Info on infographics

I love infographics.

There was a time, not that long ago, that only graphic designers could create infographics.  Now, with free programs like Piktochart, anyone can create an infographic.

Some people believe that infographics are geared toward relaying data, but others believe that infographics can be used to display data as well as to quickly relay information.  I like this infographic on infographics (is that a meta-infographic?)

In Digital Literacy, we teach our students how to read infographics and how to create them.  Students need to examine different types of infographics in order to understand the variety of ways that they can be used to provide information. And there is an explosion of infographics to study! They are used in many online resources, and compared to the ones that we used to see in texts and other print materials, they are increasingly engaging.

The ability to catch a reader’s attention, especially online, when there are so many other things to explore, is a blog infogrpahicskey skill in developing effective infographics.  Here are some amazing examples.

Thirteen reasons why your brain craves infographics

What happens after you drink a Coke

African elephants need our help

A global carbon footprint

How empathy can improve your life

My infographic explaining the Digital Literacy course

As you can see, there IS data in most of these examples, but there are many other components including the careful use of text, color, and graphics.

My digital literacy students create infographics for a Pro-Con argument.  They research a topic and categorize reasons on both sides of an issue before presenting their conclusion.  The skills they practice include close reading, paraphrasing, summarizing, research, citation, fair use and creative commons, creating an argument, as well as exploring the aesthetics of color, typography, and graphics.

How could you use infographics?

For any project that requires explanation.  Certainly with math and any statistics project.  For process analysis.  For cause and effect.  For lab results.  For a timeline.  

Not only are infographics everywhere you look, but now people can even create a resume with infographics.

I think a good place to begin is by trying to create one yourself.  Check out Piktochart.  Follow them on Twitter and Facebook.  Subscribe to their blog. They offer great guidance and helpful tips.  Enter their contests.  I won an Amazon gift card and free pro accounts for a whole class!

Creating infographics is a great way to engage your students and provide them with up to date and real world digital experience with conveying information.

 

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