Do you wish you had more confidence with data? Do you want to use data to better inform what you do?
Whatever your data skills, wherever you are, you’re invited to join a Virtual Data Expedition being led online for the first time by Open Data Manchester, with the support of charity data experts 360Giving.
Over two weeks in August 2020, you’ll work with a team of fellow travellers from different walks of life to learn how to use data by taking on real-life challenges.
What is a Virtual Data Expedition?
A Data Expedition is a way of working with data from ‘start to finish’ – from identifying a question you have, to finding and using data to try to answer it, to telling a story with it.
Each two-week trip involves a series of guided workshops led by trained facilitators where participants, who may be from the community, policy or technical backgrounds, go on a journey of discovery together.
The very first Virtual Data Expedition is an online version where people can take part at their own pace. There will be four two-hour sessions over two weeks, plus a final presentation session where teams will share what they’ve done.
Teams will work together outside of these times to make sure they’re making progress.
Who is the Data Expedition for?
Data Expeditions are for everyone, from total beginners, to mixed-ability groups, or experienced data users. Each person is given opportunities to contribute in ways that play to their strengths.
For the first Virtual Data Expedition, we are looking for people from the north of the UK to participate, since it will focus on local issues. But if you are from further afield and you want to join in, you are very welcome!
What can I expect to get out of it?
- New data skills
- Things you can show off or use – like visualisations and stories
- An understanding of how to address your personal data knowledge gaps
- Getting to know new people
What do I need?
- 4-6 hours a week for two weeks, including workshops and time to meet as a team
- A laptop or a PC (you will struggle to do this on a tablet)
- A good, stable internet connection for video calling software, such as Zoom
- Access to Google Docs
- A desire to collaborate and learn
- Optional: a data-based problem or question that you want to explore
When can I get involved?
- Workshop 1: Tuesday 11 August, 10am-12pm BST (GMT+1).
- Workshop 2: Friday 14 August
- Workshop 3: Tuesday 18 August
- Workshop 4: Friday 21 August
- Final presentations: Tuesday 25 August
Apart from the first session, times for the workshops will be decided by the group as a whole. Participants will then work in teams at their own pace.
How do I sign up?
If you want to take part, please register here.