Infographics are becoming more and more popular, and not only just for short YouTube videos or ads, they’re also getting a fair bit of attention in the classroom.
You’ve probably seen an infographic in the last week, they’re everywhere and there’s a reason why they’re so popular, but are they actually effective for learning purposes in the classroom?
This article is going to look at how and reasons why infographics can be a very effective teaching tool in a classroom setting, read on to find out what they are!
Article Contents
1. Infographics are visual teaching tools
Humans are naturally visual creatures. Astonishingly, the average person is able to process an image roughly 60,000 times faster than text on a page. It’s also worth noting that 65% of students in a classroom are visual learners, meaning they’re more likely to capture information effectively if its presented in the form of an image.
Infographics are therefore a fantastic tool to cater to the needs of these students, and depart from the more dull framework of reading and writing off texts books into work books.
2. Infographics are more collaborative and can even go viral
You read that right! They can go viral. As infographics are digital tools, they can be more easily shared with a wider audience, leaving more room to share knowledge and to encourage collaboration. On top of this, due to their fun, engaging nature it’s not unusual for an infographic to go viral on sites like Facebook, Tik Tok and YouTube.
3. Infographics are easier to understand
Since infographics include a wide range of media and use visual and audio communication tools, they tend to be easier to digest, so even if they’re on content heavy subjects their very nature helps to split up the content so the audience doesn’t feel overwhelmed by information.
Things like charts, graphics and colorful images are also a great way to break up the content in smaller, more easily understandable chunks!
4. Making infographics can be a great teaching tool too
Instead of just being shown infographics, students can also be encouraged to make their own. This enables them to tackle a topic and critically evaluate which sections are most important and how to accurately summarize the key points. The visual, digital nature of infographics means they also have a wide scope to exercise their creativity using imagery, colours, visual elements and audio if they wish to.
It’s a far more rewarding and stimulating task than writing essays and the infographics themselves can be shared around the classroom to share the knowledge amongst other students.
5. Creating infographics increases tech literacy standards
Analog learning is a thing of the past, as evidence by how much technology has been implemented in the classroom for the past twenty years and how crucial tech knowledge is in the real word once it’s time to find a job. Encouraging the use and creation of infographics is a fantastic way for students to become better familiarized with the use of tech and tech language.
Even if a student doesn’t show specific interest for tech, it’s important they meet the basic standards so they’re well prepared to use technology in the future effectively.
6. There’s a lot of room for teachers to learn too!
Whilst technology is making a change in the way children are educated, there is also new methods of teaching that stop making the teacher the centre of the classroom and the all-knowing authority figure. Instead, the teacher is a learning aid and the focus is on the students, as well as being aware that the teacher can also learn a lot from the students.
Using infographics can further this healthy dynamic between teacher and student by facilitating creativity and the sharing of knowledge. Teachers may get a few new ideas on a topic or might be impressed by the presentation of an infographic. This also cuts out their work as they’re no longer burdened with having to produce the bulk of the teaching material.
7. Infographics offer great step by step instructions
Once again infographics can serve as a fantastic teaching tool and cut out a teacher’s work by offering step by step instructions for complex processes that also offer visual aids.
Instead of reading from a long list of instructions, which can be very overwhelming even for the most capable students, step by step infographics can use the aid of images and examples as part of the structure so the audience feels more confident in performing the procedure following the instructions alone, instead of needing step by step guidance from a teacher, significantly reducing their work in a classroom setting and leaving them to provide help to those that really need it!
8. Infographics are great tools for memorization
Getting a student to memorize a timeline can be quite a challenge, especially if it’s a dense list full of names and dates. An infographic uses its visual aids to put faces to those names and relate those numbers to tangible images of events that are far more likely to stick with a student than plain typed words on a page.
Infographics can definitely help relieve the frustration that some students feel at not being able to memorize things as quickly as they feel they should.
Summary
Overall, its undeniable that the way children and young adults are being educated is dramatically changing, and for the better! The use of digital tools and technology in the classroom is a great way to increase creativity and prepare the young people for the real world, where the use of computers and tech in general is paramount. Making the most of what technology has to offer, like for example with the use of infographics, is granted to create a more dynamic, stimulating and favourable learning environment that all children can benefit from, not just those who don’t find it hard to read words straight out of a page!
