Design, Science and Technology

"Students are hungry for learning that matters. Project based learning has students involved in explaining their answers to real-life questions or challenges. A project's driving question or challenge is so deep that it requires students to create an end product and share their conclusions with others. Instead of traditional projects that come at the end of a unit of study, project-based learning has the project introduced at the beginning of the unit. The project gives students a reason for learning the content and a venue for practicing 21st century skills."

Via Beth Dichter

Via Beth Dichter

Why should you use Google+?There are lots of good reasons to pay attention to Google+, but for me it comes down to these three:

Search is becoming socialGoogle+ Authorship is becoming a filter for quality contentGoogle+ has the best user experience of any social network
Visit the link to find additional insights, resource links, and useful Google+ information.
Via Lauren Moss

Every year since 1993, the community of nations has focused on the importance of fresh water and advocated for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. Severe droughts experienced recently in places like the American West, the Horn of Africa, Russia, China, and Australia have highlighted the fact that humans are rapidly using up the world's water supplies—and when they’re gone, they’re gone. We are spending one of our most vital resources in greater volumes every day.

One Block Off The Grid recently developed an infographic to illustrate how energy production depends on water. It shows water use by four of the most common energy sources: coal, nuclear, oil and gas, and solar. Solar comes out on top big time.

Via Lauren Moss

As data visualization expands its reach – through the rise of Massive Online Courses, the countless events and, most significantly, the interconnection between different disciplines and knowledge fields that produce inspiring works and innovative projects -, it’s only natural that the number of folks writing about it keeps rising.

There are literally hundreds of interesting blogs out there, covering all the aspects surrounding the production of quality, effective data visualizations.

Visit the link to find a collection of resources and interesting projects that give a pretty good idea of how vast and rich the data visualization community is...

 

Via Lauren Moss

Data is everywhere and well-designed data graphics can be both beautiful and meaningful. As visualizations take center stage in a data-centric world, researchers and developers spend much time understanding and creating better visualizations. But they spend just as much time understanding how tools can help programmers and designers create visualizations faster, more effectively, and more enjoyably.

 

As any visualization practitioner will tell you, turning a dataset from raw stuff in a file to a final result in a picture is far from a single-track, linear path. Rather, there is a constant iteration of competing designs, tweaking and evaluating at once their pros and cons. The visualization research community has recognized the importance of keeping track of this process.

 

Read the complete article to learn more about the future of the practice and the tools that enable designers to create thoughtful infographics and visualizations...

Via Lauren Moss