Course Overview
We love maps. They tell us the “where” of the story in a glance. Maps are the most effective visual tool for communicating ideas, explaining complex concepts, illustrating relationships or for telling a story.
Data Mapping is a two-day, hands-on certificate workshop focused on communicating complex information with visually appealing maps. Participants will learn to create a clearer, more meaningful picture of complex information, understand the story in a map, and create effective and creative static and interactive maps.
Course Outcomes
You will learn:
- To employ best practices in graphic design techniques.
- To use maps to interview the data and find the story.
- The basic mapping concepts, including geocoding for identifying latitude and longitude, projections and how to choose them.
- To identify when and how to use each type of map to illustrate your data and your story, including choropleths, scaled points, heatmaps and other ways of aggregating point data, and cartograms.
- The basics of geographic data formats: KML, Shapefiles, CSV and how to find geo data.
- To create multilayered static and interactive maps, including exporting to print and web-friendly image formats.
- To use and apply mapping tools such as Mapbox, CartoDB and Google Fusion Tables for creating highly engaging data driven maps.
You’ll enjoy personalized small class instruction from expert instructors. This program is an applied learning experience for beginners in data mapping. You’ll work hands-on with the tools and create real examples of static and interactive maps. This assures that you will be ready to apply your new skill set immediately upon completion of the workshop and leave with concrete examples of highly effective illustrated stories with data visualizations.
Work Sample
Who Should Attend?
Ideal for career professionals interested in a rapid-paced, immersive experience in data visualization mapping tools & techniques, including marketing communicators, analysts, scientists, journalists, web editors, educators, and those interested in communicating data with clarity and originality.
Instructors & Facilitators
Instructors subject to change.
Peter Aldhous
Peter Aldhous is a science journalist with BuzzFeed News and data visualization instructor for Berkeley Advanced Media Institute. He also teaches data visualization at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, investigative reporting in the Science Communication Program at the UC Santa Cruz, and has developed online training materials in data visualization for the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
Peter got his start in journalism in 1989 as a reporter for Nature in London, fresh from a PhD in animal behavior. Later he worked as European correspondent for Science, news editor for New Scientistand chief news and features editor with Nature, before moving to California in 2005 to become New Scientist‘s San Francisco bureau chief. Peter works with free tools to ‘interview’ and visualize data – from scans of his own DNA to records of human conflict. His projects include web apps that have explored the local and global history of climate change, and the number of Earth-like planets in our galaxy. Peter’s articles have won awards from bodies including the Association of British Science Writers, the Society of Environmental Journalists, and the Wistar Institute.
Prerequisites
Requirements
- All participants must bring their own laptop for use during this workshop and it must be WiFi ready.
- The level of this workshop is beginning. No previous data visualization experience is required.
- Participants must be comfortable with technical subjects and learning in a fast-paced environment.
- Knowledge of Excel spreadsheets or Google drive is recommended. SPREADSHEET TUTORIAL
- A personal Google gmail account is required for this class. Please remember to bring your user login and password information with you.
- Proficiency in English.