Anchored in Infographics: Defining and Using Infographics in Education
Introduction
What is an infographic? Are they worth using in the classroom? This blog post will define infographics and highlight their uses and benefits in education.
What is an Infographic?
Brafton (2020)
Infographics are visual images used to inform readers on a specific topic. Clear, and concise information is provided to readers. Intentional visuals are used to engage the reader and to help them remember the content. According to Parveen and Husain (2021), "Infographics combine the written, visual, digital, and tactile learning elements, not only because they show students what learning is about, but also because they keep students engaged" (p. c557).
Turner and Hicks (2017) argue three elements of an effective infographic:
1. The content must be "compelling" or engaging for the reader.
2. The infographic data must come from reliable sources.
3. The infographic should be visually pleasing and easy to share with an audience.
How are Infographics Used With Students?
In my personal experience, infographics have proven to be an effective element of classroom instruction. In my experience with using infographics in the K-2 classroom, students are presented with a memorable visual relating to the lesson topic. Students can reference these infographics when analyzing a piece of work, or when producing work of their own. The beauty of infographics is that they can be used across all content areas. In a study conducted among college students, infographics were used to measure student writing abilities. Researchers Mubarok and Asri (2020) assessed student knowledge of sequence adverbs and imperative verbs in writing, highlighting a knowledge gap across the population of participants. Participants were given an infographic tutorial using Canva and were asked to develop their own infographics, using sequence adverbs and imperative verbs in their writing. A post-assessment showed some increase in student understanding of the two grammar concepts. Mubarok and Asri (2020) concluded that "enhance students’ creativity and understanding ideas by implementing the graphic and text in a single picture" (p. 85).
Ideas for Using Infographics in the Classroom
What Platforms Can I Use to Create an Infographic?
Conclusion
Infographics are an engaging tool to use to promote learning in the classroom. This visual media hooks the audience and provides an effective way to ensure the audience retains the learning. There are many ways infographics can be used across content areas. Teachers can use infographics as a tool to support their instruction, and students can create infographics to show evidence of their learning.
References
Canva. (2022). How to make an infographic. [Video].Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36SIUe_mOZU
Parveen, A. & Husain, N. (2021). Infographics as a promising tool for teaching and learning. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 8(8), c554-c559.
Turner, H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the Real World: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Heinemann.
I also wrote about infographics and find them to be extremely useful tools in the classroom. I also like to use canva in my work. You talked about making them memorable. This is very important as it draws the attention of the viewer. I related it to advertisers creating an image that is striking and memorable to catch the attention of advertisers. “producers use visual design to attempt to persuade consumers.” (Lawrence 106). This is similar to how we need to be as teachers, but instead of selling products for money, we are selling concepts for the students attention.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: a guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press.
It's interesting that the students in the study you mentioned showed improvement after using the subject matter, in this case grammar, to create an infographic rather than being taught about the grammar through infographics. In a study by Koroglu and Kimsesiz (2023), students were taught grammar using infographics and also showed improvement. Participants also indicated that they enjoyed learning in this format (Koroglu & Kimsesiz, 2023). Grammar is considered a complex (and boring) topic by many students, so I wonder: Are infographics effective because they are more engaging to students than traditional instruction, or is it the ability of this format to present complicated information in a way that is easier to understand that makes them effective (Turner & Hicks, 2017)?
ReplyDeleteReferences
Koroglu, Z. C., & Kimsesiz, F. (2023). ‘New tricks to old dogs:’ The Use of infographic for teaching grammar to EFL learners; A case study. Research in Pedagogy,13(2), 278–287. https://doi-org.ezproxy.montevallo.edu/10.5937/IstrPed2302278Z
Turner, K.H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts: Argument in the real world. Heinemann.
Awesome job! I use some of those same infographics in my classroom for Author's Purpose, Making Inferences, etc. They're perfect for asking questions during a story or reviewing at the end of a story. My students need the visual reminders and they don't get overwhelmed by too much wording. As Lawrence (2022) states in our text, "Humans are creatures who, in most circumstances, are visual-first beings." Teaching writing is not the most exciting thing for my students, but infographics make it a little more palatable. Cummings (2023) speaks on the long history of using writing processes to teach writing, "Since its inception in the mid-twentieth century, writing studies has used the idea of writing processes to develop both research and teaching." Fantastic job and I look forward to reading more of your posts this semester!
ReplyDeleteCummings, L. (2023). Writing Processes in the Digital Age: A Networked Interpretation. Digital Writing Technologies in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36033-6_30
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press.