdown of many different types of data visualizations. My assignment might be for the students to classify different data visualizations that they find on the site and align them with the different "periodic table elements" shown on this site:

A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods

http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html

What are the advantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?

That great visualizations are available to you on one site.

What are the disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?

The "creativity" aspect of the site is limited because that is something that you would have to do on your own. It would be great if they had some type of visualization templates that you could use to start you off on a visualization project of your own.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Scoop.it, Baby!

Here is my review of the Scoop.it Web 2.0 tool. Not get out there and Scoop.it, baby!

Name of the Tool

Scoop.it

URL of the Tool

http://www.scoop.it/

Creativity Tool

Please describe this tool in your own words in about 250 words.

This is a great tool. It is truly a Web 2.0 tool that is useful for topics that you might want to "scoop" and make available to friends or customers on your personal/company Facebook page, microblog or "tweet" out via your Twitter feed, or make others aware using some other popular social media website of your choice.

What do you need to know before using this tool? (What skills do you need to have?)

In order to use this tool, you will need to have knowledge of popular social media websites such as Facebook or Twitter. If not, you may sign up for an account by simply completing a user profile application. Being familiar with bookmarklets and how publishing web content would be useful.

What do you need to have before using this tool? (Resources)

As stated above, it would be best for you to have an account on a popular social media site such as Facebook or Twitter in order to quickly sign up for an account.

How do you use this tool? (Write the basic steps using a numbered list)

1) Sign up for a Scoop.it account.

2) Create a topic that you want to "scoop".

3) Gather or "curate" the content sites that you want to add to your scoop topic/post by visiting the sites or articles that you want to add.

4) Click the "Scoop it!" bookmarklet that you dragged onto your bookmark bar within your browser.

5) Write a review of the content you are scooping (optional)

6) Post the content to your Scoop it site

7) Make the content available on your social media sites

If applicable, please create an example with this tool and either embed in your blog or submit the URL.

http://www.scoop.it/t/learninganalytix

Please describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment (about 500 words).

If I would like for students to familiarize themselves with the concept of "curation", then this is an excellent tool to get them started with. If they are already familiar with this concept, then all I need to do is create a lesson that enables them to curate content on a favorite topic that they want to share. Or, even better would be to create a Scoop.it topic that defines who they are. The whole idea of Scoop it! is that they student can actually create a Flip-Board type site of their own that they go out and generate. Once they have this content and their Scoop.it URL, then the lesson can go deeper into the who concept of using social media to generate traffic/awareness or a "buzz" about a topic. They can send out their new Scoop it! post URL to a group of friends via a microblogging account such as Twitter. After that, they can then monitor the popularity or "Reactions" to different pieces of curated content right there on their Scoop it! post. Content can then be shared via email, other social network sites by friends using the various interaction buttons at the bottom of each item scooped. Content can even be "rescooped" by others who have a Scoop it! account very much like re-Tweeting works on the Twitter site.