InspireData is a firm , straight information analytic thinking tool for child from fourth class through high school , which math , science , and social science teacher can use to help their students ferment abstract data into practical understanding . Using a simple and well-to-do to understand spreadsheet - style data point entry system , students can chop-chop make a variety of graph types ( such as Venn diagram ) , rearrange the datum in a variety of ways , and even sum controls to liven up the data found on different criteria . This last characteristic is one of the most useful , as it allow students to see the effect of change to datum in an engaging and synergistic environment , and it is more interesting than static chart .
InspireData also grant students to bewitch the graphs they ’ve produce as slides with a unmarried click of a push button . The student can also play around with the datum some more and capture the new graphical record as a slide , or click the Previous Slide ikon to render to the former slide . you could create as many different slides as you want , and then use them as a part of a intro . Unfortunately , these slides can not be export for use as a part of a Microsoft PowerPoint ( ) or Apple Keynote ( ) presentation . There are no options for export these slides as images .
InspireData includes several classroom - point projects to get would - be statistician started , and instructor can guide pupil through these , or student can use the step - by - step guides provide in PDF format . However , other than a quick go , InspireData does not let in any synergistic tutorial , which would be especially utilitarian for students at dwelling or in larger year .
The data you visually represent in InspireData is not just set to points on a graphical record . In gain to a variety of square , round , and infield - shaped points , student can prefer from an assortment of pre - built icons . They can also edit or design their own icons from scrape using the icon editor . The editor in chief provides a slate of common electronic image editing tools ( pencil , brush , eraser , lines , embodiment and fills , semblance palette ) and allows for the importing of electronic image images , include photographs . However , the editor does not allow you to use or import vector - base picture . This limits you to icons with a maximum sizing of 128 - by-128 pixels , which will begin to look like mosaic at any sizing above that , or when publish .
One excellent characteristic that InspireData include is the ability for scholarly person to quickly build up their own questionnaire rather than having to go in data point directly into tables . For students not conversant with spreadsheet , this can be an fantabulous bridgework , and it ’s a ripe mode to hoard data from away sources . However , this feature is lack since the questionnaire can only be run from within InspireData . It would have been truly inspirational if the questionnaire could act as a put up - alone program program , a Web - enabled questionnaire , or even a Word or PDF shape so that scholar would have a wide change of options for pull in data . For model , if students were pick up household historical data , they could e - send a copy of their questionnaire in PDF format to menage members around the world , and later collect the resolution in InspireData .
InspireData ’s interface does not follow the smell and experience of a typical OS X coating , instead rely on an user interface that is share with the Windows adaptation , which is arguably dependable for students in double - political program classroom . The lotion is not presently Universal , but it bunk on Intel Macs .
Macworld’s buying advice
InspireData is for teacher who are looking for a superior tool to help scholar turn naked as a jaybird datum into meaningful information . By providing a wide-eyed working environment , InspireData work better as a teaching tool than more complex software like Microsoft Excel ( ) . However , the limited data turnout options , low - resoluteness bitmap images for icon , and inability to distribute questionnaire are drawbacks .
[ Jason Cranford Teague is the creative director forAOL RED . He on a regular basis rant about engineering and culture onhis blog . ]
