Create Data Visualizations for eLearning with 3 Free Tools

Creating datavisualizations is a great way to analyze,explore,and learn from data about learners and their performance. Data visualizationscan help L&D teams understand the effectiveness of the training and toolsthey’ve created; and, within eLearning, data visualizations can present complexinformation in easy-to-understand charts and graphs. Fortunately for thebudget-strapped designer, several free tools are available for creating datavisualizations for eLearning. Here’s an overview of a few that stand out.

Flourish

Flourishoffers multiple free templates to create a variety of datavisualization types in both the free and paid versions. In the freeversion, though, all data and visualizations are publicly visible.

Using Flourish, it’s possible to create data stories thathave multiple visualizations. Embed the results in online content; they willwork on desktop and mobile devices of all sizes.

Flourish is easy to use, with drag and drop functionalityand menus to select features, add and revise labels, and more. An onlinetutorial offers instruction, but the explanations of individual features andparameters are weak.

iNZight

Created and maintained by graduate students and faculty atthe University of Auckland, New Zealand, iNZight is abasic data analysis tool that was first used to teach high school students toexplore data.

Downloadable and online versions make iNZight available onmany devices; it is an open-source tool with versions for Windows, Mac, andLinux operating systems. It is free, and users can download theirvisualizations and export them in several formats. Designers can change thecolors and other aspects of their visualizations in iNZight or they can export avisualization in a graphics format and edit the design in another program.

Use iNZight to dynamically create scatter plots, bar charts,or dot plots, depending on the number and type of variables. With iNZight, it’seasy to “subset” data to create a series of graphs showing the data for eachregion separately, for example. The program also shows a box-and-whisker plot,which visualizes the median and the range of values making up the“interquartile” or twenty-fifth percentile through seventy-fifth percentile.

While iNZight offers only a few basic chart formats, it doesoffer greater control over data and results than Flourish. The iNZight websiteoffers user guidesin text and video formats, and extremely responsive customer support by email.

Tableau Public

Of the three free data visualization tools described here, Tableau Publicis definitely the powerhouse. The free version is downloadable and offers richoptions. The website offers a complete library of excellent tutorials thatbreak down the creation of different types of visualizations into easy chunks,and a gallery showcases examples of visualizations created using Tableau Public.The session replay for “WhatNow? Using Data Visualizations to Make Sense of Data,” from TheeLearning Guild’s 2018 Data & Analytics Summit includes a short demo ofTableau Public. The replay is available to all Guild members with plus orpremium content packages.

Tableau offers several paid software products, but the freeversion is a great place to start. With Tableau Public, it’s easy to createmany different types of visualizations. Import data from Excel or from severalother formats—or connect to data in an online source, such as Google Sheets.However, all visualizations (and their data) are public once saved in TableauPublic.

Using Tableau Public, a developer can:

• Create visualizations in dozens of formats
• Create series of related visualizations based onthe same dataset
• Connect datasets and create visualizations thatpull from both
• Clean and “pivot” data within Tableau

Tableau Public’s drag-and-drop functionality is intuitiveand easy to learn. Developers have a lot of control over how each variable ismapped, what colors and typefaces are used, and other aspects of the visualdesign. A user community, FAQs, and the tutorials provide any neededassistance.

Data Storytelling in eLearning

Additional free tools aid storytelling in eLearning, usingdata, audio and video, and text content. Build engaging eLearning thatincorporates elements like data visualizations, timelines, before-and-aftercomparisons, and integrated audio clips using the tools described above and theKnight Lab’s freeinteractive storytelling tools. Using data visualizations ineLearning is an easy and inexpensive way to raise the bar. Get started todaycreating data visualizations to offer learners appealing new formats and presentcomplex information in easy-to-understand graphical representations.

Dive deeper into the ways data can enhance eLearning andperformance support, as well as measure and demonstrate the effectiveness oftraining: DevLearn2018 Conference and Expo will feature a dedicated Data &Measurement track. Register now!