class 1 about the dataviz class

Interactive Data Visualization

Part of the Digital Media 3-Pack

NEW 300 (undergrad), 600 (grad)

Spring 2016Tuesdays / Thursdays 12:30-1:50 P.M.

NEWHOUSE 3, 253

About Me• Horvitz Chair in Journalism Innovation.• “Born digital” journalist.• Digital journalist, product manager,

startup founder, dad, geek.• And now, teacher!

My path …• 1994 - The Denver Post (reporter)• 1996 - Washingtonpost.com (launch

team)• 1998 - America Online (social networking

products)• 2004 - The Bakersfield Californian (new

products)• 2007 – Printcasting (funded startup)• 2010 - BookBrewer (bootstrap startup)

Digital sherpa

I want to help you get up that mountain.

I can show you the way and maybe carry some of your stuff, but I can’t carry you. We learn by doing.

Photo by: McKay Savage WikiMedia Commons

Introductions• Now let’s have you introduce

yourself …. DATAVIZ STYLE!• Go to “introduce yourself as data” on

Journovationsu.org.

FTP login info• Host: ftp.journovationsu.org• User: dataviz• Password: _______Use this for uploading files that you reference in HTML code in the

future. The full path to files will be:http://journovationsu.org/dataviz_s2015/ followed by folders and files you upload. (Don’t worry if this baffles you now – it will all make sense later).

Cyberduck!• The FTP client we

will use on Mac labs.

• Search at upper right on Mac, Cyberduck.

Or on your own computer:• Filezilla: http://filezilla-project.org

FTP housekeepingMake sure you:•Don’t upload over someone else’s file.•Create a folder for your assignment, then upload the entire folder. •Have your own FTP / web host? Feel free to use it instead of the class FTP.

Roll call – choose a question1. Your Name and major2. Answer one of the following:•What are you obsessing over RIGHT NOW?•What’s one food you’d never want to taste again?•If you had a time machine, where and when would you go?

My answerI ate this and deeply regretted it!

But it was for a good reason

About the Class

http://journovationsu.orgClass web site:

Review Syllabus• Open it from

http://journovationsu.org• Choose menu Dataviz Class >

Syllabus.

Sharing Finds• #NHData Class Finds (ditto)• Share your own finds through

Twitter to #NHData. They’ll show up here.

Expectations• Attend every class and arrive on time. • One absence allowed no questions

asked. After that, final grade goes down a half letter grade for each unexcused absence.

• Turn in each assignment by the due date: usually Friday or Monday nights depending on when it’s assigned. Dates in are Blackboard.

Workload

• This is going to be a very intense 5 weeks.• Expect at least 6 hours of reading and homework

outside of class each week.• You will be challenged. You will often get

frustrated. This is normal! If you don’t give up, getting past the frustration points is where you learn the most.

• Most who think they don’t understand a concept actually made it 80-90% through.

If you get stuck• Reach out for help! OFFICE HOURS.• For more technical assignments, you don’t “fail” if

you get stuck as long as you do the following. In your blog post, document what you tried, where you got stuck and what you tried to get unstuck.

• The next class will start with a call for help.• You can also reach out for help on Twitter, web

forums and by just Googling around.

Grade Breakdown

• 40% - Assignments - 80 points possible from 8 assignments, worth 10 points each.

• 40% - Final Project - 80 points possible.• 10% - Professionalism and classwork - 20

points possible. Includes attendance, sharing finds, class participation, quizzes.

• 10% - Independent Learning – 20 points possible. Take one course on Lynda.com and apply it to an assignment or final project.

Final Project• Use at least three of the data visualization

tools we use in class, or others you choose, to create a multi-faceted story that you publish on the class blog.

• Start thinking about your story now and look for good data to use.

• You have one month after the last class to complete your final project.

Independent Learning• On your own time, take one online

course (4-5 hours) on Lynda.com, now free for SU students. Or find another tutorial.

• Apply what you learn to an assignment or final project. Write a blog post about what you learned and how it helped you improve your work.

Graduate requirement• Grad students must either publish a

site featuring visualizations for final projects using Expressions (free), or on your own web host, or by getting your project published by a professional site.

• Undergrads get extra credit for doing this.

FERPA forms• Please fill out this form so that we can

use your work to help future students.• Note that everything on the class blog

is publicly available. This is to help you a) celebrate your successes, and b) get help from a larger community of dataviz friends (like when you get stuck).

What is data visualization?Some things can best be understood by a) seeing them, and b) exploring them. Some examples:

– News you can Use: Is it better to buy or rent? http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html?_r=0

– Creating experiences. Get to know your neighborhood. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/14th-street-businesses/

– Understanding complexity. Which Supreme Court justices agree or disagree?http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/scotus-roundup-2013/

– Understanding behaviors. http://project.wnyc.org/non-voters/– Understanding tragedy: http://guns.periscopic.com/?year=2013– Understanding our world. http://Hint.fm/wind

Don’t be so serious!

Data can also be entertaining:– Where do people have the best sex, worst sex and

most STIs. http://www.vox.com/2014/5/7/5662608/in-different-area-codes

– Geeking out over Arrested Development. Two examples!http://recurringdevelopments.com and http://apps.npr.org/arrested-development/

– Enjoying music. Johnny Cash Project. http://www.thejohnnycashproject.com/

Register for Class Blog• Get an account on the class blog:

http://journovationsu.org/wp-login.php Then click Register.

First assignments• Register for the class blog (you will do that in an

exercise today).• Assignment 1: Fill out class survey• Homework: Excel Fundamentals Lynda course,

chapter 3 only.• Find a cool data visualization and share it on

Twitter with hashtag #nhdata.• Due before next class.

And remember …• “There’s no such thing as a stupid

question, but there is such a thing as a LAZY question.” – Dan Pacheco

• Rather than Googling your professor, first try using actual Google for answers. Or look in lecture notes.