Comments from 2017’s conference:
“Truly this is been one of the best conferences I have attended.”
“Every single session in this conference has been outstanding! I have learned so much and have so much to explore with all of the resources being shared.”
“Thank you for hosting such a spectacular group of presenters!”
“I was blown away by the content.”
Here, you’ll find links to the archived webinars from the 2016 – 2017 4T Virtual Conference on Data Literacy. We encourage you to access our book Data Literacy in the Real World: Conversations and Case Studies for accompanying professional development discussion questions and activities.
1. Thursday, July 14, 9:00am – 10:15am Eastern
“But It’s a Number, So It Has To Be True!”: An Introduction to Data Literacy, Part I
Presented by Lynette Hoelter, Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Data literacy is about asking questions as one encounters numerical information in popular and scientific media. Numbers can be as fallible as any other source of information. This first in a two-part presentation will provide a concrete definition of data literacy, provide examples of the kinds of questions to raise when confronted with data, and give sources of information and types of assignments especially well-suited to building data literacy skills. This first part of the presentation will address the following concepts:
- Variables
- Averages
- Percentages, percentiles, and percent change
Attendees will acquire the tools needed to begin similar conversations with students. Because working with numerical evidence is, as much or more, a mindset as it is a set of mathematical skills, the content will be helpful for teachers in all disciplines, not just math or science.
Moderator: Jo Angela Oehrli
Archived Content: Video | Slide Deck
2. Friday, July 15, 9:00am – 10:15am Eastern
“But It’s a Number, So It Has To Be True!”: An Introduction to Data Literacy, Part I
Presented by Lynette Hoelter, Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Data literacy is all about asking questions as one encounters numerical information in popular and scientific media. Numbers can be as fallible as any other source of information. This second in a two part presentation will provide a concrete definition of data literacy, provide examples of the kinds of questions to raise when confronted with data, and give sources of information and types of assignments especially well-suited to building data literacy skills. This second part of the presentation will address the following concepts more closely:
- Sampling
- Margin of error/confidence
- Correlation
- “Controlling” for …
- Significance
Attendees will acquire the tools needed to begin similar conversations with students. Because working with numerical evidence is as much or more a mindset as it is a set of mathematical skills, the content should be helpful for teachers in all disciplines, not just math or science.
Moderator: Jo Angela Oehrli
Archived Content: Video | Slide Deck
3. Thursday, July 14, 10:30am – 11:30am Eastern
Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Data Literacy in the Context Areas
Presented by Jennifer Colby, Huron High School, Ann Arbor, MI
Data literacy isn’t just about math class. Statistics, data, and numbers now pervade all content areas. Using standardized tests as a real-world lens, this presentation will help content educators see where they can enhance data literacy in their subject areas.
Moderator: Jole Seroff
Archived Content: Video | Slide Deck
4. Thursday, July 14, 12:00pm – 1:00pm Eastern
Information Literacy Includes Data Literacy!
Presented by Jole Seroff, Castilleja School, Palo Alto, CA
This presentation will provide a big-picture framing for data literacy as a component of information literacy. How do students move through the research process when they begin looking more attentively at how data is “read” and “written”? This informative material will draw on the themes of inquiry and informed decision-making.
Moderator: Jennifer Colby
Archived Content: Video | Slide Deck
5. Thursday, July 14, 1:15pm – 2:15pm Eastern
Close Reading: Unpacking the Impact Language Has on How We Understand Statistics
Presented by Tasha Bergson-Michelson, Castilleja School, Palo Alto, CA
How do the words we use to frame and describe statistics potentially change how readers perceive their meaning? Students often go looking for “some number” to use as evidence, but the emotionally evocative language in which the statistics are often embedded may go unnoticed, even while it sways the readers’ opinion of its applicability to their need. Luckily, applying students’ formative skills in literary analysis can go a long way toward helping them move beyond initial responses to successfully analyzing and evaluating data. Come play with the language of statistics and explore ways to extend existing close reading practice to better support data literacy.
Moderator: Wendy Stephens
Archived Content: Video
6. Thursday, July 14, 2:30pm – 3:30pm Eastern
Real World Data Fluency: How to use Raw Data
Presented by Wendy Stephens, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL
High school students don’t often get to work with raw data. The collection or generation of data may seem monolithic and unquestionable. Students are more likely to confront data through headlines crafted to entice reader curiosity and stress novelty. This webinar will illustrate how students can travel backward from news’ accounts and soundbites, first to study the parameters or the nature of data behind studies making use of a data set to even then find the raw data when available.
Moderator: Tasha Bergson-Michelson
Archived Content: Video | Slide Deck
7. Thursday, July 14, 3:45pm – 4:45pm Eastern
Gathering Data Via Action Research: A Plan for Librarians, Classroom Teachers, and Students
Presented by Susan Ballard, Granite State College/University University System of New Hampshire, Concord, NH
In today’s data-driven world, librarians and educators are under increasing pressure to show that their efforts yield measurable results. Action research (AR) is a flexible framework in which educators can design interventions with assessment in mind, implement those changes, measure the impact, and share the results. This practitioner-friendly approach puts you in the driver’s seat. You don’t need a PhD in statistics to gather data that matters! In this presentation, you’ll learn more about the AR cycle and its power to help you measure and communicate what matters. Once you have used it yourself, you’ll be able to teach your students to design their own AR!
Moderator: Kristin Fontichiaro
Archived Content: Video
8. Friday, July 15, 1:15pm – 2:15pm Eastern
Data Literacy and Voting
Presented by Martha Stuit, University of Michigan School of Information, Ann Arbor, MI
This presentation will apply newly learned data literacy concepts to the context of the 2016 Presidential election. The discussion will include how to talk with students about controversial topics with statistics and visualizations, especially when the statistics or visualizations favor one side of a multi-sided issue. In addition, questions about how polling works as well as recommendations for good sources of balanced election reporting will be incorporated into the presentation.
Moderator: Tierney Steelberg
Archived Content: Video | Slide Deck
9. Friday, July 21, 3:45 – 4:45pm Eastern
Databasic.io: Tools & activities that help introduce newcomers to data storytelling
Catherine d’Ignazio and Samantha Viotty, Emerson College Engagement Lab
There has been a proliferation of tools created to assist novices in gathering, working with, and visualizing data. The problem is that many of these tools prioritize creating flashy pictures without scaffolding a learning process for newcomers to data analysis and storytelling. In this talk, we showcase the motivations behind creating the free, online platform Databasic.io. We will demo the tools and activities that Databasic offers as well as discuss the learning goals that they fulfill.
Moderator: Kristin Fontichiaro
Archived Content: Video | Chat Transcript | DIY Data Art Activity Guide
10. Friday, July 15, 12:00pm – 1:00pm Eastern
Data Presentation: Showcasing Your Data With Charts and Graphs
Presented by Tierney Steelberg, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC
Learn to use charts and graphs to answer questions about data! Get answers to questions like: What are some rules of thumb for creating impactful charts? When is it best to use one chart type over another? and, Which will readers find easier to swallow, a pie chart or a waffle chart? Discover new types of charts, and rediscover old ones, while learning how to put them to use most effectively.
Moderator: Martha Stuit
Archived Content: Video | Slide Deck
11. Friday, July 15, 10:30am – 11:30am Eastern
Making Sense of Data Visualization
Presented by Justin Joque, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Data visualization is first and foremost a sense-making process; it is a means by which we extract meaning from complex datasets. This presentation will explore the ways that data can be transformed into visual representations and how we can make sense of these visualizations. Discussion will include a variety of types of visualizations and when they are most effective. This talk will briefly include information about tools for making data visualizations, but the focus will be on how to read and understand them. The conclusion will discuss ways in which data visualization and data literacy can be taught in the classroom.
Moderator: Kristin Fontichiaro
Archived Content: Video | Slide Deck
12. Thursday, July 20, 3:45 – 4:45pm Eastern
Using Social Explorer to Help Students Gain Insight
Justin Joque, University of Michigan Library
Helping students gain context for data can be a challenge. But SocialExplorer.com, which has both free and paid features, can unlock insights by mapping data to a U.S. Map. There’s nothing to download — the project is browser-based. Because it has many historical data sets from the U.S. Census and similar sources, and a variety of styles for visualizing data, students spend less time tinkering and more time analyzing data. We will cover both how to export tables and create maps using the built in tools in Social Explorer. We will pay especially close attention to the visualization and mapping options and discuss possible ways to integrate Social Explorer into assignments. Come learn some strategies from U-M’s data visualization librarian for how you can use this tool to scaffold students’ data explorations and reveal new insights.
Moderator: Jo Angela Oehrli
Archived Content: Video | Chat Transcript | Slides
13. Friday, July 15, 2:30pm – 5:15pm Eastern
Infographics: An Instructional Lens: Rationale and Framework for Teaching Infographics
Presented and Moderated by Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, Petaluma, CA Debbie Abilock, NoodleTools, Palo Alto, CA and Susan Smith, Harker School, San Jose, CA
Visuals and data are ubiquitous in teens’ lives; they use them to make decisions every day, in and out of school. For us, they are a call to action. This presentation gives the rationale for teaching infographics and includes a framework for librarians and teachers to integrate the study of data visualizations into high school courses. An infographic is an argument built from the questions designers (students) ask themselves about the relationships between the data, the images, the correlations between the two, and the intended story. We will apply an instructional lens to explore how data is constructed and contextualized to make a visual argument.
Infographics: An Instructional Lens, Part 2: Understanding the story behind the design
In this presentation we turn our instructional lens to the creation of infographics. In this hour we will show the steps students can take to know how much – and which – data will be needed to tell the intended story through an infographic. This storyframing allows student designers to intersect data, image, and design to create a visual draft of an infographic that is then taken to the computer and graphics application where colors, shapes, and design all flow to complete an infographic. Presenters include an evaluation checklist and strategies and opportunities for how to begin teaching and integrating infographics.
Archived Content: Video | Slide Deck | Connie & Debbie’s “Recipe For An Infographic” Article
14. Thursday, July 20, 1:15 – 2:15pm Eastern
Tools for Preserving Your Personal and Intellectual Privacy
Wendy Stephens, Jacksonville State University
Have you ever searched for something out of idle curiosity only to have targeted advertisements follow you around online? How can you combat the ever-increasing number of corporate entities looking to scrap your (and your students) online browsing information? This session will explore a range of tools to preserve your privacy, including TOR, Ghostery, DuckDuckGo, StartPage, and HTTPS Everywhere, with practical and low-effort options for preserving your personal privacy while maintaining the spirit of inquiry.
Moderator: Jo Angela Oehrli
Archived Content: Video | Chat Transcript | Slides | Resources Mentioned
15. Friday, July 21, 1:15 – 2:15pm Eastern
Big Data And You: Normalizing the practices of privacy
Jole Seroff, Castilleja School
You may have heard of Big Data, the process of collecting millions of pieces of data and drawing conclusions from them. From the metadata that is attached to photographs by default to the kinds of information your browser can reveal, we want you and your students to be aware of the kinds of data being quietly collected in online and digital situations so that you can make savvy, informed decisions. Seroff will share tools and resources to help you make active decisions about managing your digital privacy.
Moderator: Kristin Fontichiaro
Archived Content: Video | Chat Transcript | Slide Deck
16. Thursday, July 20, 2:30 – 3:30pm Eastern
The Right to Obscurity vs. The Digital Eye of Sauron
Susan D. Ballard, Granite State College
In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, the Eye of Sauron, was able to surveille the unsuspecting inhabitants of Middle Earth and using the information he gathered, subject them to his will. As we learned, it was left to Hobbits — rather shy, retiring sorts — to finally set things right and thwart his evil intentions! This session will focus on the how the use of data has made it almost impossible for the average person to maintain a low profile in a high tech world. While we value the ability to connect with friends and colleagues via social media and use eCommerce with increasing regularity, do we want those interactions and transactions monitored, collected and used to scrutinize and manipulate our lives? Conversely, has the ability for us to also easily access data and information about others turned us into opportunists who “hack” into other people’s personal spaces, or even worse, do we exhibit voyeuristic tendencies and a lack of empathy for others by secretly invading their privacy. What would a hobbit do? We’ll discuss strategies to guard your right to obscurity and be more understanding of the need to appreciate this right for others, too.
Moderator: Jo Angela Oehrli
Archived Content: Video | Chat Transcript | Slides
17. Friday, July 21, 2:30 – 3:30pm Eastern
Student data privacy: Protecting the personal information that informs instruction
Jennifer Colby, Huron High School, Ann Arbor, MI
Using student data to develop and inform school curricula and classroom instruction is useful and effective, but we need to weigh the benefits of using this data for school improvement with the dangers of exposing students’ personal information. If we understand student data privacy we can be better stewards of our students’ personal information.
Moderator: Kristin Fontichiaro
Archived Content: Video | Slide Deck | Chat Transcript | Resource List
18. Thursday, July 20, noon – 1pm Eastern
DataRefuge
Justin Schell, University of Michigan Library’s Shapiro Design Lab
Schell will discuss the origins and continued efforts of the DataRefuge movement. Born out of fears of widespread removal of environmental and other governmental data that citizens and corporations alike rely on, DataRefuge has assisted in coordinating more than 40 “Data Rescue” events, bringing together librarians, developers, scientists, archivists, and other concerned citizens to archive a variety of federal data. The project has evolved into a multi-field conversation about the importance, and uneven vulnerability of, data. One of the main lessons of this project is the variety of ways that people can get involved in such preservation efforts. Schell will discuss a number of ways that participants and their students can assist in the project.
Moderator: Jo Angela Oehrli
Archived Content: Video | Chat Transcript | Slides | Resources List
19. Friday, July 21, noon – 1pm Eastern
Science in the Wild: How to make the most of Citizen Science Projects at your School
Debbie Abilock, NoodleTools; Susan Smith, Harker School; Connie Williams, Knowledge Quest blog
Abilock, Smith, and Williams invite you explore the many ways that Citizen Science Projects can fit into your classroom in order to build student skills, collaboration, and confidence. Together we will explore the process of incorporating Citizen Science and other participatory projects into a specific course or curricular area. We will review university, governmental, and non-profit portals that offer projects, and the pros and cons of the formats and goals. We will also discuss how to discern perspective, identify funding and scientific oversight, and how to best match your curricular objectives to the organization and project.
Moderator: Kristin Fontichiaro
Archived Content: Video | Chat Transcript| Slide Deck | Bibliography