1. Why data literacy is an essential skill
Hi, and welcome to this course on data literacy. My name is Jess , and I'll be one of your instructors for this course.
2. We live in the data era
Why learn about data literacy? Just as we had to adjust to using computers and to using the Internet, we now live in a time where data is all around us.
As a consequence, to keep up with the changing world, it is important to know data, know how to interact with it, know what it can do and what it cannot do.
3. Data literacy is a life skill
Data is all around us, we can learn about the world through data. However, we are confronted with lots of information, often with a high degree of complexity.
How do we turn this into valuable insights? Being data literate means we understand how data can be combined and connected to create value.
4. A skill even for non-data jobs
Data literacy is not about technical skill, like coding or understanding the maths behind a data analysis.
Instead, it is about learning how to critically think about and interact with data and its analysis by understanding its relevance, placing it into context and knowing both its potential and its limits.
Compare this with learning how to drive a car: it is not necessary to know all the bits and pieces under the hood, or how to repair it, but you do need to know the difference between the brakes and the gas, know how to follow the instructions of traffic signs, and that you can't drive in water.
5. The definition of data literacy
Data literacy can be defined as follows: it is the ability to read, work with, analyze, and communicate insights with data.
We can distinguish three main components here: reading data, working with and analyzing data, and communicating insights with data.
6. Reading data
Reading data consists of identifying relevant data sources, collecting the data and managing the data we have collected or already have available.
You might already have heard of databases. Databases help you to store, organize and share your data.
You'll learn more about this in Chapter 2.
7. Working with and analyzing data
Working with and analyzing data, is how we turn data into insights.
Our main tool here is data analytics, for example descriptive or predictive analytics.
Don't worry if these terms don't mean anything to you yet, you'll learn more about them in Chapter 3.
8. Communicating insights with data
Finally, no insight is valuable if we don't know what to do with it. This is the main purpose of communicating insights with data: demonstrating our insights and their value, and, even more important: defining a possible set of actions we can take based on the insights we gained.
The main tools used for communicating are visualizations and storytelling, which is the use of techniques and structure from stories to enhance your communication.
You'll learn more about this in Chapter 4.
9. Let's practice!
Now that you know more about data literacy and why it is important, let's practice!