The software and the process for building a chart and embedding it into a website are no longer mysterious, complicated or expensive.
And you should be having your students use it.
The software is Google spreadsheets. The process is as simple as entering the data into the spreadsheet and creating a chart with a few simple clicks. Google spreadsheets give you an embed code that allows you to place the chart onto a web page. That chart is interactive.
And all this is free.
The video below shows you how to do it.
Building a graph with Google spreadsheets from Jim Stovall on Vimeo.
And here is the chart that was made in the video.
As you can see the chart is interactive. That is, when you roll your mouse over any part of it, the numbers pop up. (The embed code for this chart is included below the chart just so you can see what it looks like.)
<iframe src=”https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ai4E-j24LyDLdEFkd0VIb1NXZWw2VnQ1ZkQzQndFT2c&single=true&gid=1&output=html&widget=true” height=”400″ width=”600″ frameborder=”1″></iframe>
Get a FREE copy of Kill the Quarterback

Get a free digital copy of Jim Stovall's mystery novel, Kill the Quarterback. You will also get Jim's newsletter and advanced notice of publications, free downloads and a variety of information about what he is working on. Jim likes to stay in touch, so sign up today.
Tags: charts and graphs, creating interactive charts with Google spreadsheets, free software for charts, getting a chart from data, Google, graphics journalism, informational graphics, interactive, video, Vimeo