Infographics: A Digital Representation

Sometimes when people are presented with a block of text, it’s difficult to break it down. A digital representation of the information may help. The attention span of students (and adults) is increasingly lowering. This is partly due to technology and the ability to find or scroll through text or images that aren’t stimulating. Using infographics separates information into colorful images that can help students retain the information. Infographics can also be used for students to demonstrate their understanding of information in any content.


As with almost anything having to relate to technology, there are multiple platforms available to create infographics, posters, and other visual materials. Infogram, Piktochart, and Easel.ly offer templates, graphs and other features to help present data visually for users. All three platforms have a free version for people to use a limited number of resources they provide. A monthly or annual price point is offered that opens more resources for your graphic design needs. They each provide a template to work off of instead of having to begin from scratch.

Infogram

This is the program I ultimately used for this assignment of creating an infographic. I didn’t mean for it to be, but the more I used it, the more comfortable I became.

Notes from using Infogram:

• At first it seems like most things need the upgrade. This particular thought came about when I was browsing through the icons. Only a select amount of icons or graphics are given at a time. When you type in a search, more images appear. You are also able to upload your own graphics.
• If you want an infographic that can be easily printed and turned into a poster for your library or classrooms, this is not the platform to use. Infogram focuses on creating interactive infographics. This allows the user to hover over graphs for more information and embed videos or gifs. 
• You cannot download your image as a PDF or any other file without upgrading, so if you want to show off your infographic, you need to share it or embed it. 
• There are plenty of chart options to input your data into, and they’re pretty easy to navigate.
• The toolbar for fonts, alignment, color scheme, etc. is found on the right side of the screen. There aren’t many font options on the free version. 
• It took me a while to figure out how to delete some of the images used on the template. I ended up having to delete the whole square and recreating it which wasn’t hard to do, just annoying. For example, there was a backpack image I didn’t want to use and realized I couldn’t delete it. A minor annoyance. 
Audiobook Infographic
Infogram

Click here to view my infographic on Infogram.

Piktochart

Notes from using Piktochart:

• You can adjust the color scheme accordingly which makes things easier as far as making sure everything matches. There are some preloaded color schemes or you can make your own.
• When you want to add your own graphic/icon/shape, there is a drop down option that separates the images by topics. A search bar is also provided. The dropdown is nice because you can easily navigate it and find images that match your infographic theme. 
• The toolbar for fonts and other things are easier to access and navigate as they are at the top of the screen, much like using a Google Doc or Microsoft Word. 
• It is easy to delete and edit images and text provided by the template. 
• The graphic design components - graphs to input your data - are not as user friendly. There are three types to choose from and then plenty of templates. No real graphs are available though. This makes Piktochart better to create infographics where bar, column, or circle graphs aren’t needed.

Easel.ly

This platform frustrated me the most, I’ll admit.

Notes form using Easel.ly:

• The templates weren’t very impressive and not a lot in quantity. The site immediately presents you with a blank canvas to work from. If you’re well versed in created infographics, this might be the platform for you.
• The backgrounds help create your own “template”. 
• It doesn’t save automatically! This was probably my biggest issue with this platform. Piktochart and Infogram both automatically saved my progress while I worked on creating an infographic. Maybe I’m just spoiled with Google automatically saving everything, but it was mind blowing to see that I needed to make sure I saved my progress. Especially considering the site timed out on my twice and I had to restart it. 
• While circle graphs are not offered, this platform makes it much easier to import your data and create a visually appealing graphic. It also offers pictograms - my section How Many People Are Reading? Offers an example of a pictogram. 
• A mixed race couple (black man, Asian woman)
• Two elderly couples
• Three men with beards of different races
• A person with short blue hairHowever, they tend to offer only about 10 images on the free version. 
• However, they tend to offer only about 10 images on the free version. 

Conclusion

I most definitely preferred Infogram and Piktochart over Easel.ly for their easier use, though I wouldn’t recommend Picktochart if you need to represent hard data. Another possible option to use is Canva. Like the other options, there are templates available, adding in data charts is relatively easy, and it automatically saves your progress.


The best part about these programs being available is that you don’t need a graphic design degree to present information in a visually appealing way. It’s also a great way for students to demonstrate their understanding of information in class. Timelines, data sets from math or science, whatever your content, infographics work!


References:

Moran, K. (2017, October 26). 7 ways audiobooks benefit students who struggle with reading.
          We Are Teachers. http://bit.ly/2QrR8UZ

Perrin, A. (2019, September 25). One-in-five Americans now listen to audiobooks.
          https://pewrsr.ch/3a5nrAI

PR Newswire. (2020, January 8). Public libraries reach record-high ebook and audiobook usage
          in 2019. PR Newswire US.

Rakuten OverDrive. (2020, January 8). Public libraries reach record-high ebook and audiobook
          usage in 2019. http://bit.ly/3a2Njxk

Rowe, A. (2020, January 9). Public library ebook and audiobook usage rocketed up to 20% in
          2019. Forbes. http://bit.ly/2wauY2N

Yorio, K. (2019, September 27). Audiobooks increase in popularity as science supports their
          value. School Library Journal. http://bit.ly/3bdL1vz