Piktochart

Add oomph to info with sleek infographic tool

Pros: Design quality and inspirational templates are top-notch; students can easily create professional-looking infographics with a few clicks.

Cons: The free account is quite limited; to do more than the basics, a PRO account will be required.

Bottom Line: Tech- and design-savvy students will immediately take to this well-designed, reasonably easy-to-use tool.

Read more 

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

Post this on your wall for 2018/2019 school year as a reminder of all the dates you can celebrate ways to prepare modern learners. (May take a moment to load.)

Visit the infographic here.

[New Infographic! 8-Step Plan to Finding A Student Internship]

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several books and her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.

Easel.ly

Think critically, share creatively with infographic-creation tool

Pros: Great templates and flexible features let students learn through visual and textual design.

Cons: The site's free version provides limited themes and images; teachers cannot easily supervise student progress.

[Free 3D Design Resource Includes Lessons, Collaboration]

Bottom Line: Even though the basic themes and images are limited, when prepared well, this tool can help students connect with content in a meaningful way.

Read more here.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

We're more likely to read things that are visually appealing, so if you want to get your message out there, consider making an infographic.

Want to know how? Check out this episode of the 10 Minute Teacher podcast where #NYCSchoolsTech educator, Eileen Lennon shares ideas with Coolcat Teacher Vicki Davis about her tips, tricks, and techniques to using infographics to communicate and share ideas.

Get Going Started with Infographics

• Limit the number of typefaces used
• Uniform color
• Use space wisely
• Have a focal point

Consider this...

Whether infographics are created in your classroom, school, or district, Eileen says that students prefer consuming content where they know the source. Think of it like locally sourced food, but in this case, it is locally sourced information. Students also like infographics because they are visually appealing, or if we stick with the food analogy, rather than bland and processed, graphics are the condiments that allow us to season words and text to perfection.

Check it out...

Here are some of the infographics Eileen mentioned in the podcast.

• School Safety
• Social Media Guidelines
• Innovator's Mindset

Lisa Nielsen writes for and speaks to audiences across the globe about learning innovatively and is frequently covered by local and national media for her views on “Passion (not data) Driven Learning,” "Thinking Outside the Ban" to harness the power of technology for learning, and using the power of social media to provide a voice to educators and students. Ms. Nielsen has worked for more than a decade in various capacities to support learning in real and innovative ways that will prepare students for success. In addition to her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator, Ms. Nielsen’s writing is featured in places such as Huffington Post, Tech & Learning, ISTE Connects, ASCD Wholechild, MindShift, Leading & Learning, The Unplugged Mom, and is the author the book Teaching Generation Text.

“Numbers have an important story to tell. They rely on you to give them a clear and convincing voice.” – Stephen Few

When learners design their own infographics they interpret their data, information, research and facts. Students create a meaningful connection with the data and share with others the important bigger picture the data tells. Infographics can persuade others to act or reflect. The following web tools will help students design awesome infographics. Find more ideas and tips in my presentation, Teaching with Infographics.

• Piktochart has several templates for creating infographics. Also, access a library of free clipart, fonts, graphics and backgrounds.
• Infogr.am is an infographic creator with graphs and templates.
• Venngage is an easy to use infographic maker and graphic design software with drag and drop.
• Genial.ly is a web tool for creating infographics and interactive visuals.
• Canva is a web tool and iPad app with infographic templates and lesson plans.
• Visme allows you to create infographics with cool transitions, animations, and effects.
• Check out this Google Draw template for creating infographics by John Calvert.
• Smore is a free web tool to create digital flyers with videos, icons, and images. Some teachers have used this web tool to create infographics.
• Easel.ly is another web tool with templates and graphics to create infographics.

cross posted at teacherrebootcamp.com

Shelly Terrell is an education consultant, technology trainer, and author. Read more at teacherrebootcamp.com.