Information Visualization

Using images to support learning and decision making, or to generate insight into complex issues, is not a new idea in education. However, developments in computer processing power and display capability have created the potential to view high-resolution images and represent large data sets visually and to manipulate the resulting imagery. This emerging field is known as information visualization or InfoVis.

Although used widely in some disciplines (e.g., computer science, geographic information systems, health informatics, and computational linguistics), few examples of InfoVis have been applied to education. Recently, educators (such as those interested in learning analytics) have investigated how InfoVis systems can transform and make sense of large data sets to help students improve their learning and teachers improve their teaching. This entry defines and distinguishes ...