Liz Feller

According to Fast Company, “Both demand and salaries have been rising for people who can work with and analyze data.” Easy access to the tools to gain these skills is only half the battle. Unfortunately, you can’t just download viz-whiz skills like you can download a free copy of Tableau, but we’re here to help you expand your skill set.

Here at Tableau, seeing and understanding data costs nothing for students. But what about teaching material? Teachers, we’ve got you covered.

An effective data visualization lets users see and understand the data at the speed of thought. You can visualize data from biology labs, accounting case studies, or any other subject you’re studying to find answers faster. Here are five ways to improve the overall value of your dashboards.

We use data visualizations to tell compelling stories, explain trends, and make persuasive arguments. Communication of data insights is becoming a critical skill for college graduates entering the workforce. We provide free Tableau licenses to teachers and students through our academic programs in the hope of students developing skills working with visualizations. Some colleges and universities are seeing this need and creating specific ways for students to explore data, regardless of their academic background. One of these programs is the Temple Analytics Challenge, hosted by Temple University’s Institute for Business and Information Technology.

Tableau’s mission is to help people see and understand data. Even as an intern, I have experienced this. I am an avid Netflix user but have often found it difficult to find great movies because the ratings online are based off movies I have previously rated. What I would do is go to Netflix, find a movie title under “Suggested for you,” then search for it on imdb.com to see what rating it received from other viewers.