Infographics in the classroom

After reading about graphic organizers in our chapter for class this week and how they're a great tool for organizing and digesting complex information, it made me think about another great tool for breaking down complex information: infographics:

What is an infographic? Here's a fun explanation, in infographic form :)

Basically, an infographic is a way to display information visually using graphs, charts, icons and other images with minimal text. They've exploded in popularity over the past few years because they're so easy to read and understand, and people also enjoy sharing them on social media over articles because of the visual element. But, as with any visualization of data, infographic or otherwise, they have the potential to be misleading. The creator can mislead the audience by skewing the scale, color coding certain elements to show relatedness or. making certain text larger or smaller. This article from Fast Company gives some great details about how to evaluate an infographic for its accuracy and validity. Since these are such a popular medium for displaying information, I think it's important for students to understand how to spot misleading information, the same way they should be able to spot inaccuracies in a traditional news article. Some quick tips from Fast Company for spotting misleading infographics are:

1. Check the data presentation - Are different colors used to make a point? Have the X and Y axis in a graph been altered to make the data look more dramatic?
2. Check the source - Is the sources reliable and unbiased?
3. Check the data itself - Has some data been excluded or transformed?

In addition to knowing how to spot misleading infographics, students could benefit from learning how to create infographics themselves based on a text they've read. This would build their skills (aligned to CCSS) in reading comprehension, analyzing and synthesizing information, using digital tools to create and publish writing, summarizing text, interpreting visuals and much more. A great tool to get started with infographics in the classroom is Piktochart, available in a web interface.

References

Olson, R. (2014, May 22). Infographics Lie. Here's How To Spot The B.S. Retrieved February 26, 2017, from https://www.fastcodesign.com/3024273/infographic-of-the-day/infographics-lie-heres-how-to-spot-the-bs

Piktochart. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2017, from https://piktochart.com/

What is an Infographic? A single Infographic explains it all. (2016, March 21). Retrieved February 26, 2017, from https://fissionstrategy.com/what-is-an-infographic-a-single-infographic-explains-it-all/