Infographics are used to bring about data and information concerning a specific topic and making it into a visual representation. According to Quintagroup.com, "Infographics are a graphic visual depiction of information, facts, or knowledge that helps people comprehend a topic better. It mixes data and images to create visual illustrations that are straightforward, easy to comprehend, and entertaining for viewers."
The following three infographic sites are used to create infographics:
1. Easelly:
Students connect with knowledge in new ways by producing infographics and acquiring more experience with technology using Easelly, which may be an entertaining and effective learning tool. The range of tools and examples on this site entices users and encourages them to be creative. Because Easelly is so open-ended, it can be utilized for anything; all it takes is careful planning. Students feel empowered when they complete an infographic because it gives them greater control over their learning, and the site's emphasis on visuals makes it accessible to students who struggle with written language.
The site's overall versatility is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. Students can have meaningful experiences with the content they create, but teachers must provide sufficient supervision so that students do not become lost.
With Piktochart, students may learn about grouping, charting, and visually expressing information. They'll interpret information and then produce a combination of text, photos, and charts or graphs to communicate with others while putting together a visual. Students' awareness of how other people learn will grow as they learn what visually appeals to their audience, which will aid them in future presentation initiatives. Students can also use team accounts to collaborate on projects and presentations. Piktochart designs are designed to function with a wide range of data and information, and students will be ecstatic to see their own study seem so polished and professional. There are several tutorial videos available, including several in Spanish. The tool's Inspiration section provides a wealth of ideas while also teaching students about good design.
It's quite simple to use the site; it mainly just recycling and updating pre-existing templates. The end result, however, can be a stunning visual that's ready for a presentation — or a report — and can help students better understand and interpret scientific studies, historical timelines, and other data. While creating an infographic might be an enjoyable experience, it is unlikely that students will want to do it every day. The site also lacks a lot of extra materials; more design lessons and exercises will make it a better learning tool. However, it's simple, enjoyable, and a terrific approach for pupils to begin visual thinking.
The biggest problem with the site is that it is devoid of content; teachers will be unable to access resources.
The site's biggest flaw is its lack of text; teachers will be unable to discover information to assist them in using the tool, and students will be unable to learn about design best practices. Teachers will need to take an active role in offering feedback to students, as well as assisting them in effectively presenting information and understanding how their creation depicts and explains the data they're working with.
With the fast-pace of communication among our society, through social media platforms, Educators are able to utilize these platforms in an academic setting. One of these social media platforms is Facebook. By exploring ‘school library’ pages on Facebook, I found a few pages worth mentioning.
Please see below for information found on the platform Facebook.
North Shore Middle School Library: a middle school library in the Houston, Texas area. The Facebook page has 496 likes. The couple of posts I stumbled upon promoted the school’s library “NSMS Book Fair”-Save the Date for our Book Fair Flyer
Jan. 20th-Jan 27, 2022 (Date posted: 01-13-22)
“The book is always better!” along with a picture that goes with text.
There are no comments on either post, each has one like
Irma Marsh Middle School Library (Facebook page has a beautiful cover photo of the school library).
Posts include: Thanking guest authors who visited the schools library, showing book covers. The authors performed a read aloud “World Read Aloud Day” Save the Date Feb 2nd, 2022 promotions
The posts have some audience stimulation- sharing posts and a few likes
Link: https://www.facebook.com/immscisd
Facebook has lost some of its popularity among younger individuals, who enjoy using Instagram and snap chat more profusely. However, Facebook can be utilized by a school library to promote library program events and show library displays.
Utilizing blogging as a resource for librarians and education in general. Recently, through my program of study (Library Science) at Sam Houston State University, I am learning a lot about the world of blogging and all the neat reservoirs of knowledge that can be used in the classroom. Prior to the program, I had never really dived into the depths of blogging. You can literally be reading blogs for an entire day and night.
The top RSS feed readers:
Feedly
Inoreader
NewsBlur
Feedreader Online
Feeder
Good News
FlowReader
After exploring the feeders above, the site that worked best for me was Feeder. A couple of the feeders didn’t appeal to me, one in particular was Feedly. In order for the user to apply Twitter to the feeder on Feedly, it requires a payment for this feature. Feeder.co is easy to navigate through and adding your blogs to this feedreader is even easier! Absolutely love it!
According to bloggingwizard: 7 Best RSS Feed Reader (2022 Edition) by Lindsay Liedke expresses, “Push notifications, advanced filtering options, and mobile device enhancements make reading content from all over the web easier than ever. Unique to this feed reader is the fact that it also comes as a Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge extension.”
Blog Link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/schoollibraryjournal/148701474276
Reason: “Where we post about the stuff we're reading, looking at, and reporting on - by the staff of School Library Journal.” The School Library Journal is the largest reviewer of children’s and young adult material, from books to digital content.
Blog Title: writing-of-the-cosmos
Blog Link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/writings-of-the-cosmos/674838831356428288
Reason: “Unlimited Writing: Strong souls have emerged from suffering. And the most imposing characters are scarred.” Inspirational/deep thoughts/literature
Blog Title: bookishdiary
Blog Link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/bookishdiary/674364593180672001
Reason: Artsy Recommendations
*Blog by a 22 year old German student (literature/ music) who regularly posts movie and book recommendations - arthouse movies - classical music enthusiast - academia.
Blog Title: poetry-siir
Blog Link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/poetry-siir/675267244428836864
Reason:Poetry-Siir Group Blog (Quotes/spilled thoughts/poetry/literature)
Blog Title: LSSL 5368 Spring 2022
Blog Link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/shsuschoollibraryprogramming
Important Developments in Educational Technology for K–12 Education
Virtual Reality
The way of the world as we know it revolves around technology. We are living in the digital age! Just as our technology has evolved, so has our educational teachings and how we implement our instruction. This is all too familiar in the recent years of enduring a global pandemic, we have had to adjust our instruction from in-person to remote; while also having to apply different teaching strategies for each. We’ve learned how to teach and lecture using applications such as Zoom and Google Classroom, and engaging students through assessment gamification outlets like Kahoot.com, and Quizizz.com.
Another new method of teaching that is being introduced to the educational technology field is virtual reality or VR for short, a component of Game Engagement Theory. The potential of certain types of games to engage and encourage learners is one of the advantages of computer game–based learning. In recent studies, virtual reality is becoming another tool in the teaching toolbox. VR is important to K-12 educational technology because it enhances student academic performance and motivation. Martín-Gutiérrez et al., (2017) expressed the use of VR in education offers a bigger interest beyond just learning; it contributes to student development in different ways, such as academic performance and motivation, social and collaborative skills and cognitive and psychomotor skills. (p 220) Formal applications of VR in education along with the support of a partnered digital library can bring about more opportunities to bring safe education for students in the studying fields of construction, mining, architecture, archeology, chemical processing, and biology. This gives students the upper hand in any one of these career pathways by becoming familiar with places they couldn’t normally go to and practicing using virtual reality chemicals processing without the hazards. Virtual reality opens the world to various studies and is transdisciplinary. Pupo (2013) expresses from the cognitive perspective, transdisciplinary intends to integrate the culture through necessary knowledge, such as critical culture, relevant knowledge, teachings of all sciences (from the physical, biological and sociocultural perspective) and ways to face uncertainty, such as the comprehension and ethics of being human. (p 219) Student academic performance strengths with the vast amount of knowledge and engagement that VR teaching can bring about in the library and classroom. A study led by new library and information students took place in 2020 over virtual reality being used as a tool for student orientation in distance education programs. The study investigates using experimental research methodology and master of library science students entering a library and information science (LIS) program. Through the use of VR, the students doctoral research revealed Valenti, Lund, and Wang (2020) students who received a VR orientation had more optimistic views about the technology, saw greater improvement in scores on an assessment of knowledge about their program and chosen profession, and a small decrease in program anxiety compared to those who received the same information as standard text-and-links. The majority of students also indicated willingness to use VR technology for learning for long periods of time (25 minutes or more).
All in all, virtual reality is on the horizon of a useful tool to adapt to our educational instruction. Funds for the technology, training resources for teachers and librarians, and collaboration among educators is necessary for results to have an impact in the educational system. Virtual reality is significant in K-12 education because it improves student academic achievement and engagement.
TED TALK
This virtual lab will revolutionize science class | Michael Bodekaer
Virtual reality is no longer part of some distant future, and it's not just for gaming and entertainment anymore. Michael Bodekaer wants to use it to make quality education more accessible. In this refreshing talk, he demos an idea that could revolutionize the way we teach science in schools.
