Data Skills

Big Data Down on the Farm

Big data has become a big buzzword. For many though, this term remains very much a black box, its real world applications shrouded in ambiguity. For some, big data can often carry some negative connotations: they think of secret government agencies, tracking their every move. They think of large corporations following their every click, peering deep into the souls of consumers to predict their buying habits and preferences. But big data isn’t reserved only for the likes of Google, the NSA, and companies on the Fortune 500.

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.

Sharing What We've Learned Through Ocean Tracks

I first learned of the Oceans of Data Institute because they had a great idea.

Making Smarter Business Decisions with Big Data: A Netflix Case Study

With the recent release of its fourth season, the political drama, “House of Cards” was, and continues to be, a huge success for the online video-streaming tycoon, Netflix. “House of Cards” has garnished critical acclaim: its first season, released in 2013, was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards and 4 Golden Globe Awards, the first Web-only show to ever receive any such nominations. The popular ratings website, IMDb, scored “House of Cards” a 9.0 out of 10, placing it in the upper echelon of television and online programming. So what’s the secret behind the show’s huge success?

Analytical Thinking in the Workplace and the Classroom

Why Analytical Thinking?
In 2014, ODI gathered an expert panel of professionals that work with big data. After 2 days of intense discussion, this expert panel developed a list of the knowledge and skills essential to working with big data. Their work was then validated by almost 100 peers who work as big data analysts. As you can see below, Analytical Thinking ranked highest in both the knowledge AND skills essential to being an effective big data-enabled specialist.

Reflections from a teacher: Engaging Students in Ocean Tracks

“This week in class, you are going to be doing ‘college level’ work.” My high school students in my marine biology course stared back at me with their eyes wide, but I didn’t hear the groans that I was expecting. Instead, did I detect some excitement that the bar would be raised?

The Big Data Driving Google Maps

For many, the term “Big Data” remains very much a black box. How it is collected, managed, and then analyzed for practical use is still largely an unknown. To help unpack the mysteries of this buzzword, big data, it is beneficial to explore the ways it impacts our day-to-day lives: whether it be the ways in which we engage with content online to how it impacts our daily commute.

Ocean Tracks: Immersing students in complex data

“Data drives discovery, decision-making, and innovation. … However, our current education systems have not been equipped to produce either the workforce or the citizenry with the skills, knowledge and judgment to make wise use of the data streams that our technologies are delivering.” A Call for Action for Promote Data Literacy Workshop for Building Global Data Literacy, October 2015

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