Infographics

Seems like everyone is talking about Infographics nowadays.  For the record "Information Graphics" are not something new...only newly popular.  One reason for this recent push toward the development of infographics is their easily digestible appearance and presentation.  While reading a favorite blog of mine, Free Technology 4 Teachers, I saw this infographic about...well infographics.  It just so happens that it uses legos (also a favorite of mine)  for the comparison.

H/T to Cool Infographics for the original post.

Now What?

If you are interested in having your students create their very own infographics, check out these three options which are all very capable.  I especially like Easel.ly and have created a tutorial for how to use it create your very first infographic.

Weekly Technology Assignment 11 - Easel.ly

Infographics (information graphics) are very popular in social media because they are easy to read and full of information.  Ultimately, I prefer to read them because I can get information from them without actually having to take the time to read (gives me more time to blow bubbles with Jillian or shoot hoops with Ali).  In this week's assignment, you will be using a site called Easel.ly which is a drag and drop builder for creating nice looking infographics.

Tech Tool:  Easel.ly

Activity:  With the school year winding down, many teachers are asking students to demonstrate what they have learned over the course of the school year.  For this activity, students (and teachers) can create a visually appealing information graphic about that topic.  Teachers...I'm sure you have more data than you care to admit.  You can use that data to create an end of the year graphic.  Students can use Easel.ly to do the same but focused on a topic.

Example:  Summer Vacation Plans

Easel.ly

Easel.ly is a great website which allows you to create your own infographic using drag and drop editing.  It took me a minute to get used to all of the editing tools but once I got going it was pretty easy to use.  You can drag out a template to make getting started a little easier or you can get going from a blank canvas and use their shapes, objects, text, charts or even upload your own images into the graphic.  Easel.ly offers many different backgrounds to easily present your data and then save and export your image for sharing.

For more information about using Easel.ly check out the video below.





Now What?

Easel.ly is in beta right now and looking for users to try it out and give some feedback.  I used it to quickly create a graphic for a social studies class about to study the Civil War death toll and found some bugs.  It also does not work in IE so make sure you are using FF, Chrome, or Safari when you try it out.  As a teacher infographics are excellent because they force the students to think analytically about the data.  This would also be a great project for a student to complete as well.

ThingLink

ThingLink is a site where you can take an ordinary static image and add some interactivity and multimedia to enhance it.  Using ThingLink is a great way to encourage students to think outside of the box for a presentation or when creating a study guide for an upcoming test or quiz.  Last week I wrote about ThingLink and created an assignment for teachers to use in my Weekly Technology Assignment and it has been very well received by teachers and students.  I recently went into a psychology classroom and helped students to create their  ThingLink image for a study review of different aspects of their unit.  Excellent lesson!  Check out the video tutorial below for an overview of ThingLink and how you can use it to create your very own interactive infographic.