Infographics
An infographic is a tool that is used to see data. It allows information to be arranged visually in a concise way that summarizes the important points and clearly states them. In order to create an infograph, the first thing that needs to be done is research. Data is collected and verified. The next step is to decide how to present the information. There are many tools that can help one create an infograph. Selection must be made based on what type of information is presented, who the audience is, and why the information is being presented. Some experts believe that the best way to get the infographic organized is to sketch ideas out on pen and paper before using software to create the graphics.
In today's blog I am going to present three infographics. All are presenting information about teens in the United States and how they use their smartphones. I collected the information from Pew Research Center and created infographics to summarize the information. Each infographic was created with a different web application. In order for me to compare the three, I thought I would create an infograph using the three different applications with the same topic. The three web applications I used are Piktochart, Easel.ly, and Infogram.
Piktochart is a web application that can be used to create infographics, presentations, posters, reports, flyers and social media documents. There are many templates and graphics to choose from. The free version of this application appears to have more templates and graphics than the other two applications I used. Piktochart is user friendly. Here is my Infographic:
The site contains many helpful articles and tips on how to create infographics using this application. This site is not as user friendly as the other two. Formatting was a big problem for me. When you look at the infographic you will see that I was unable to format my references. This was very frustrating. This application did not offer very many images in the free version. In order to get better images you have to upgrade.
Infogram is a web application much like the other two. There are lots of different templates that can be used to create infographics, social media, reports, slides, posters and other presentations. The graphics include stickers and GIFs. Just like Easelly, you must upgrade in order to access more templates and graphics. Infogram is very user friendly. I love the aesthetics of the application and the ease of which I was able to format.
If I had to choose, over all I like Infogram the best. The infograph made with Infogram was more aesthetically pleasing to me, not saying that I could not achieve this with the other applications but this one was easier to work with. Piktochart is more practical because it offers more in the free version than the others do. Easelly was not easy to work with.
I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on each infographic website. Your infographic made with infogram was wonderful! I loved how the images moved when I scrolled through the length of the visual. Your steps on how to create and start an infographic were very realistic. I think as future librarians we can utilize infographics within our own libraries, and also allow students to create their own projects. One poster I can think of, off the top of my head, that could potentially be created for library purposes would be library rules and procedures posted where all visitors can see.
ReplyDeleteYou have really great insight as you explored each website. I know that we can do things on all of them, but like you said, it is important to keep in mind ease of use. I think that sometimes schools forget ease of use when they are trying to implement new technology with students, teachers, and parents. It is important to have some thing easy to use so that no time is wasted on the tool itself, but is used for learning.
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