Nonlinguistic Representations:
Infographics
Infographics have been around since our earliest days of written communication. (Think cave paintings!) The advent of the printing press lead to a decline in our use of infographics. It is only recently that we are seeing a return to this effective method of communicating ideas. Kathy Schrock has created a great video which identifies why students should be using infographics to learn.
Infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge which are used to quickly and clearly explain complex information. They help to communicate large amounts of data in meaningful and engaging ways. They target skills in the areas of Media Literacy; Research and Library Skills; Critical Literacy, and Information Ethics. There are many different styles of infographics including:
Kathy also provides a number of links to assist teachers in teaching with infographics. How To Create an Infographic is one of those links.
Diana Laufenberg has also compiled an excellent source of links and information about infographics which can be accessed from her blog, Living the Dream.
- USA Today Snapshots
- Statistical Representations
- Timelines
- Information
- Processes
Kathy also provides a number of links to assist teachers in teaching with infographics. How To Create an Infographic is one of those links.
Diana Laufenberg has also compiled an excellent source of links and information about infographics which can be accessed from her blog, Living the Dream.
Infographic Creation Tools
Visual.ly is a website that allows designers to showcases infographics that cover a wide variety of topics. Subscribers to the website are also able to create their own personal Twitter or Facebook infographics by choosing from some of the customisable infographic stories, connecting to Twitter or Facebook accounts, and customizing the topics you want to explore. Visual.ly is promising that the create option will include topics like sports, food, and politics. A video explaining Visual.ly can be found below:
Infopics
You usually remember a photo better than you remember words, right? For many students, visuals are more easily retained in memory than words. Pictures grab our attention faster than text. So how about we pair words with a picture to help us remember and convey information in an appealing way? An infopic is a photo with text layered on top that is designed to communicate a message. Check out Tony Vincent's Learning in Hand site, where he explores how teachers can use infopics for teaching as well as ways students can share their learning.
Tools for InfopicsAndroid Tablet apps: Pixie, Explain Everything, Pixie, PicCollage
Surface Pros or computers: PowerPoint, Word, |