Ways to Use Infographics in Class

Yesterday I went over the elements needed in a good infographic and today its time to look at how they can be used in the classroom.  Since the number of infographics has increased, its important students learn to read and interpret the information contained in them.

Its also important students learn to use infographics in as many ways as possible.  So lets look at ways they can be used.

1.  Find infographics which compares information to inspire discussion and debate.  The inforgraphic should show two sides of the question such as wild vs farmed salmon.  

2. Let students create their own infographics on a topic such as Black Friday sales or Flowers sold on Mother's day.  Creating infographics helps improve both computer skills, creativity, and critical thinking skills.

3.  Use an interactive infographic as a quiz or activity in the class so students have to work their way through it.  This type of activity improves literacy, math skills, and reading ability.  This is one way to gamify the classroom.

4. Use the infographics as visual aids in the classroom because they combine images with useful data so its short and sweet.  The infographics contain only essential information in an organized form and meets several standards on learning to read information presented in a variety of forms.

5. Rather than having students write down what they know on a topic, have them create an infographic instead because they cannot fall into the trap of writing everything they know in the hopes of getting some points.  They have to get to the essence of the material.

6. Instead of a homework assignment, assign them to create an infographic.  It might be on the three ways to solve systems of equations and the process to select which one is best in what situation.

7. Infographics can be used as the visual for a presentation so all the information is in one place on one page, thus eliminating that awful moment when nothing works or it freezes.  The infographics allow the presenter to have a flow to the presentation based on how they put it together.

8. Use the infographic as a way for students to report on a topic.  It has been found that infographics can be used to transfer information about a topic faster and more effectively than straight text as long as the inforgraphic is well designed.

Yes, these can all be used in the math classroom with just a bit of thought.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day and I do plan to revisit this topic later but tomorrow, LCM's and Legos.