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Are There White Sharks Swimming Among Us?

The company Strava was in the news recently for its ability to display highly accurate maps using position data from personal fitness devices (e.g., Fitbit, Apple Watch, etc.). Not only are GPS fitness devices tracking a person’s mileage on land, many also track water activities, such as swimming, to within a few meters.

Exploring Data through Ocean Tracks

This video was featured in the 2017 STEM for All Video Showcase, held May 15-22, 2017. View the presentation.

Reflecting on Finland

It’s been a few months since I last contributed to the ODI blog, and boy, a lot has happened in my blogging hiatus! We had leaks, hacks, an election, and the Cubs finally won the World Series (though I’m still not convinced this last one isn’t “fake news”). Through it all, the ODI team has been hard at work making new connections and continuing our efforts to better prepare K-16 students with the data literacy skills required to navigate the aforementioned rapidly changing world. Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for any of the great work the ODI team has done these past few months.

What does the Data/Big Data Practitioner need to know and be able to do?

Cover of the Profile of the Data PractitionerIt is no longer news that the use of data-based decision making has reached a critical mass in every industry sector.

Data Visualization — A Matter of Perception

What an expert sees in a data visualization is not what a novice sees.  This is an important lesson learned from a two-year project undertaken by the Oceans of Data Institute, funded by the National Science Foundation.

Ocean Tracks: College Edition Modules

These modules were developed to engage undergraduate students with authentic scientific data through investigations that mirror those currently being conducted by scientists studying the broad-scale effects of climate and human activities on top predators in ocean ecosystems. Using the Ocean Tracks interactive map and data analysis tools, students will explore and quantify patterns in the migratory tracks of marine animals in the northern Pacific Ocean and relate these behaviors to fluctuations and trends in physical oceanographic variables.

Looking Back and Moving Full STEAM Ahead

The work of a teacher rarely ceases once the doors of the school finally close for summer vacation. Just a few short days after the school year had ended, I had the opportunity to head back to my old high school stomping grounds and reconnect with many of the teachers who were, and in some cases continue to be, my most influential mentors, helping to shape me as a learner and as a person. But this time, instead of turning to former teachers for wisdom, I was suddenly being treated as the “expert” in the room.

Helping Students Go Further with Their Data Analysis

“The data shows that my hypothesis was wrong.”

Getting Agile in the Classroom

This past week I had the pleasure of traveling out to Oregon wine country to visit Dayton High School. While Dayton may be a small rural town, big changes were taking place in the classroom. The school is experimenting with a new type of learning model, dubbed Agile Learning, to spark a culture of creative problem solving and collaboration throughout its halls.

Implementing a Module from Ocean Tracks College Edition in My High School Marine Biology Class

After using the Ocean Tracks modules from the high school curriculum for the past few years in my marine biology course, I was excited to try out some of the newly developed (draft) curriculum modules that had been designed as part of Ocean Tracks College Edition (OTCE). In this blog entry, I want to describe the steps I took to implement the Ocean Tracks College Edition module, “What’s UP with the California Coast?” in my high school classroom.

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