M any Eyes, Many
Glimpses of Data
Whether you are an educator interested in
comparing the numbers of people speaking
various world languages or a student wanting to create a visual model of the rise in greenhouse
gases and the subsequent melting of the polar ice
caps, Many Eyes can help put numbers in perspective. This free data visualization tool provides the
structure for the curious to view, create, and share
visualizations representing any type of data.
Many Eyes offers 16 ways to present data, including
bar charts, diagrams, and word clouds. Classroom
teachers can use this site to help students discover
correlations between data sets. Site users can choose
to view, rate, and discuss existing visualizations and
data sets, or they can create their own. There is a variety of visual formats that users can apply to their particular topic, and the site allows others to comment
on which model best displays the data.
Many Eyes is the creation of Martin Wattenberg
and Fernanda B. Viégas, two IBM researchers at
the Watson Research Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Wattenberg, a computer scientist and
mathematician, says sophisticated visualization tools
have historically been the province of professionals in
academia, business, and government. He wanted to
create a tool that would bring data visualization to a
wider audience.
Many Eyes is at
http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.
com/manyeyes.
—Kaya Hardin is an ISTE intern. She graduated in June with a
bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon.
Mathematics
36 Learning & Leading with Technology | August 2009
a faster, easier way to present an age-old
org/group/landl and check back
regularly to see what other teac
are suggesting. We’ll publish so
of the tips along with submitters
names in Learning Connections
hers
me
’
Post your tips on the L&L group
iStockpHoto.com/koun
Tip
Website Access Made Easy
Problem: directing a class full of young students
to a website can be a chore. Website addresses
can be painfully long and contain lots of unfamiliar
characters. even typing in an easy address can be
difficult for a group of nonreaders.
Here’s a solution: click on the icon to the left of
the url and drag it onto the desktop. once you
have it on the desktop, you can rename it or even
number it if that’s easier for your students to find.
This tip comes from Tammy Worcester, an instructional
technology specialist for ESSDACK, an educational service
district in Hutchinson, Kansas. Her website, Tammy’s
Technology Tips for Teachers ( www.tammyworcester.com),
is a popular online resource for educators.
GOT NECC NEWS?
If you weren't able to
attend NECC this year,
you can catch up on all
the goings on by reading
the Daily Leader, the
official newspaper of NECC,
online at
www.iste.org/
necc/dailyleader.
