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There are many tools around to help turn data into graphics, but they can carry hefty price tags. There are a surprising number of highly robust tools for data visualization and analysis that are available at no charge.

using word clouds and fusion tables to share and process data information with students

Creating data visualizations and word clouds is quite easy with the following tools.

I recently put together a workshop on using visual thinking techniques in the classroom for a group of graduate students at my teaching center.

A data visualization tool from IBM.

The use of models and other abstract forms in literary study has recently seen a revival in a digital age that puts data and sophisticated data management systems in the hands of the literary scholar, teacher, and student. Pedagogical applications of these abstract models are rich with possibility for the literary classroom, and offer exciting opportunities for engaging non-English majors and non-traditional learners in the advanced study of literature, as well as challenging students to verbally articulate visual and spatial knowledge.

David McCandless turns complex data sets (like worldwide military spending, media buzz, Facebook status updates) into beautiful, simple diagrams that tease out unseen patterns and connections. Good design, he suggests, is the best way to navigate information glut -- and it may just change the way we see the world.

It's not enough to simply write about data any longer; the world wants visuals. While there are many professional information designers making a name for themselves, such as Nicholas Felton of Feltron.com, the majority of these digital artists are up to their eyeballs in high-paying work. Where does this leave you? Well, if you want to spruce up your documents, blog posts, and presentations, there are some free tools online that can help.

Information graphics, visual representations of data known as infographics, keep the web going these days. Web users, with their diminishing attention spans, are inexorably drawn to these shiny, brightly coloured messages with small, relevant, clearly-displayed nuggets of information. They're straight to the point, usually factually interesting and often give you a wake-up call as to what those statistics really mean.

zanran is a search engine for data.

Infographics -visual representations of data- can play a critical role in developing students' information literacy so they can make sense of their world.

visual construction

This section is for educators who want to use Gapminder in their education. You'll find shortcuts to tools and guides for Gapminder in a classroom.

Gary Flake demos Pivot, a new way to browse and arrange massive amounts of images and data online. Built on breakthrough Seadragon technology, it enables spectacular zooms in and out of web databases, and the discovery of patterns and links invisible in standard web browsing.

Several of the most prominent words are included in the title for this blog post. While the word cloud did not write the title for me, it helped me identify important elements from my post and served as an ideal starting point for creating an interesting and informative title for potential readers.

Backed by stunning illustrations, David Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the Internet, in a riveting 18 minutes. This is "Big History": an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity, set against our slim share of the cosmic timeline.

Infographics can change the way we learn, the way we see information put in front of us.  They help us digest that information and leads us to draw important conclusions more swiftly. After doing a little research online I was able to discover 10 gorgeous infographics on education that do more than simply show information, they relay it in a really potent and amazing way.

At the recent THATCamp Southeast, I had a chance to teach a hands-on session for building interactive, geospatial timelines.