THE VALUE OF INFORMATION - INFOGRAPHICS IN THE CLASSROOM

THE VALUE OF INFORMATION - INFOGRAPHICS IN THE CLASSROOM

In today's world of mass media and technology, students are exposed to more information in a week than an adolescent would see in a lifetime in Shakespeare's time. 

The ability to absorb, interpret, filter, store, categorize, evaluate and share this information seems to be an overwhelming task but the digital natives of this generation seem to be well adjusted to the glut of information broadcasted to their world. 

One mean of collating information that has become quite prevalent in today's world digital communication is the "infographic". 

 

The definition from Wikipedia states,  Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly. 

This summer in my sophomore Health course we have used info graphics in a variety of ways.  

First the students viewed the documentary "Escape Fire" to gain perspective on the Health and Wellness Care System in United States. Utilizing infographics provided on the movie website (http://escapefiremovie.com/first-aid-kit) students evaluated and correlated information from the documentary.   

Next students used infographics to gather and analyze information concerning prescription and OTC drugs.  I provided them with variety of infographics about various topics concerning the pharmaceutical industry and health care. Students worked in groups to break down and evaluate the information on the infographics and then present the most valuable information to the class. 

Students also evaluated the effectiveness of the infographic as a means of conveying information.  Students analyzed and presented the  organization, presentation, color schemes, chart and data choice for each infographic.       

http://bit.ly/1nPyoGK       http://bit.ly/1jVtM0h

http://bit.ly/VtQWFW      http://bit.ly/1qBB1zH

http://bit.ly/1sKAIXE       http://bit.ly/1qBBe64

Finally students worked in groups to create their own infographics concerning one of the six issues raised in the documentary regarding our health care industry. Each infographic had to contain 8 to 12 data based sets of information presented in chart form with accompanying text. 
Students posted and shared their infographics online.  

http://piktochart.com

http://infogr.am

http://create.visual.ly

For me this project provided the perfect means to incorporate the Six C's of Education.  Students add to Think Critically to analyze and evaluate data, gather information and format the infographic. Students worked in Collaborative Teams in student to student and online collaboration. Students Communicated in a variety of means throughout the project whether working in groups or presenting online or in the classroom. The design and production of the infographic provided an avenue to develop their Creativity. Analyzing data and looking at the effects on society of our health and wellness infrastructure forced students to evaluate the Culture they are living in. Lastly, students Utilized smartphones, iPads, and computers to Connect the dots and produce their infographics.

    
     

INFOGRAPHIC - The 6 C's of Education for the 21st Century

INFOGRAPHIC 
The 6 C's of Education for the 21st Century

The 6 Cs of Education for the 21st Century | Create Infographics

TEDitorials - Increase Science Literacy

TEDitorials - Increase Science Literacy

For the last five years, I have incorporated more writing in my Science curriculum by an online assignment called a TEDitorial.   

I use these TEDitorial assignments as a means incorporating the 6 C's of my classroom into one assignment.  In developing an editorial opinion students are encouraged to develop critical thinking skills.  Many of the TED Talks involve aspects of Art and Culture, bringing to light for the students the importance of design and beauty in the process of science. The aspects of online assignments, viewing the TED and researching support brings the 
utilization of connectivity into play. 

Students have become so compartmentalized in the subjects we teach they tend not to bring their English minds to the table when it comes to writing in science.  While I explain to students that their are differences in the way we may present information in science, it is important that their written communication is organized, clear and concise and demonstrate the same expectations of gramar, punctuation, capitalization and spelling as they would in a paper for English or History. 

To accomplish this, I have used an assignment called a TEDitorial.  I select and post a TED video (http://www.ted.com/) on my classroom Moodle site every Monday throughout the semester.  Students must view five TEDs throughout the semester and compose and post an editorial supporting or denying the claims of the TED presenter.  Students must incorporate their own research and information from our classroom discussions to support their opinion of the presenter's information. Support for their opinion can be made through an outside source, A personal experience or a counter-example.

The trend through the semester of this assignment has been very typical.  I usually need to spend a great deal of time explaining the difference between a summary of the TED and an editorial for the first two submissions.  I also spend a great deal of time correcting the English aspects of their writing. Which most students can't seem to understand why this is important in science course.  By the third submission most students are actually writing editorials and submitting extra in the way of links to websites they discovered while researching the topic further.  I also have discovered that interest tends to peak about the fourth editorial and students watch several of the TEDs before choosing one that they have more passion about and truly want to editorialize.

I have found that many students begin to visit the TED site on their own to search out information about other topics on top of the science and learning based TEDs that I have selected for them.