Infographics are created to tell a story. That story can be about historical events, research findings, current events, literature analysis, statistics, personal information, etc. The thinking that goes into turning a story into succinct text and representative graphics is what is most valuable.
For students, creating infographics can activate critical thinking as they conceptualize, apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. In the creation of a visual product, students are also more likely to retain the information as they will be interacting with the content in both text and graphics.
Students can work individually or in groups to create an infographic. Negotiating how to tell the story using text and graphics within a group can build collaborative skills. Different styles of infographics can be used to tell different types of stories: statistical, timeline, and list infographics, for example, are appropriate in specific contexts. The end products can be shared with the class and serve as study materials.
You might assign the creation of an infographic when...
you want students to present a lot of information succinctly.
you want students to think abstractly and use graphics to represent ideas.
you want to enhance or replace an assignment that asks students to convey an explanation of something--the story.
Examples