Earlier this week we designed an infographic about a learning theory of our choice. I have always found infographics to be interesting. I also feel like in recent years they have become very “cool” and are a popular way for distributing information to the millennial generation. Infographics are appealing to me in the way they display information visually and succinctly with graphs, colors and pictures. Alternatively, someone would just simply read an article and pull information from there.
Michigan State University’s Sarah Gretter (2016) writes that as a society “we are naturally inclined to “snackable” content.” (Using Infographics for Teaching and Learning) During this day and age, we are drawn to pieces of news, technology and apps that can provide a service almost instantaneously or in as little time as possible. I have found that my students' attention spans are not very long. Delivering news and content to them in an infographic like format is beneficial to them, because it is visually appealing and allows them to quickly read and gather the information they need to work with. Infographics “integrate design, writing, and analysis with the bulk of the information you want to convey.” (Gretter, 2016) “Most people can make sense of visual material much faster than they can absorb what they hear or read. The average person can process visual content 60,000 times faster than other types of content.” (The Benefits of Infographics for Education) This is perfect for students who most often will typically just scan a document or look for a section discussing the main points. A few years ago I made my syllabus into an infographic for students to have at the beginning of the year. It was well received and I thought relayed the information well. Aside from being interesting and unique documents, I have not always clearly understood how infographics might have a role in an educational setting and as continue in this program I would like to deeper explore how I might be able to use and design infographics and repurpose them for my students. The most important concept we have been talking about in year one has been TPACK and how technology, pedagogy and content knowledge can all intersect successfully in the classroom. With discussions we have had this week in our year one class regarding the TPACK, it would appear to me that infographics are a perfect example of a technology being repurposed and used in an educational context. Authors Punya Mishra and the Deep - Play group (2012) state “the TPACK framework emphasizes the importance of teacher creativity in repurposing technology tools for make them fit pedagogical and disciplinary-learning goals” (p. 14) As discussed earlier, it is becoming very common to see infographics being used more frequently in educational contexts. They are being viewed as more than just “fun” documents and hold a lot of valuable information in a unique manner. I don’t believe that the original intent behind infographics was for students to read and interpret them, let alone design their own in on any given topic, but I think the repurposing of them in an educational setting is useful. References Gretter, S. (2016, October 17). Using Infographics for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://insideteaching.grad.msu.edu/using-infographics-for-teaching-and-learning/ The Benefits of Infographics for Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.copypress.com/kb/infographics/the-benefits-of-infographics-for-education/ Mishra, P., & The Deep-Play Research Group (2012). Rethinking technology and creativity in the 21st century: Crayons are the future. TechTrends, 56(5), 13-16.
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