Infographics

Infographics

I recently spent some time researching infographics.  Infographics are visual representations of information.  Many times this may be confused with a picture.  An infographic must be knowledgeable.  They can work in the classroom to grab students attention and to prep them for learning.  Creating infographics requires students to break down complex information which supports that 21^st Century skill of telling a story with data.  Anticipating what your audience will want to gain can be a challenge but may be made easier with an infographic webapp.  I researched three webapps, Easel.ly, Piktochart, and Infogr.am. 

I began with Piktochart.  Piktochart is the only one of the three that I had minimal previous experience with.  I honestly forgot I even used is several semesters ago but was able to see my work in my library once I logged in.  Piktochart offers infographics, presentations, posters, reports, and fliers.  Many templates are offered that are easily interchangeable (that’s what I did on that previous assignment).  The templates include timelines, step-by-step formats, and multiple design themes.  An “Inspire Me” option is available for users to get ideas to work from.  Once inside a project, users have many background options and images to insert.  You may upgrade to the Individual Pro or Pro Team.  The options available with free access is impressive however I would have liked to see the templates organized and offered by the function or structure of the infographic to help get your project started.  You may discover Piktochart at http://piktochart.com. 

I then explored Infogr.am and found it to have many similarities to Piktochart.  Infogr.am offers infographics, slides, reports, dashboards, and Facebook posts.  Templates are offered more so by function or structure to allow creators to begin projects with ease.  Once inside a project, many options of text formats, images, charts, and maps are available.  Upgrading will make more options available.  Starting a project from scratch with this webapp was a little overwhelming for me.  It took me some time to navigate through the tools but once I became more familiar with the program it was user friendly.  You may discover Infogr.am at http://infogr.am.

Last, I explored Easel.ly.  I decided to use this program to create my project for an assignment in order to really dig into this webapp and figure it out.  Easel.ly offered many templates that were well organized by function or structure.  This made beginning a project easy once I found a style that met the needs of the information I wanted to present.  Working in the template is made easy with labeled icons for the tools.  The layout of the program was very user friendly.  Once in a project, users will quickly learn the free trial does not offer many options.  Images has many categories but few options within.  Charts are available to insert but you must upgrade to insert saved images.  Upgrading allows more options for users.  You may discover Easel.ly at http://easel.ly. 

Here is an example I made using Easel.ly with the options available to users that were free.  I chose a template for comparing information.  The free trial does not allow users to download the image but it does offer a link to share.  

https://www.easel.ly/infographic/qjudwi

References

Anderson, M., Jiang, J., Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2019, January 07). Teens' Social Media Habits and

Experiences. Retrieved June 28, 2019, from https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/11/28/teens-social-media-habits-and-experiences/

Schulten, K. (2010, August 27). Teaching With Infographics | A Student Project Model. Retrieved June

28, 2019, from https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/teaching-with-infographics-a-student-project-model/

Malamed, C., Villar, M. A., & Malamed, C. (2018, January 23). ELC 010: How To Design Real (Not Fake)

Information Graphics. Retrieved June 27, 2019, from http://theelearningcoach.com/podcasts/10/