Loyola University Maryland’s Sellinger School of Business has opened a new data analytics visualization lab which is intended to help students interpret, manipulate, and present large amounts of data.
“The lab will help turn students into storytellers,” said JP Krahel, Ph.D., CPA, associate professor and chair of accounting at the school. “It’s not enough anymore to compile data. You need to be able to draw meaningful conclusions and to convey that meaning to stakeholders. This investment shows that we’re serious about future-proofing our students’ careers,” he said.
The school said that students who will benefit from the lab come from a range of academic majors, including accounting and information systems.
In a press release, Loyola highlighted the tech features of the new lab, including more powerful computing, projectors with touch capability on a 12-foot smartboard, seven large display monitors for huddle areas, integrated Zoom video conferencing with a high-resolution camera that can track subjects, and movable, modular classroom furniture. The school said that the new technology will help students turn raw data into colorful charts, graphs, maps, dashboards, and other graphics to aid in data-driven decision-making.
“Labs like this include state-of-the-art systems that help students visualize massive amounts of data. This is a dream space for both students and faculty,” said Paul Tallon, Ph.D., professor and chair of information systems, law, and operations management. “We are already reimagining courses to take advantage of everything this room has to offer. Students can learn and collaborate in radically new ways that will build skills for a data-centric world.”
