Infographics: Visually Appealing Data

Infographics are everywhere!  They are used in education, business and marketing, government agencies, and non-profits just to name a few.  An inforgraphic shows data visually and concisely to make it easier for the reader to understand.  An infographic has a clear purpose as well.

In education and in the library, they can be used in presentations, as teaching tools, and as creative assignments using data.   The sky is the limit on ways to use infographics with students.

Here are three I tried out:

Facts

• Infogr.am can be used for infographics, presentations, reports, maps, and charts.  
• There are free and paid accounts
• A free account includes 5 infographic templetes, up to 10 projects, up to 3 pages per project, 37 interactive charts, 13 map types, plus the ability to begin a project with a blank templete
• A free account will be publicly viewed, while a paid account can be made private
• You can add photos, media, graphs, maps, and other visuals into the project
• A variety of fonts, sizes, colors for text
• You can download the project as PDF, PNG, or JPEG
• Projects can be uploaded to social media/websites
• Tutorial videos available 
• Easy to use and customize templetes  

            

Facts

• Piktochart projects include infographics, presentations, and printables
• There are free and paid accounts
• A free account includes 8 different infographics templetes or create your own
• You can add photos, media/videos, and other visuals
• A variety of fonts, sizes, and colors for text
• You can download a project as a PDF
• Projects can be uploaded to social media and blogs
• Easy to customize templetes
• Video tutorials are available

Facts

• Easel.ly has a variety of infographics templetes to choose from
• There are free and paid accounts
• Unlimited creations with a free account
• A variety of colors, backgrounds, icons, and shapes
• You can download your project as aJPEG or PNG image
• You can upload projects to social media
• Add photos, charts, and and objects
• Many tutorials and guides to help you get started
• A guide on using infographics in the classroom
• Good customer service
• Allows user to update and customize templetes

As you can see, all three are similar and pretty much work in the same way.  However, Piktochart was the easiest to edit and customize an infographic templete.  The templetes were the most user friendly and would be great to use with students.  It was easy to upload icons, change fonts, colors, and add in a chart.

Here is an infographic I created with Piktochart on teens and social media.

Social Media..Ways to Share and Connect with Others

Social media is here to stay.  There are more people on social media more than ever.   Facebook use to be the most popular among the choices for teens.  But, times have changed just over the last few years.  Teens are mostly using YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat as their preferred way to stay connected with friends, family, and find out the latest news.   I see this even in my own tween and teen.  Both of my boys, ages 12 and 17, prefer to use Snapchat and YouTube over any other forms of social media.  What does this mean to librarians?

Facebook
First, Facebook is not where we are going to reach students.  Instead, videos on YouTube may be the preferred means.
However, most libraries and librarians still have a Facebook page for their libraries, particularly elementary schools.  Why?  Most parents, administrators, and other librarians still like using Facebook to find out the latest news in their libraries.

What are ways that libraries use Facebook?

• To share upcoming library events 
• To share photos from library activities
• To share links to videos
• To promote book fairs
• To share books and book trailers
• To share photos of students in the library

When looking at Facebook posts for several libraries, many of the posts have "likes", but there  are few comments.  Most of the comments are from teachers or parents.  

The advantages to using Facebook in the library is to keep parents, teachers, and administrators up to date on library events.  It is also a great place to see great things happening in the library.

The disadvantage is that not many students are on  Facebook to see the upcoming events.  Also, most elementary age students do not have a Facebook account in order to find out about library news.

In conclusion, Facebook is a great way for libraries to connect to parents, teachers, and administration, but libraries may need other means to connect to students.

Twitter
Twitter is a great way to share educational ideas, news, and information.  Many "tweets" include videos, links to articles, and retweets to  the latest educational news.

EdTech leaders share the newest technology to use with students, ways to use technology, and links to products, videos, and resources to use in schools.  They expose educators to articles about education as well.  It is a great way to stay informed and try new things in the library or classroom.


Here's a tweet I found that would be great for educators and librarians to use in the next few days as school is ending, or even try when school resumes in August.

5 Construction Challenges for Kids https://t.co/JbSvo2rltS pic.twitter.com/A8oCfIRMPE

— Jim Lerman (@jimlerman)

10 End Of Year Blogging Activities by @Edublogs https://t.co/943Xj0a0re pic.twitter.com/hScjLunlgF

— Gwyneth Jones (@GwynethJones) May 28, 2018

755949608960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2018