Information Literacy

Welcome!

Jacquelyn Whiting
Isn't it telling that we have adopted the word "viral" to describe the spread of media posts? It connotes infection, danger, and a need for inoculation while at the same time, many of us (including me on this site) hope that the content we disseminate will do just that—spread exponentially. The ongoing conversations that will take place on this page are intended to strengthen our information savvy and our capacities for nurturing information literacy in the members of our learning communities. I invite you to join the conversations and engage with me and each other to these ends.

Jacquelyn Whiting
Instructional Coach and Technology Integrator, Connecticut

Fun and Learning with Data Visualization

by Jacquelyn Whiting

Do you sometimes find data overwhelming? I do. I sometimes feel a certain level of ineptitude when it comes to crunching data in a way that tells a valuable story. If you have not seen data tell a story, check out any of the TED Talks by Hans Rosling—and the organization he founded: Gapminder to see how engaging, informative, and curiosity-inspiring such stories can be.

Even if spreadsheets make you cringe, this post will, quite literally, help you see data in an entirely new way. And if you are a fan of modern art, a doodler, or sketchnoter, if you appreciate the potency of a good infographic, this post combines all of those things in a unique form of correspondence.  Read More >>
"Do you know of publicly available data sets that can be combined/mixed with others, so students can build their own new ones; for instance, looking at what states authors live in, combined with their population, college grades, etc."
- Carla Bosco
"Thank you, Carla, for your inquiry. I am so glad you have underscored the value of public data sets -- what a great way for each student to wrestle with topics that are personally meaningful. Here are my recommendations to get you started:

Gapminder
FiveThirtyEight
NASA
NOAA
WHO
Pew Research Center
Google's Index of Public Data
Google Trends
US Government Data
Statista Database

Please check back in and let us know what your students are discovering!"
- Jackie