While there were many tools I documented learning about via my Twitter account at the 2016 URI Summer Institute in Digital Literacy, I feel that Piktochart and easelly were two of the most useful to me per the projects I am working on at this time. Both of these tools provide easy and quick ways to design and produce infographics, or information graphics.
Check out information on how I plan to use these tools to support infographic creation and analysis in my higher-ed classroom.
Why Infographics?
Infographics, while no longer considered new in the realm of digital tools, are allowing teachers and students to use a combination of multi-media, such as text, images, video resources, audio links, and interactive graphics, to present information in a single document or creation. Data and information can be used in in conjunction with other types of media in order to demonstrate student knowledge and understanding of concept, topic, or idea.
Why These Tools?
Both Piktochart and easelly offer simple drag-and-drop and/or point-and-click options for creating an infographic along with a variety of templates, icons, and images. The tools offer assistance via their websites along with multiple links available to “how-to” demonstrations across the web. The infographic itself can be downloaded as a PDF or saved and shared online via email and through the websites.
The Role of Literacies
As the creation of infographics lend themselves well to support students’ traditional literacy and the digital literacies skills, one specific area is viewed as exceptional useful with these tools when considering the role of visual literacies. While creating an infographic can be motivating and engaging in itself, it allows allows for the practice of synthesizing information found in materials that often have a greater text complexity while also focusing on the importance of close reading. Specific to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), infographics can meet the goal for students to use “information presented in different media or formats (e.g. visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.”
The Assignment(s)
With this in mind, my goal is to create an assignment for my elementary education preservice teachers enrolled in a foundation level reading instruction class that will build their own digital literacy skills while incorporating aspects of visual literacy considerations and traditional literacy understanding. The tools, Piktochart and easelly will be useful in their creation of an infographic of a specific reading strategy they can use in their future elementary classroom. This will be in conjunction with what they are learning in class to demonstrate their understanding and know of how the strategy works. This primary aspect, as listed above, is reflected in the lesson created by myself and my partner for inquiry project.
In addition, I will use the infographics in another dimension with the preservice teachers learning how to analyze infographics and how to teach their future students to do the same. When focusing on informational text and comprehension skills, the preservice teachers will take the time to review a variety of infographics found online and determine the following:
- What is the focus of the infographic?
- What is the author’s purpose?
- How does the author demonstrate authority or knowledge of the subject?
- How do the visual elements support understanding or analysis?
- If you could improve this infographic, what might you illustrate differently?
In addition, the preservice elementary education teachers will also consider the following:
- What is the role of data, if used, and why was it useful or not useful to your understanding?
- What elements of traditional and/or digital literacies are used in the infographic?
- How will you use infographics in your own instruction?
Key Affordances and Limitations
Although there may be a learning curve for using these tools, as they may be new in format and access to students, there is an abundance of resources that can be found online to support their creation. At first, even for myself, I found easelly must easier than the Piktochart tool. Still, after more time was spent with both I found things I liked better on one than the other. The initial formatting on easelly was easier for me to use in terms of adding and modifying textboxes. But font size and images were easier to me manipulate on Piktochart.
Expectations of the Learning Experience
Preservice elementary education teachers will benefit from the analysis of the infographic in addition to the creation of their own. Tools like Piktochart and easelly offer support for the creation of infographics by lessening the cognitive load of creating a format from scratch. These tools provide templates and allow for the ability to manipulate and create easily and without difficulty of highly technological tools that require specific abilitities and severe practice. This allows for greater emphasis on the reading, writing, creating, analysis, and synthesis aspects of the project and encourages creativity.
In addition, students ability to analyze the infographics and look at them in terms of informational text will increase their digital literacies and traditional reading skills as they must consider the role they take on as a consumer of information. How they judge the quality of an infographic will go beyond just good use of the images and text, which is important and allow for analysis of the infographic as a whole with regard to the information being offered.
Assessing the Implementation Process
Students will be assessed on both the creation of their own infographic and also on their personal blog or journal reflecting how they analyze and understand the quality of inforgraphics and the content they contain. The creation of their own infographic will be used in conjunction with a rubric designed to include aspects of content, citations, inferences, ideas, format, and usefulness. In addition, students will keep an log, journal, or even blog describing the authentic infographics they come across in their lives in addition to the ones provided to them via the course.
Questions and Feedback?
Do you have any suggestions or ideas? I’d love to hear any thoughts or ideas on my plan and how you’re using infographics in K-16 education. 😀
Digital Learning and Literacies 