Are Infographics Actually Beneficial or Not?
I don't know about you, but I have always been a visual learner. As a teacher,
I completely understand the value and benefits that infographics have on
different learners. As an adult, I highly benefit from using infographics
because they are more presentable and appealing to the human eye, rather than reading a textbook. So if infographics helps me as an adult, I can only
imagine how it will benefit my students in the classroom. Turner and Hicks
(2017) has stated that " infographics have become an increasingly popular
means of expressing information and making arguments" (p. 60). Because of the
visual appeal it has, this can make infographics more understanding towards
the students in an elementary setting and could even make reading more fun for
them!
The benefits of infographics can help not only visual learners, but can help students (especially elementary age) to tell and write a story in a creative and fun way! I personally believe this is an engagement tool that can clearly define a topic and include evidence that backs up a topic. Turner and Hicks (2017) mentions that " students must be able to deconstruct and craft arguments of substance, so it is important for us to assess [students] ability to find and/or generate content for [an] infographic" (p. 74). Whatever point you want to make, use an infographic! Charts are better than reading a text book about something, even if it interest you.
I have created this infographic to show how they can benefit in different ways. This is just an image of my infographic. You can also find the original one as a HTML link in my blog.
I never enjoyed reading huge chapter books with words and no pictures! ( I know I sound like one of my first graders) With infographics, these keep my attention, and I actually understand those charts better than just reading chapter to chapter. I have never created an infographic on my own before, but looking at some resources through Wakelet has benefited me a lot. It was very interesting to figure out through research how beneficial infographics can be, and having proof to back up my statement. If you have any other recommendations, or comments about infographics that you might have found interesting, I would love to hear about it!
Below is a link on how you can incorporate infographics in your classroom:
Doyle, L. (2020, May 25). Why Are Infographics Effective in the Classroom? Retrieved June 13, 2020,
from https://www.easel.ly/blog/infographics-effective-classroom/
K., D., Deborah, & C., K. (2019, May 21). The Visual Appeal of Infographics. Retrieved June 13, 2020,
from https://contentwriters.com/blog/the-visual-appeal-of-infographics/
Lieberman, M. (2017, December 12). 8 Benefits of Infographics. Retrieved June 13, 2020, from
https://www.square2marketing.com/blog/8-benefits-of-infographics
Turner, Kristen Hawley, and Troy Hicks. Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and
write digital texts. Heinemann, 2017.
Vaughan, P. (n.d.). The Marketer's Ultimate Guide to Link Bait. Retrieved
June 13, 2020, from
https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33393/The-Marketer-s-Ultimate-Guide-to-Link-
Bait.aspx
Www.facebook.com/junapotm. (2020, June 10). 8 Examples of How to Incorporate Infographics in the
Classroom. Retrieved June 13, 2020, from https://venngage.com/blog/8-examples-on-using-
infographics-in-middle-school-classrooms/
I never really thought about how much more elementary students could learn by simply using infographics rather than long pieces of text. Your making this point makes me think of how impactful infographics could be for English Language Learners since infographics are a great way to impart or assess declarative knowledge (Turner and Hicks, 2017). Because infographics combine pictures and information, they are more likely to make connections between unknown words, concepts, and meanings (Yarbrough, 2019). They are also more engaging than text alone, which would encourage more in-depth study.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Turner, K.H. & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world. Heinemann
Yarbrough, J. R. (2019). Infographics: In support of online visual learning. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 23(2). https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.montevallo.edu/apps/doc/A610852450/AONE?u=mont41605&sid=AONE&xid=068d9964
I worked for many years in an elementary classroom filled with learners with a variety of needs. Often I found myself attempting to create anchor charts with added visuals such as drawings that I thought would help my learners better understand and remember the content. Turner and Hicks (2017) suggest that students " quickly absorbed the information and began drawing comparisons to their own lives" (p. 61). Creating a visual for confusing terms, such as homophones, can benefit all students, yet at the same time provide support for students in need of an added support such as a visual. Using infographics in the classroom can have “considerable potential in education to enhance students' intellectual, life skills, and affective development” (Alrwele, 2017, p.112). I believe we should offer this opportunity as much as possible which means more visual support tools our students.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Alrwele, Dr. Noura Shabak. “Effects of infographics on student achievement and students' perceptions of the impacts of infographics.” Journal of Education and Human Development, vol. 6, no. 3, 2017, doi:10.15640/jehd.v6n3a12.
Turner, Kristen Hawley, and Troy Hicks(2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Heinemann.
Bethany I am like you in that I would rather see my data than to read about it through research paper, or any other means. I do think infographics have a good purpose in education and that they can be very helpful. Turner and Hicks (2017) talked about this through one of their examples when they said, "rather than seeing the information as simply data, commenters quickly absorbed the information and began drawing comparisons to their own lives" (p. 61). This reference notes that the infographic being talked about not only displayed data, but it taught the viewers something by the viewers taking the data and making a personal connection with it. That just goes to show how important infographics can become to education.
ReplyDeleteTurner, K.H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts: Argument in the real world. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
I can see how using an infographic to quickly introduce information would help visual learners. I don’t know when I started leaning toward infographic use, but I do know I prefer it more now. I think for me it is all about why we use them in education. Turner & Hicks (2017) state, “we want them to read and write the arguments that infographics present to the world” (p.80). Our future generations will most likely continue on our desires for an ever-faster pace of information, and we must prepare them for the future. Bicen & Beheshti (2017) promote the use of infographics by stating, “teaching by infographics helps students to interpret visual knowledge and provide a broader and extensive body of learning and grasp in education”(p.99). I believe we will breach more topics with less stress on students if we incorporate more infographics into our lessons. Our only problem should be deciding on which web tool to create our infographics.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Bicen, H., & Beheshti, M. (2017). The Psychological Impact of Infographics in Education. BRAIN: Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence & Neuroscience, 8(4), 99-108.
Turner, K.H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts: Argument in the real world. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Bethany, I really enjoyed reading your take on infographics. One of the main reasons I think we should use them is to reinforce the content and to provide additional avenues for understanding. One thing about them that I really like the idea of is to be able to utilize them to tell a story instead of just relaying information. Turner and Hicks (2017) lists story telling as one of the themes that should be present when utilizing infographics in the classroom (p. 62). I think this is so important because sometimes my students will be more willing and interested to learn if there is something interesting that catches their eye. Something such as data and reports can also seem more exciting instead of just a bunch of lines and numbers. I think you also have to consider those students too that are not concerned with visuals. My son is more auditory and is less concerned with the visual aspects of a lesson. He and I are very different in this respect!
ReplyDeleteBethany, I am a visual learner as well! I love to have images, pictures, and graphs to look at while I am learning. That is just the type of learner I have always been. Being said, I know that there are also different types of learners in my classroom. I also know that there will be visuals learners and incorporating infographics could help them learn as well if information is presented that way. Turner and Hicks stated, "Infographics are a combinations of words, numbers, and visual elements (p. 62). By having these elements, you could really help your visual learners as well.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Turner, K. H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.