INFOGRAPHICS

Infographics!

Infographics are a common graphic visual tool that represent an abundance of information, data, or knowledge that is intended to present information quickly and clearly. Infographics can improve student cognition skills when learning a new topic in class! Teachers can create an infographic to hang as a reference poster, or anchor chart to help students remember important skills and strategies. Students can also use and create their own infographics for project presentations, assignments, or notes. I have critiqued and rated the following infographic applications below, check them out!

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Infographic Webapps

Easelly

http://www.easel.ly/

Easlly allows its users to instantly create a free account. You are then directed into the web application to create an infographic of your own, or with the help of an already made template. There a few options for templates to start you off however, I did not feel that the template structures were organized the way I had visualized. After attempting to start my infographic using Easlly, I quickly noticed that the selection for images and graphics were very slim. This was a disappointment for me, especially since infographics should be visually appealing. The lack of visuals discouraged me to continue my project. 

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Picktochart

http://piktochart.com/

Piktochart was by far my favorite web application to create an infographic with. The sign up was quick and simple. Once an account is created you have the option to create more than an infographic, such as presentations, posters, flyers, and reports. This gives both teachers and students many creative outlets to use and design with. For this blog however, I will only be discussing the infographic features. Some of the features that I found very useful were: multiple free templates, many background colors, the ability to add images or photographs, and inserting graphic designs such as charts. I was impressed with the flexibility that a "free" account gave me access to. Since infographics should be visually appealing, Piktochart, gives it's users many visual images to incorporate into their design such as photographs, illustrations, shapes, and even icons. Each of these features allow you to search for exactly what your topic is on and provides you with multiple options to choose from. This web application was extremely user friendly and once I started my inforgaph I couldn't stop! I have added my example at the end of this blog so don't forget to scroll down and check it out!

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Infogram

http://infogr.am

Infogram was also very easy to sign up. I was pleased with the number and diversity of the free templates that were available for the creation of an infographic. There were about 24 choices of free templates and the others were only available for use if I upgraded my account. Infogram also had other templates other than an infograph such as reports, slides, posters, and more. Once I chose my infograph template I found very quickly that my project would be accessed by the pubic, this was a bit disappointing but I continued with the process. The side bars were very easy to use and displayed in an organized fashion. I had the capability to add charts, maps, timelines, and lists. These features were all great an can give students and teachers multiple ways to organize data. This inforgraphic web application would better suite younger students due to its simplicity and organizational tools. 

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Example of Picktochart Creation

     

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References:

Vogels, E. A. (2020, April 30). From virtual parties to ordering food, how Americans are using the internet during COVID-19. Retrieved July 01, 2020, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/30/from-virtual-parties-to-ordering-food-how-americans-are-using-the-internet-during-covid-19/