Today we are proud to introduce InspireData 1.5, the first upgrade to the newest member of our visual learning software family. We unveiled InspireData last year at NECC and your enthusiasm was incredible. Soon after, we began to hear about the ways you were using the software in the classroom and to get your feedback about what you would like to see in future versions.

I am particularly excited new and enhanced capabilities in our software for visually exploring and understanding data and developing data literacy. They are the result of what we heard from educators, like you. And InspireData 1.5 includes even more dynamic ways for students to gather, plot, interpret and analyze data. With the new e-Survey tool, you and your students can develop your own surveys and easily collect data online, then download it directly into InspireData. Or you can use the more than 100 subject-specific databases to get started exploring and understanding data quickly.

You also asked us for additional resources to help you integrate InspireData into teaching and learning, so we included standards-based lesson plans and classroom projects, Learn to Use Handouts and Quick Reference Cards. Plus, stay tuned for the debut later this month of "Developing Data Literacy with InspireData," a new lesson plan book designed by teachers to help you integrate InspireData into science, mathematics and social studies curriculum.

Many of you quickly saw the potential that InspireData has for helping make data-driven instructional decisions, so we included database templates for classroom analysis in InspireData 1.5. With these easy-to-use templates, you can easily track and analyze student performance over time or identify classroom trends.

One of the best things about introducing a new or upgraded product is hearing how you are using the new capabilities with your students. If you are currently using InspireData, you can download a free upgrade. Or if you haven't had the chance to explore InspireData yet, you can download a free 30-day trial and learn more about how you can use the software to help your students build data literacy skills.

Let know what you think of InspireData 1.5, how you are using it with your students and where you would like us to take the product in the future. Our software family continues to evolve because of the insightful feedback that we get from you, the teachers who use our visual learning to help their students build the critical thinking, information and data literacy skills that the 21st century requires.