Sharing Information Through Infographics

In our world these days, we are obsessed with pictures and videos. We take selfies, we upload and watch videos on YouTube, and we like to share photos through social media. We like to see information in a visual form.

One of the ways in which information is being shared with others is through what is called Infographics. Why they are appealing you might ask? It is due to the nature of pictures, graphics, and limited text curated into a 'virtual poster'. Color, different sizes of font, and organization of diagrams and pictures is important when creating an infographic. And, if done well, infographics can do or almost do what a research paper can, even though there are not as much text involved.

If you do a simple google search on infographics, you will even find blogs dedicated to infographics.

The very first time I was introduced to infographics was from listening to Kathy Schrock present on the topic at the Christa McAuliffe Technology conference a couple of years ago. After that presentation, I challenged myself to create my very own infographic. Mine focused on the technology at our high school that I presented to the high school staff at the beginning of the 2013 school year. I had a goal of sharing how far we had come with technology, and I thought that an infographic would be a great way to do that. It was definitely a better way to go, instead of just putting some text on a presentation as it was a bit more engaging and entertaining for the staff.

To see the infographic in a larger format, click HERE.

Before you even create an infographic, it is important to first figure out what your ultimate goal is with the infographic. You will find that time will be wasted if you do not think about this first, no matter what infographic website you use. Things to think about:

• Is there a theme that can help determine your 'background'? (if you want one)
• Is there data that you can organize in some sort of chart/diagram?
• How is your information going to flow from top down?
• Is there one image where all information will feed off of?
• What is the most important information? (maybe that should be in bigger text)

Infographics in the Classroom
Last month, Mrs. Dudgeon came to me wanting to have her Roots Honors students create an infographic. I was thrilled as I had not had the opportunity to integrate infographics into a classroom prior to this.

There are several infographic websites that make it easy for people to create their own infographic. We decided to go with www.easel.ly. Easel.ly provides templates that people could use in creating their infographic or they can start from scratch. Easel.ly also provides the user with some stock images to help create the infographic.

Prior to students creating their first infographic, I came into Mrs. Dudgeon and Mrs. Magnusson's class to help them create their account with Easel.ly and the three of us explained what an infographic is all about as well as showed examples. I also provided instructions for students as a go by in case they were stuck with how to complete a certain task in Easel.ly. To view these instructions in a different window, click HERE.



Then Mrs. Dudgeon and Mrs. Magnusson shared with the students that their infographic had to include the cost/benefits of either tradition and progress or costs/benefits of morality and power during the Renaissance Unit.

Collecting Infographics

Once the students completed their infographics, they were required to post them on their class Padlet wall that Mrs. Dudgeon created. Mrs. Dudgeon has been a big fan of using Padlet as a means of collecting and sharing information. Below is a screenshot of what one of them looked like. This is a very easy way for students to each post their infographic as well as to see each others infographic.

Student Examples

To view some examples of what the students produced, click HERE! 

It is important to note that besides being graded on the content that the students provided in the infographic, they were also assessed on

• the type of infographic they created (timeline vs. venn diagram, etc)
• fonts
• colors
• layout
• citations

The purpose of that was to make sure that students truly understood the point behind infographics and I am glad that Mrs. Dudgeon and Mrs. Magnusson felt this was important.

Infographics are not going to go away any time soon. I think it is a great way of sharing information, and at times, they make learning fun due to the way it is presented. I feel that all students at some point in their career should be challenged to create an infographic as I think it is a great skill to learn and know.  I am excited that Mrs. Dudgeon and Mrs. Magnusson provided this opportunity for their students.

If you ever want to learn more about infographics or figure out how you can use them in your curriculum, you know where to find me. 

Google Sites - Beyond Teacher Websites

Over the past year, I have been talking about how creative teachers have been with their teacher Google Sites. This time, I am highlighting how the counseling department has decided to use a Google Site.

Every year, college representatives come to BHS so that students can meet with potential colleges/universities to hear what they have to say to give them a better idea of what that college/university is all about. At each of these meetings, a counselor attends the meeting with the students who have signed up. As the representative is talking, the counselor takes notes so that anyone can look at them in the future for a potential situation when a student has a question about that school.

This year, the counseling department decided to step it up and organize all of those notes on a Google Site so that parents and students can easily find information regardless if they were able to go to the meeting or not.

To View this Website, click HERE

Tools Used To Put It Together

• All work done in BHS Counseling Google Account
• Google Site - curating all of the notes
• Google Docs - template made for notes (copy of doc for each school)
• Google Drive - folder system created for organization of all notes

Note Taking

In order to make sure that information was not lost in different Google Drives, all counselors log into the BHS Counseling Google account. This is where all of the notes are taken. Mr. Rider, a counselor, created a template Google Document - so that there was consistency of how the documents looked. The counseling department got together to discuss how and what should be put on the document. He then created a folder called School Visits. Under that folder, he made a folder for each letter of the alphabet. This is for ease sake in finding the schools in the future. Then each week, Joe created a Doc for the schools that are visiting that week. The counselor on duty for the presentation would then log into the Counseling Google Drive to find the document with the school name on it in the appropriate alphabet letter folder to take notes. (Joe also makes sure that the link is live on the Google Site).

Creating Google Site

Again, the Google Site was created under the Counseling Google Account so that it was not tied to any specific person's account. After thinking it through the decision was made to customize the horizontal heading bar of the site so that all of the pages show at the top of the site. A page was created for each letter of the alphabet. Then, once the Google Document was created, Joe copies the link to the document (making sure sharing permissions is anyone with the link) and creates a sub page.

If you would like to learn how to manage the horizontal navigation bar in Google sites, watch the video below.

As a side note, I am also pleased to see the counseling department 'flipping' by creating videos for students and parents on how to use the tools that are required of them. On the Google Site, you will find that there is a video that shows students how to sign up in a program called Naviance so that they can attend College Visit meetings. Just another way of being efficient rather than have students ask how to sign up. The counseling department can now point them to the website for instructions.

There are many advantages to this new process:

• Parents, students, and teachers can find the information very easily
• There is consistency in what is looked for in the meetings
• The 'leg work' that Mr. Rider did this year will not have to be done next year as the counselors will just edit the document that was created this year
• Helped organized and streamlined the process

Just another example of how you can use a Google Site to share information to the community. I look forward to helping move our main school website off of a web service that we are currently using to Google Sites this year. Excited for the possibilities!

Of course, if you have any questions on how you can use Google Sites, you know where to find me.