Exploring infographics
This is just a short post inspired by my colleague’s presentation and their blog posts on infographics I decided to explore this area further and brainstorm ideas I could use in my teaching context. A couple of short fascinating clips about Amy Balliett’s venture encouraged me to have a go at those myself.
Amy Balliett’s juistification for creating infographics and explanation of her company’s success is perfectly pictured in the image below:
A brilliantly simple rhetorical question below has summed up and validated not only the point of infographics but all visuals: photographs, drawings, comics, videos etc. in communication and learning.
If we don’t think in text why should we consume information in text?
Amy Balliett of Killer Infographics presents at Seattle Tech Meetup on November 19th, 2013
As commented on Alison’s blog I found an instant use for infographics in my FCE class. Below are some ideas I found on Daily Infographic which I hope to put to a test with my students next week. Those lend themselves perfectly as discussion prompts but also show students how to convey key information across. I have spent quite a while just flicking through various sites and was amazed that it actually felt like reading. Having always found reading a bit of a chore I was pleased to learn that my visual nature is shared by a vast majority. According to a study 77% of people who were given a text (strictly no visuals) of more than 563 words would pay absolutely no attention to it.
This infographic could be a great discussion prompt for a group of different ages. Students could find their childhood toys from the list and exchange information with their partner. Having worked in early years for over 5 I think this would spark many conversations. I have actually done a lesson on toys a while ago and really struggled to find images which would capture the essence of change in design and focus over the years. The biggest advantage of infographics is that they don’t seem to age as quickly as photos.
This one seems perfect for short courses I often teach at my school. Students stay with me for as little as 3 days and often ask to cover topic of Culture and Cultural Differences. Using this visual would lend itself well to revising comparative structures but also students sharing their experiences.
And finally one I had a go at myself using Piktochart
Thank you for the guuidlines for how to use piktochart, as you mentioned in my blog, the best way to improve students’ speaking and reading skills would be to simply provide them with something they want to talk and read about, the infographics will be a huge motivator for the learners to speak and read
Hi Aleks,
Sorry I’m late to the party but it’s great to see you also had a go at using infographics. I must confess I haven’t yet had a go at creating my own but as a ready-made resource, it has been inspiring to realise what is out there. Did you get round to trying anything out with your FCE class (or others?). I did, a post is in the making, I’ll post a link to it when it’s done. Would be great to hear your experiences if you did so too!
Hi Alison,
Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately I didn’t get to use it with my FCE class in the end as was given a 1:1 to teach instead. However, I used it yesterday with my B1 general class as a discussion prompt: simply printed in colour as well as projected onto the board. It worked well and got the students talking. Interestingly, I noticed that this sort of format is easier to read for Western cultures as two of my Arabic students found it tricky to look at. Practice does make perfect in my books though so I will most definitely be using those again. I have to say that finding one to fit a lesson was a challenge and a half though as some are rather long and ‘skinny’ making it hard to project or print.
Here’s a link to the article and the infographic I used:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-2830351/British-households-throw-away-440-food-year-25-FORGETTING-s-fridge.html
Great post Alex!
I haven’t had a chance to use experiment with infographics myself, but I am definitely inspired by your post and the presentation that Aleks and Alison gave use.
Also, I recently came across a blog post by Nick Peachey about interactive infographics. Perhaps you can take your ideas even further.
Here is the link to his blog http://nikpeachey.blogspot.co.uk/
I also managed to misspell your name in my previous comment. Sorry!
Not to worry a very easy mistake to make! I would happily be taken for brilliant Alex any time 🙂
Hi Anna,
Loved that website Nick Peachy writes about in his blog. Have to say Piktochart I used earlier was a little fiddly but all of the issues seem to have been addressed on http://www.visme.co
Thanks for sharing! Hope to experiment with this later 🙂