Infographics for Learning

These activities are provided to educators to warm up thinking about infographics in teaching and learning. Use the 'Try it out' suggestions to create an artifact of your learning as you explore. Use the links above to help you in your explorations.

[infographicsforlearning]

RECONSTRUCT

Overview: Learners recreate or remix an infographic.

Learning Focus: Putting knowledge, information and skills together to produce something new.

Try it out: Choose an infographic and remix it using a tool of your choice. Use the same data but new visuals and text.

See  DIY Infographics - Remix, Ideate, Create and Same Data, Different Infographics (Examples)

[infographicsforlearning]

CREATING SHARED DATA

Overview: Learners work together to create data for use in original infographics or use themselves as a source of data.

Learning Focus: Developing questions and structuring information.

Try it out: Submit your answers to this simple survey created with Google Forms. Review the results and identify data you could use in an original infographic.

See Beyond the Book: Infographics of Students' Reading History

[infographicsforlearning]

ANNOTATE

Overview: Learners add notes, links, and other media to an existing infographic.

Learning Focus: Constructing meaning by interpreting, classifying, and explaining.

Try it out: Choose an infographic and annotate it with ThingLink. See Create Interactive Infographics with Easel.ly and (Then) ThingLink

[infographicsforlearning]

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Overview: Learners locate two different visualizations presenting data about the same population, investigate comparisons, and research contradictions.

Learning Focus: Information analysis and visual literacy.

Try it out: Using the NYTimes Learning Network’s activity “Overlapping Graphics,” compare and contrast quality of life indicators and population distribution in the United States with interactive visualizations from nytimes.com.

See the section called “Overlapping Graphics: at Data Visualized: More on Teaching with Infographics.

[infographicsforlearning]

DECONSTRUCT

Overview: Learners research the citations and statements included in an infographic, and other visual presentation techniques to examine accuracy, bias, credibility and/or validity.

Learning Focus: Making judgements based on criteria, factchecking, standards and critique.

Try it out: Find an infographic and evaluate at least three of the sources. Review the lesson Infographics: Is a Picture Really Worth a Thousand Words? for ideas on deconstruction.

See Looking at Infographics with a Critical Eye. Find examples of ‘lying infographics’ in The Atlantic’s Ending the Infographic Plague.