Gapminder and Excel

 Hello all,

I just visited a great website called Gapminder. This is an education tool with a focus on identifying systemic misconceptions about global development. There are a number of interactive tools and features that are used to help participants learn about these issues. For instance, you take a survey about plastics that end up in the ocean by taking a multiple choice question. When you get it wrong, a new slide shows up sharing the correct information and extending the learning experience. If you correctly answer a question, there is also a new slide that shares some of the misconceptions that others have had about the question.

I would place this resource at the middle school level and would use is to help students identify a problem for their research. Maybe they could creating some kind of a sustained research project where they integrate learning subjects from various content areas (English, science, math) to develop a presentation of their findings. I'd probably use this as a warm up activity to fuel discussion in a high school science class as well. I'm not certain how much dialectical rhetoric is happening in the high school humanities classes, but this would also be a good resource for those classes as well.

And speaking of great resources, I'm pleased to share that I used MS Excel to work with data. In this weeks assignment, we learned how to import and modify raw data using spreadsheet software. One aspect that I particularly liked was the formula function. I enjoyed using the IF and COUNT formula functionality to filter and aggregate data. I also spent time formatting the layout of data in a way that is visually organized. Having spent so much time reflecting on data and modifying instruction, it feels nice to have a break so I could focus on assembling the information in a way that is palatable. 

Thanks for reading,

Tony