Infographics as a Creative Assessment

I attended one of Kathy Schrock's sessions at FETC and the topic was using infographics as a creative assessment.  I saw the value of using infographics with students before there was a term for it, so I huried to this session.  (I even subscribed to USA Today just so that I could cut out the "snapshots" that were always on page one and incorporate them into lessons with my 6th grade class.)  

Recently, I have been working quite extensively on the role of technology in the Common Core Curriculum Standards.  I know that using infographics could be extremely useful as a means to:

• Integrate information using multimedia


• Write with formatting and illustrations


• Collect info from multiple sources


• Create technical information in a visual format


• Understand and use sources in acceptable ways, following copyright laws


• Strategically use multimedia in presentations


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   Translate quantitative/technical words to a visual form

  
  

What are infographics, you ask? 

 See Kathy's intro video below (2.5 min) and then take a look at all of her examples and how-to's.

Infographics as a Creative Assessment from Kathy Schrock on Vimeo.

 Her extensive list of resources can be found here.

Software, sites, and tools to create infographics:

• Glogster (example)


• Picktochart


• Inkscape


• Aviary Phoenix


• Aviary Raven


• Sumo Paint


• Sketchpad


• Pixlr

I challenge all educators to look around for infographics in their day-to-day lives and to think of ways to help students understand and create them for themselves!