Infographics can be seen in lots of places. I have noticed them a lot in my Twitter feed, and other social media platforms. I wanted to learn more, so I listened to a podcast interview by Connie Malamed. She interviewed Alberto Cairo who is a professor at the University of Miami. Their talk was very informative. I learned basic information to try my hand at creating an infographic myself.
The background information: An infographic is a visual story telling tool. It tells a story using data and graphics. By using information to display data in pictures, charts, and graphs helps save the reader cognitive resources. I can see how this way of presenting information is becoming very widely used. I for one do not have lots of time to read long lengthy explanations, but looking at an infographic is fast and very informative. The infographic is eye catching and my brain scans the picture and makes sense out of the data/information on display. If you would like to explore different infographics visit the Daily Infographic. The site is full of cool picture representations of information in 9 different categories. Some categories are animals, education, food, health, entertainment, etc.
Where to begin? I explored three different web apps that are designed to help create infographics. All three apps can produce wonderful visuals. My favorite was Piktochart. All three were very easy to create an account with by using my Google+.
Easel.ly - This site has great templates and one can go to fresh start to create one from scratch. The tool bar has lots of great accessories to use in your infographic. I was a little disappointed that some of the tools had a limited selection, unless you upgrade to the Go Pro package. The site was very user friendly - pull, drag, drop. One can upload files and pictures to use. The template has grid lines to help you plot it, which reminded me of Prezi. The charts and graphs were a little complicated to make using the information I wanted. It is very easy to get a shareable link to your finished product. Easel.ly was my #2 out choice out of the three I explored.
Infogr.am - This site was my least favorite. The templates all look the same to me. Limited icons are available unless you upgrade. A user is able to upload from Google drive files, Drop box, One drive and JSON feed. I attempted to create a graph and was very overwhelmed. I could not figure out how to change the scale in the graph. After playing around with this site I gave up and moved on to the next one to explore. This site seemed way to technical for me.
Piktochart - Well, this site was my favorite. I loved all the templates that could be chosen to get one started. I picked one and got started right away. I was able to upload a graph that I saved as a jpeg. I did not end up using it, but now I know how to do it. When working with the template all the formatted information was easy to move and rearrange. I like how easy it was to make the document longer by stretching it out to create more space. The charts/graphs were easy to make and adjust to my information. I did have a little confusion at the end on how to share my infographic. I downloaded it as a jpeg and uploaded it here as you can see below. Also I love how at the very bottom one is reminded and given space to cite their sources used to create their document. My infographic can be seen like a slide show, which is a neat way of sharing your information in small parts. It would be great for using your infographic in the classroom to teach a new concept.
Reference:
Lenhart, A., Smith, A.., Anderson, M., Duggan, M., Perrin, A., “Teens, Technology and Friendships.” Pew Research Center, August, 2015. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/
Pew Research Center, January, 2016, “Parents, Teens and Digital Monitoring” http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/01/07/parents-teens-and-digital-monitoring/
How to Design Real (Not Fake) Information Graphics. Retrieved from http://theelearningcoach.com/podcasts/10/
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