Infographic

Infographics

Merriam-Webster defines an infographic as a “chart, diagram, or illustration that uses graphic elements to present information in a visually striking way to the reader.”  Infographics are a great way for media specialist librarians and teachers to present information to their students and teachers. Infographics can help readers gain a lot of information quickly when they are done correctly.  There are different platforms that exist to create infographics. The following three are just a few of the many that are available to use. I list some key points for each below. 

Infogram
-Not available on mobile (so not on ipad or mobile/phone device)
+Google login
Built in templates to get started, lots of choices, esp for social media
Examples, some free graphics
Up to 10 free graphics per project
Can be published to the web directly from site
Having to do a lot of clicking when adding graphics.
Auto-save when any changes are made. 
Can add additional pages as needed. 
Hardest to maneuver of the 3. The user has to do a lot of clicks to be able to find and add images to the infographic.  I did like the autosave feature and that the site allows for the infographic to be published to the web. The free version does have some limitations in regards to the amount of graphics being allowed to be used. If the user plans on creating with a lot of graphics, this may not be the best for the free version.  

PiktoChart
+Google login
+available on ipad
5 visuals for free
Presentation option 
Large library of icons
Can be published to the web directly from site
Premade graphics have pointers in them. 
Different types of projects available. 
User friendly menu at the left of the page.  It allows the user to present. The premade graphic templates have mini pointers in them that help a novice user.  Ability to create infographics, presentations, posters, reports, flyers, and social media images for posts. Pro (paid) version allows for team templates. If a user plans on making more than 5 presentations, Paid will be well worth the price (discount for educators about $40/year)

Easel.ly
+Google login
+available on ipad
Can sign up for an educator account and have up to 30 student accounts tied to it ($4/month) 
Can sign up for a student account for $2/month
Examples
Multiple page option
User friendly when creating, ability to click through menus for images or search.
Can invite others to collaborate 
User friendly menus shown above workspace.  Can easily click from one tab to the next to add features to infographic. Can create infographic, report, slides, dashboards, Facebook posts, posters, and responsive web & mobile layouts. Items may be organized in folders once completed. Users have a way to build collaborative teams and create together.  Content library can be viewed without being in the middle of a project and may “favorite” items to prepare to create.  

My Choice
I chose to create an infographic with information from an article on PEW research center.  The article highlighted the increase of stay at home dads from 1989 to 2012. The information I found the most surprising was the shift in the reasons on why the dads/men were staying home, and used that data to create the infographic. I chose  Piktochart to create it, I liked it best because of the ease in creating the graphic, and I was able to have a larger variety of charts that I could create while using the free version. When creating the graphs, I was able to use the information from the article on the premade spreadsheet, but if I would have had a spreadsheet of information created in a different format, it allows the user to upload that. Once the information was input, I was able to see the different graphs in which I could present my information. I chose pie charts/graphs to be able to visually see the shift in reasons why the dads are staying home with their children.  The text boxes were easy to create and just type. The program has different styles precreated and allows the text to be formatted accordingly. Overall, Piktochart was a great web application for me to use for this assignment. If I was to create more than 5 infographics in one year, I would definitely consider paying the $40/year educator package.  




Resources 

Easel.ly information 

Infogram information https://infogram.com/ 

Infographic. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infographic
Livingston, G. (2019, December 31). Growing Number of Stay-at-Home Dads. Retrieved March 13, 2020, from https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/06/05/growing-number-of-dads-home-with-the-kids/ 

Piktochart information  https://piktochart.com/pricing/education/ 

Comments

  1. Melissa AtterberryApril 28, 2020 at 5:03 PM

    I really like the way that you clearly lay out the pros and cons of each Infographic creator. It is great to have so much information organized and easy to read. The infographic you created looks very professional. Thank you for sharing it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yaneth SolisMay 3, 2020 at 6:01 PM

    Your post is so well organized. Thank you for giving your perspective on the different infographic programs. Piktochart is definitely a great platform for creating infographics. Their graphics are both adult and student friendly. Creating these infographics would be beneficial for a professional presentation, a classroom lesson, or a group activity for students. The opportunities are endless. By the way, enjoy your blog. It's so inviting and colorful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 6, 2020 at 9:30 PM

    You brought up something that I had not thought about, and that was the ability to use the apps on a mobile device. I think it would be very difficult to make an inforgraphic on a phone or even an ipad, but there are many students whos only electronic at home is a phone. I liked your choices, because I picked three completly different apps. I would not have heard of these if not for your post.

    Ashley Porter

    ReplyDelete

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