Journal 3

Infographics are an interesting way to incorporate visual cues to represent data and spark problem solving skills. Infographics help to strike a balance between the linguistic and nonlinguistic elements of a presentation or demonstration by allowing the mind of the viewer to look between the graphics and data and make a connection between the two.  According to Robert Marzano, the more students are able to use both of these elements together, the better they are able to store that material, and recall upon it later to apply to new situations.  In asking the students to create these graphics in their presentations, it not only allows to the students to gain a better understanding of their collected data, but it also places an emphasis on the importance of presentation as well as information. Visual graphics are essential to presentations because they bring the viewer in as a part of the project and shows an extra effort to be more professional.  These are skills that will help them later their careers of choice, as well as in future classroom presentations.

Question 1: How might infographics enhance a presentation?

Infographics may enhance a presentation by making it more visually pleasing. According to the article, 70% of our body’s receptors are in our eyes, which may mean that by adding infograhics the viewer will actually get more from the presentation just by looking at it more in depth.  They also organize the information in a way that can be clearer to understand than if it was just presented in a flat word format.  In addition, graphics make a presentation more fun and break up the monotony of text, and can be used to add color for further depth.

Question 2: How might infographics be used in the classroom?

The article gives some sample lesson plan ideas that include interactive maps and graphs. These infographics can be used throughout all subject matters and levels of education in a creative and inclusive way. They can be used to in math to demonstrate knowledge of statistics, or in English to help create visuals to tell a story. Perhaps the class can take a poll on common interests among students and construct the results in a graph of some sort.

Krauss, J. (2012, February).  Infographics:More than words can say. Learning & Leading with Technology, 10-14.  Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201202?pg=14&pm=2&fs=1