by Sinsi Jiang and Rico Niedo
“The purpose of data is insight, not just pictures.”
Ben Schneiderman, Founding Director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland
In this week’s OER we’re going to introduce to you Data Visualization in Education and Storytelling. Our apologies for misreading our dates and please take your time to complete this, we understand how much time these OERs take.
Click on the banner below to access the OER.
After going through our OER, please discuss the following with the rest of the class:
- What were some of your takeaways after learning a bit more about data visualization and its application to education and storytelling?
- What do you wish you knew more about after completing this module?
Thank you so much for your participation
Hi Rico and Sinsi!
Great job on this OER. I liked the multimodal format you took with this (images, videos, interactive presentations, etc.) Your banner was very clever in that it showed us a data visualization of what to expect for your OER!
I never connected data visualization with storytelling, so I appreciated learning about that in your OER. I am a huge visual learner, so I enjoy seeing my information in as many different visual formats as possible to increase understanding. Reading about the benefits of data visualization has further convinced me to continue presenting data to my students in a visual manner, as many of them are also visual learners like me. Especially in ESL contexts, sometimes images are easier to understand than words.
I think your OER touched on all the important aspects of data visualization! However, I would have liked to learn a little more about the potential misuse of data, especially when we think about user privacy and data for young learners. Adding AI into the mix, we definitely need to understand all the drawbacks before we head straight on into implementing such technology/tools.
Hey Didy!
Thank you 🙂 so much for your kind observation. I’m glad you got to take away something that will be helpful in your day to day work.
And yes, data visualization tools can definitely have some harms in it, especially in the social media and meme space. Insight is one of the greatest gifts of data visualization, but just like any good story, it can be manipulated to meet the story. Harvard Business Review (HBR) did a great introduction to the misuse of data 12 years ago that I think is still pertinent today:
https://hbr.org/2013/03/when-data-visualization-works-and
It’s a great short read 🙂
Hi Rico and Sinsi,
I really enjoyed your OER and how you incorporated data visualization in it to aid your storytelling–especially how you guys used it in your “About Us” section!
One of my takeaways from your OER, especially your Genially, is that different forms of data visualizations have different purposes and effects. Understanding when to use each type of data visualization to convey the intended message is crucial to effective storytelling through data.
For your second question, I think it would have been interesting to include an example of an ineffective use of data visualization. Overall, great job!
Hello Annaren,
Thank you for engaging with the OER and the Genially. I appreciate your thoughtful insight. You are right; each form of data visualization serves a unique purpose, and knowing when and how to use them is important. This will significantly impact how information is understood. Data storytelling is not just about displaying numbers, but it is about choosing the right visual to guide the audience toward the message. I am glad that this stood out to you. Your takeaway truly captures the core of data visualization.
I appreciate your comment on the second question. I want to share with you this article about bad data visualization. It discussed five ways how data visualizations are poorly crafted and mislead data.
https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/bad-data-visualization
Thanks for the great OER Rico and Sinsi. I really appreciated your focus on the storytelling element of data visualization. It also made me think about the power of interdisciplinary approaches to problems. I also appreciated your ethical exploration of the topic. After completing you OER it made me want to understand more about data collection. I am still wondering whether we understand well enough what types of data need to be collected to provide us with the insights that we need to leverage the AI technologies that you discuss. It seems a balance is needed to collect enough data so that algorithmic systems can be effective, and not too much data where learners or teachers begin to feel like they are being surveilled.
Thank you, Mark! I am glad our OER sparked your curiosity on the interdisciplinary and the ethical aspects of storytelling. I like your point about the balance between effective data collection and maintaining a sense of privacy and trust. As we navigate AI, it is important we ask not just how much data we collect, but why we collect it and how it will be used. These questions will serve as a guide on creating a learning environment that is innovative and respectful.
Hi Rico and Sinsi,
Great work on your OER on data visualization! I never previously considered the importance of data visualization and the impact it has on our daily lives. Even something we look forward to at the end of every year, Spotify Wrapped, uses data visualization to present data in an interesting and engaging way to users. One of my main takeaways from your OER is the connection between data visualization and storytelling. Much like how there is the quote “a picture tells a thousand words”, a well-produced visual can convey patterns and analytics that a few paragraphs worth of words could not describe. One thing I wish we discussed further was the issues of privacy and data collection when integrating AI into these tools. While there is immense potential for AI to help make data analytics and visualization more efficient, we need to seriously consider the potential issues that may arise before we fully integrate AI into every aspect of our lives.
Thank you so much for your feedback, Timothy! We’re glad that our OER helped you see data visualization from a new perspective. While doing this, I was also surprised at how data visualization is more than just what we think it is, especially now that technology is transforming it into a creative and dynamic tool for communication. It is no longer just about graphs anymore; it has become a tool to tell stories and evoke emotions. We also appreciate your comment on the need for deeper discussion around data privacy and AI. You’re right; while AI can enhance visualization, it raises important ethical questions we must address proactively.
Thank you for your work, Rico and Sinsi!
I found myself popping back into a document I created to colect my thoughts for next school year (as a teacher), considering how I might use data visualization to help narrate the learning experiences of whole classes and individual students. Our district jusy switched to Spaces EDU as a e-portfolio solution, but I’m going to try and use it as a hub for learning, communication, and accessing content from home. Having gone through your OER, I look forward to seeing how Spaces EDU’s data visualization capacities will help me tell the story of our year together and the individual learning journeys as well.
Another big takeaway for me is the impact good data visualization can have on course-correcting behaviour. A good visual — presented at the right time and when the audience is ready for — can motivate people to take immediate action or better yet, to think differently and act accordingly to make healthy, positive, and productive change.
I’d like to know more about how to start adding this to my practice next year. Moving forward, I will learn through experience, by testing out Copilot — to generate data visualizations of student performance and engagement, and then use them in lessons and platforms I use, to communicate class-wide and individual growth next year.
Wish me luck. 🙂
Thank you for putting together this week’s OER. It was detailed and challenged us to think of this important topic in new ways. One idea that really stood out to me was your discussion of using data visualizations to tell a story and not simply communicate discrete data points. The Vonnegut clip was an especially great way to underscore this- great pick!
Towards the end of your OER you brought up some very interesting ideas about the future of Data Visualization including the potential impact of quantum computing in this field through Quantum Data Visualization. I read the abstract for the article you linked to but haven’t had the time to dig in with assignment 3’s due date coming up. Harnessing quantum computing power to process and visualize very large data sets to be quickly and easily analyzed by humans seem like an extremely exciting use case to me! If you were looking to expand on a section in your OER I think that would be a particularly interesting and compelling addition.
Great work!
One of my biggest takeaways from this module is realizing how closely data and storytelling can be connected, something I honestly hadn’t considered before. I used to think of data as dry, technical, and very separate from narrative or emotion. But this module helped me see that when data is presented as part of a story, it becomes much more engaging and meaningful. It actually makes me want to learn more, and I find myself connecting with the content on a more emotional level.
I especially enjoyed the videos included in the module. They were not only informative but also funny and very well done. They helped demystify data visualization and made the topic feel more approachable.
After completing the module, I wish I knew more about how to structure data visually in a way that enhances storytelling. I’m curious about the tools and techniques that can help turn data into compelling, audience-friendly narratives, especially in the context of education.