Why should my child be learning about data?
Data is all around us. Data can be used to help us make better decisions, help us understand what is going around us and help us improve our lives and that of our communities. Being able to recognise data, understand what it is telling you and ask questions about it is becoming a critical skill for everyone, not just our children and young people. Moving beyond these core skills, data science is an area of science and engineering that is fast growing and being used by a wide range of industries from construction to banking and agriculture to health care. Becoming data literate opens up a range of different career paths and opportunities to our children and young people, with Scotland alone needing over 100,000 data literate workers in the next 8 years.
I don’t know anything about data science how can I help my child?
You’ve come to the right place! We are here to help introduce families to data science. You’ll be surprised how much data you already see in your everyday world and how much you might already be using data in the decisions you make. Do you watch the weather forecast and plan your day as a result? That’s you interpreting the data presented to you and making a decision. Do you use a step counter to try and increase your physical activity? That’s data too. Take a look at our Getting Started Guides to get find out more about the data in our everyday lives.
I don’t have access to a printer how can I access these materials?
You don’t need to be able to print anything. The projects and activities we list can be understood by reading the description or watching a short video. We have focused on activities that use items commonly available at home or even outside in your garden or the local park.
Do I need robots or extra technology to take part?
No you don’t. We provide a range of activities. Some include optional use of technology but you and your family can take part without the need for robots or other devices.
I have three children all different ages, how can I work with them all?
We have designed all the activities to work for children of any ages. We offer different guidance for different age groups but the overall activity are designed so that families can work together on each activity.
I don’t have PowerPoint or Word, how can I read the files?
All of our activities can be read in a web browser. Any additional files will be available in pdf as well as formats such as .doc (MS Word) and .ppt (PowerPoint).