Visual
resources have been around for a long time but a new and improved visual
application is making a huge impact in classrooms, board rooms, and social
media around the world. According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary, an
infographic is a chart, diagram, or illustration (as in a book or magazine, or
on a website) that uses graphic elements to present information in a visually
striking way. Infographics are visual
maps to guide learners in an interactive, clear, and engaging display.
A
great resource I located is titled Piktochart in the classroom: Infographics
and Education. The article states the importance of infographics in literacy
education and explains how “Literacy is more than just reading and writing.
Literate people can infer meaning, communicate with others, and capture ideas
in many different ways. With infographics, I hope that educators can broaden
our students’ visual literacy.”
As
educators and media specialist our goal is to incorporate new and engaging
visual technology in the library while also demonstrating to students, staff
and administration the unique features and different capabilities visual
resources can offer. Exposure to this
type of technology allows students, and educators to visually take in information,
process that information and use it more effectively and proficiently. Once they see how easy these applications are
then they can incorporate this into their own lessons, assignments and presentations.
The
use of technology may seem scary to some (me included) but infographics are user-friendly
and only require a few steps to create. To
alleviate the stress of learning a new application, Media specialist and
educators can encourage their students to use infographics by learning the
process together. Challenging our students
and providing the proper motivation will guarantee students success and encourage
them to implement their own ideas in the learning process.
As
a new user to infographics I was intimidated by all the gadgets and buttons
available. Although it looked similar to a power point presentation
it was entirely different. All the
applications I reviewed felt cumbersome and would not allow me to insert media
the way I could in PowerPoint. These
applications required much more time, patience and trial and error than I first
thought. Finally after about 3 hours I
was able to get my infographic done. The
first infographic site I reviewed was Piktograph. It was
probably the most user- friendly. Easely had lots of engaging infographics, but I was not able to locate the
right one for my assignment. I briefly
searched in Infogram, but did not find it as easy to navigate as
Piktograph. Ultimately, after about 3
hours, I was able to get my infographic done in Piktograph.
I used Pew Research Center’s Teen Voices:
Dating in the Digital age to create my infographic.
You can find
the link to my infographic at the following address:
Sources
Teen Voices: Dating in the Digital Age. Pew Research Center
: Internet, Internet and technology. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/online-romance/
Fanguy, W. (2017) Piktochart in the classroom: Infographics
and Education. Retrieved from
https://piktochart.com/blog/piktochart-classroom-infographics-education/#a-students-guide-to-getting-started-with-piktochart
I find that I enjoy looking at infographics. The images enhance the information and make it fun to read. I also used Piktochart because I thought that it was very user-friendly and it gave me some but not too many choices for templates. It also had a good amount of free graphics to add. Infogram on the other hand, didn't have very many options for templates on the free account, and Easely was overwhelming from the abundance of templates available. Piktochart was fun and easy to use. I chose the same research article as you. I thought it was very interesting to learn about teens and how they deal with their relationships today with the use of digital technology.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your explanation of infographics and I also found myself hesitating to learn what seemed like very intricate mechanics. I also went with Piktochart for my Infographic because I felt it was the easiest to use.
ReplyDelete