Pointless Power Points? Infographics Can Help!

Have you ever felt like the student in the picture above? I cannot count the amount of times I have had to sit through a PowerPoint presentation, either at the high school or college level, with this exact look on my face. The face of pure boredom! As a kindergarten teacher, I have been trying to find ways to get information across to my students in a way that would interest them. Infographics are a great way to present information to students in a more visually appealing and interactive way. Troy and Hicks(2017) rely on Wikapedia's description of infographics as "graphic visual representations of information , data, or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly"(p. 60). Infographics give students the opportunity to analyze data in a quick manner and then respond accordingly. There are many different reasons why utilizing infographics in the classroom can benefit not only the teachers' instruction but also the students' learning. You will find in the presentation below six different reasons why using infographics in the classroom and benefit students.

 There are many other reasons for educators to utilize infographics in the classroom. One of the hardest things for educators to accomplish, especially with my experience in elementary grades, is engagement during lessons. Many of the students I have encountered love to complete tasks on a Chromebook, iPad, or other form of technology. Analyzing infographics and constructing their own, plays to their interest. Students are able to draw many conclusions from these types of resources. "In addition, because infographics present data-numerical, written, and visual-they can be a powerful medium for making arguments" (Turner and Hicks,2017, pg.61). Students are engaged in not only constructing viable arguments, but they must also dive deeper into the research process in order to find information to back up their claims.

 Along with student engagement, Turner and Hicks (2017) believe "creating an infographic might allow students to expand the kind of inquiry they do in the classroom" (p.75). Most students are accustomed to traditional ways of receiving and gathering information and creating presentations to present their findings. Creating infographics requires students to not only use the traditional methods of research, but they also have to create a visual representation of those findings. Martrix and Hodson stated "Rather than present this position in a text-based format, students must design an information visualization to illustrate their argument" (para. 3). A deeper level of thinking is involved when creating a visualization of the information students are trying to convey. They must find information that supports their claims and then construct a visual that is "aesthetically pleasing and, from a technical sense, easy to distribute" (Tuner & Hickes, 2017, p.62).

Once students have created their visuals, their peer are given an opportunity to react or reply to the student's stance. Matrix and Hobson conducted a study where "students received between 5-10 commnts about their graphcis over a two week period, ranging from the bried but encouraging: 'good job, I love your use of color!' variety, to lengthy in-depth commentary and informed close questioning about both design process and subject matter" (para 15).  Therefore, students are using a deeper level of thinking and questioning when being exposed to their peers infographics. As educators, we are always trying to find ways to push our students to think deeper about subject matter. We should strive to help them perform at these deeper levels of thinking, and the use of infographics is just one of many ways to help prepare out students for higher education experiences.

References

Educational Technologies Infographic. (2018). Top six reasons why students prefer digital content.  

     Retrieved from  https://elearninginfographics.com/students-prefer-digital-content-reasons-

     infographic/

Gemba Academy. Bored kid [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://blog.gembaacademy.com/wp-  

     content/uploads/2017/04/bored-lid.jpg

Matrix, S., & Hodson, J. Teaching with infographics: Practicing new digital competencies and

     visual literacies. Retrieved from https://www.beds.ac.uk/jpd/volume-4-issue-2/teaching-with-

     infographics/

Turner, K., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write

     digital texts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Digital Literacy Matters

In today's classrooms, many children are exposed to different types of technology, even at the elementary school age. Students are able to access a wide variety of information with the swift click of a button. Since we live in such an advanced digital age, we are surrounded by arguments daily, and it can be difficult to determine information found on the Internet to be fact or fiction. Children are also being flooded with a massive amount of information daily. It is important that students are taught how to distinguish between credible and untrustworthy sources they could encounter in the digital world. As educators, we need to think of literacy or being literate not only as reading and writing in the traditional sense, but also what being literate looks like in the digital sense.

Kristen Turner and Troy Hicks (2017) state, " We are inundated by information-and opinions and misinformation-on our devices, and our students face the same challenges" ( p.6). This is a very important statement that I relate to even as a kindergarten teacher. While my students are much too young to have Facebook, Twitter, or Snapchat, they are very familiar with these social media platforms. There have been many times I have heard conversations between students discussing something their parents had showed them on one of the aforementioned social media platforms. Even at a young age, these students are still trying to distinguish between fact and fiction. It is more difficult for them to sort through digital media and analyze what they are reading. This is why it is important for parents and educators to work together to teach students about digital media. According to Eileen Belastock (2019), "So early as kindergarten, digital literacy skills should be embedded in the everyday curriculum and instruction." Many would disagree that children already spend too much time on devices and not enough time in face to face interactions. However, it is important for us to develop digital literacy skills at a young age in order for them to become more responsible and aware of misinformation online as they get older.

Along with teaching digital literacy, it is important that we teach our students how to craft digital arguments. Students are being exposed to digital arguments daily, whether it is from the local news outlet or one of their favorite video games. "More and more often, our daily lives exists within digital spaces" (Turner & Hicks, 2017, p. 17). We are constructing arguments on a daily basis whether we realize it or not. Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, even pictures on Snapchat, send a message to the reader of the post or thread. Within the scope of the tons of friends on that particular social media platform, someone out their is analyzing what is being posted and constructing their own views or arguments of the posts. Being able to construct arguments whether they be face to face or in the digital sense, requires students to utilize their critical thinking skills in order to construct a viable argument. The utilization of such skills is not just crucial for the mastery of the College and Career Ready Standards but is rather a life long skill they can utilize throughout their lifetime, no matter where their career path takes them.

References

Belastock, E. (2019, Feb. 20). How to teach digital literacy skills at the right time. Edscoop.        

    Retrieved from https://edscoop.com/how-to-teach-digital-literacy-skills-at-the-right-time/

TEDx Talks. (2013, Feb. 19). Creating critical thinkers through media literacy. Retrieved from

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHAApvHZ6XE

Turner, K., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write         digital texts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Webwise.ie. Digital literacy competencies. Retrieved from https://www.webwise.ie/teachers/digital          _literacy/