Text / Images

The utilization of multimedia in the educational setting can take on many different forms. Images, such as infographics can provide factual content in an easy to understand graphic format while not being too flashy for the student. Infographics can be utilized in a trend known as microlearning (Giurgiu, 2017). Studies exploring microlearning indicate an increase in retention by up to 20% (Giurgiu, 2017). Taking a few minutes to learn about these tools, will enable you as an educator to stay ahead of the curve.

An Infographic is an information image which visually represents information, data, and knowledge which makes it more meaningful than each by themselves (Damyanov, Tsankov, 2018). The infographic can be used by the teacher or the student. When created by the student. this allows students to meet the ISTE Student standards by being a knowledge constructor who can build upon exploring real world issues and a computational thinker by collecting this relevant data and working through problems. One tool which is easy to use and has many features is called Canva (www.canva.com). This can be used as an additional tool for students who are looking for ways to express what they have learned. Because an infographic can be printed out, displaying it in the classroom allows students to look at it at almost anytime which means they review the information they learned, and this is then transferred into long term memory. A great advantage of using Canva is the stock pile of images that are available for reuse. This helps reduce the risk of copyright infringement.

Learning how to use and incorporating infographics into your classroom, will ensure you are ahead of the learning curve when helping your students to apply meaning to their learning when it is available to them.

References

Damyanov, I., Tsankov, N. (2018) The Role of Infographics for the Development of Skills for Cognitive Modeling in Education. iJET ‒ Vol. 13, No. 1, 2018

Giurgiu, L. (2017). Microlearning an evolving eLearning trend. Scientific Bulletin Vol. XXII No 1(43) 2017