Tableau Software Introduces Free On-Demand Training

administrator — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:33:44 -0500

Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Tableau Software, the global leader in fast analytics and visualization software, today announced it is offering free on-demand training courses that offer tips and tricks for best utilizing Tableau's award-winning visual analysis applications. The courses demonstrate how to quickly spot the trends and relationships in any given data set and produce visually compelling and effective graphics. The new on-demand courses are in addition to the company's free, regularly scheduled, live training courses. A full course catalog is available at http://www.tableausoftware.com/catalog

"We believe that anyone whose job includes some type of data analysis can benefit from our software's powerful fast analytics and data visualization capabilities," said Christian Chabot, Tableau co-founder and CEO. "Our on-demand training classes were created by Tableau's visualization experts to enable any Tableau user to become quickly familiarized with the software so they can begin experiencing improved efficiency and faster decision-making."
Available for both Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server, the on-demand courses are targeted at business analysts, knowledge workers, executives, scientists and other professionals using Tableau's product suite. Any user can watch any or all of the videos on their schedule, at their pace. The following courses, recorded in high-resolution video, are now available on Tableau's Web site:
-- Introductory Topics (for Tableau Desktop): Attendees will learn the
basics of building effective visual analyses. Topics include creating
visualizations rapidly, building multi-sheet workbooks, using
dimensions and measures, sharing workbooks, publishing to MS Office,
Adobe Reader, Tableau Reader and Tableau Server as well as other
topics.
(http://www.tableausoftware.com/event/introductory-training-ondemand)
-- Advanced Topics (for Tableau Desktop): Attendees will learn how to
conduct advanced analytics without having to be a programmer,
mathematician or statistician. Topics include advanced filtering, fast
grouping, creating sets, defining custom calculations, identifying
trend models, building effective dashboards and more.
(http://www.tableausoftware.com/event/advanced-training-ondemand)
-- Jedi Topics (for Tableau Desktop): Offered for the sophisticated
analyst, this course will turn a basic user into a highly proficient
expert. Topics include linking to other sheets, data and websites,
creating maps, building logical calculations, using statistical models
and more.
(http://www.tableausoftware.com/event/jedi-training-ondemand)
-- Fast Analytics for the Web (for Tableau Server): Attendees of this
short course will learn how to share rich analytic visualizations and
data across the Internet. Topics include publishing, browsing with
Tableau Server, working with individual views, setting permissions and
understanding tags.
(http://www.tableausoftware.com/event/server-training-ondemand)

Tableau's award-winning Tableau Desktop visual analysis software connects directly to a wide assortment of data sources allowing users to express complex data relationships through engaging and easy-to-understand visualizations with drag-and-drop ease. Tableau Server, the company's newest product offering, extends the functionality of Tableau Desktop to the Web, enabling entire organizations to share, discover and participate with their data via a Web browser.
About Tableau Software
Tableau Software, a privately held company based in Seattle, is the leading provider of software applications for fast analytics and visualization. Its award-winning products can be downloaded at http://www.tableausoftware.com/trial.htm and used by anyone, including executives, managers, business analysts, strategic consultants, financial professionals, market researchers, scientists and engineers in nearly every industry. For more information, visit http://www.tableausoftware.com/.
"Tableau Software" and "Visual Analysis for Databases" are registered trademarks or trademarks of Tableau Software. References to other companies and their products use trademarks owned by the respective companies and are for reference purposes only.

Taking education from sci-fi to sci-fact

administrator — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 05:35:35 -0500

Researchers want to turn the sci-fi classroom of the future into a science fact, by linking the classroom with museums and science exhibitions using augmented reality. The CONNECT project goal is to unite formal curricula with informal learning to move education, especially science and technology, from boring to absorbing.
Students sit together silently absorbed in their classroom. Heads covered by virtual-reality visors, they watch a herd of grazing protoceratops, a sheep-sized dinosaur. The class gasps suddenly; a velociraptor just has leapt upon one of the grazing beasts.

This is how science fiction sees education in the future. Science fact is now trying to bring that day a little closer. The CONNECT project team believes that by linking the classroom with science centres, museums, planetariums and observatories, it can marry the best elements of formal curricula with informal learning.

It's an ambitious project, allying education theory, information technology, and augmented reality (AR), which enhances an environment with computer generated information. Ultimately CONNECT researchers want to link science, technology and education.

"The whole idea of school is not really engaging for students, they don't find it motivating," says Sofoklis Sotiriou, a researcher with the 3-year CONNECT project, which ends February 2007.

From Bernoulli to biotubes
So far the pilot projects are aimed at 8-10 year old children, and link four science centres with participating classrooms in each country. The Aerofoil exhibit from Explore@Bristol in England demonstrates the Bernoulli principle, relevant to aero- and hydrodynamics, by using a wing and a fan that students can manipulate to see the lift force generated by airflow across the wing.

In Greece, the Airtrack at the Eugenides Foundation uses a cart on a track to demonstrate the principles of friction, while in Heureka, Finland a hot air balloon rises when air within the balloon is heated, and descends as the air cools.

Meanwhile the Biotube at Xperiment Sweden, allows students to control plant growing conditions such as water, nutrients, light and CO2. The exhibit teaches aspects of photosynthesis for sustainable plant growth in outer space.

"We're not trying to bring the museum to the school, but to connect the different educational environments, keeping alive their strengths," notes Sotiriou. It means children 'learn to learn', and it recognises that learning is a process that continues outside the classroom.

This aim creates demanding technical challenges. A museum needs a series of access points around the various exhibits, for example, so students can really 'visit' the museum instead of watching a series of presentations. "In some museums that's easy because there are high ceilings to fix the access points, in others it's quite a challenge," explains Sotiriou.

The augmented-reality goggles present another challenge. A good system currently costs between €6,000 and €10,000 per unit, far too expensive for schools. CONNECT is therefore working on a more cost-effective model.

Stunning virtual museum
In its software, CONNECT has produced a stunning virtual museum, featuring colourful, exciting graphics that allow a student to try experiments and then view the results. This advanced learning environment is called the CONNECT Virtual Science Thematic Park – it acts as a “hub” for the resources available and distributes suitable educational activities. Currently the pilots are all stand-alone activities, but ultimately they will be linked through this virtual museum.

The CONNECT service will offer opportunities to science museum exhibit teams to personalise the information for each visitor. It will also eliminate the need for long explanatory texts, pictures and labels by offering visualization of the real physical phenomena.

In addition to developing the hardware, the project team also has to consider the software, educational scenarios and broadband connections. "Right now we're trying to demonstrate the case, but to get the demonstrator working we've a lot of steps to cover," admits Sotiriou.

Above all, there is the evaluation. The scenarios should be fun, but they also need to be effective. The project has already held three pilots to test the equipment, and is now engaged in a full, five-month evaluation of the combined technical and educational approach.

CONNECT is a very involved and highly ambitious project, a fact reflected in the 19 partners across three continents. But it is a worthwhile effort. If successful, it could finally turn futuristic education from sci-fi to science-fact.

Contact:
Dr. Sofoklis A. Sotiriou
Dimitriou Panagea Str. GR 153
GR-51 Pallini Attikis
Greece
Tel: +30 21 0603 2550
Fax: +30 21 0603 2554
E-mail: sotiriou@ea.gr