Data Literacy

When looking at literacy, the tide is changing to understand text as oral, visual, and written language forms that we interact and construct meaning from. (Adapted from the new English Language Arts 8 - 12 IRP)

Does this include being data literate? I believe so.

Last year I heard a student that had been using computers in school for 6 years and not used a spreadsheet. I find this just amazing. I use spreadsheets and other data tools daily. The spreadsheet is not the solution to all data learning, but it is a broad tool for data literacy. Understanding relationships between data, calculating, summarizing, organizing, searching, sorting, are all concepts teachable through spreadsheets.

An extension and even more powerful tool are databases. Many schools have access to online databases.
Here is an example:http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/catalogs.html

I realize there is too many things to learn everything; however, we are responsible to prepare to be self-directed learners. If we donít provide students a foundation of data literacy, how will they be able to be self-directed learners later. I can only imagine trying to learn what I know about spreadsheets and databases from scratch. It would turn me off and I would see a different solution.

An example for me recently is that I was learning InspireData a new product from Inspiration.com. †This software tool is a student friendly spreadsheet, database and survey tool. †Trying to learn this without background knowledge would have been difficult for me. †I was able to learn the software in short order and make it do what I wanted it to do. †
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I was able to be self-directed because I have a firm foundation. †I would not have stuck with it to create the surveys I needed trying to learn all of it new.
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