Eclectic Technology

Who better than Visual.ly to share 7 online tools that will help you create visual, be they simple images, infographics or a mind map. This post shares the following tools:

* Canva - a free tool

* Pixlr - a free tool

* PicMonkey - a free tool, but you may pay for additional tools

* Quozio - free tool

* Share As Image - a free tool, but will show a watermark; pay for no watermark

* Skitch - free through Evernote

* Coggle - free tool that allows you to create mind maps

Visuals are a key part of learning. These seven tools provide a range of options that you may want to use when designing materials for your classes (or perhaps students would find use for them in your class).

If you are considering using the SAMR model to design lesson plans/units you should consider checking out this post. There is a very detailed template that helps you walk through the steps and consider how to best design your lesson/unit. The template is detailed and you may download it as a pdf. An example is included.

Many are turning to the SAMR model as a guide to integrate technology into their curriculum. If this model is new to you search this Scoop.it or type SAMR in your favorite search engine and you will find a wide variety of resources.

Take a look at this post to see one way to use infographics to help teach critical thinking. The post provides a look at what makes a good infographic as well as two suggestions for free tools to help students create them. There are also a couple of videos that will help students learn more about infographics as well as the need to cite sources, samples of infographics made by the students and more! Think about finding a topic that your students could research and consider having them make infographics to show their understanding...chances are they will be engaged in the process.

Have you thought about having students create infographics and held back because you were not sure how to go about doing this type of project? This post provides an in-depth look at one teacher does this type of project.
She discusses the value of having teachers learn to create their own infographic (as opposed to 'consuming' infographics). To effectively create an infographic students must "break down complex information, then use image, symbol and text to communicate it attractively and effectively..."

A step-by-step list of what to do is included as well as the three essential questions that students were to address. Although designed for a high school class the step-by-step directions are easy to modify to meet the needs of your students.

This was one of a series of posts published by the NY Times. At the end of the post there are links to four additional posts in this series on Teaching With Infographics: Places to Start; Social Studies, History, Economics; Science and Health; and Language Arts, Fine Arts, and Entertainment.

So does brainstorming work? Check out the 2 minute video that looks at this issue (embedded in the post) as well as many other great resources including:

* An infographic "Move Beyond Brainstorming" that provides suggestions for more effective group work and discusses the concept of "lateral thinking".

* A second infographic "Are We Brainstorming the Wrong Way?" that looks at ways to generate ideas through interpersonal learning.

* And one final infographic from Mindjet 'Between Minds" that provides "an ongoing taxonomy of team dynamics" by comparing the left brain and right brain. 

The Media Specialist has recently updated her information on teaching with infographics. This post provides many great resources including a post on tips to make better infographics, an in-depth video on teaching with infographics, a series of videos that detail how to use Piktochart to create infographics, and many other resources. If you are considering having students create infographics check out this post for resources.

In this post learn how a teacher took a project where students created an infographic on a non-fiction book and took it from being a "nice digital poster" and observed students whom had finished early poll their classmates and create infographics that included their new results. To quote from the post "These students had made a leap of understanding I hadn’t asked for: the images on an infographic were meant to convey data and information with the powerful impact of visual design."

Read the post to learn about the process that followed and how you might have your students create infographic in your classroom for an assessment.

Jackie Gerstein shares her top picks for education infographics this year. Some of these have been shared in this Scoop.it but many are new. The list of infographics includes:

* The Internet Access Gap in Education

* The Past, Present and Future of Education

* State of Creativity in Education: An Adobe Survey

* The Gamification of Education

* Tapping into Mobile Learning

* Investing in Girls' Education Pays Off

Many of these would be useful as topics for discussion or to use to teach students why infographics are useful in displaying data.

What would happen if you asked your students' to reflect on their reading history...and then have them create an infographic that helps them dig a bit deeper and share what they have learned? According to this teacher the finished product is pretty amazing!

She began with an article from the NYTimes "What's Your Reading History? Reflecting on the Self as Reader". Then she had students explore infographics and critique them as a group. The students then explored a number of websites that allow you to create infographics (and links are provided to them) and students chose one to work with. The post provides links to a number of infographics made by the students.

And the link to the article at the NYTimes is http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/whats-your-reading-history-reflecting-on-the-self-as-reader/?_r=0.

The use of infographics seems to be increasing and this post presents 46 tools that you may use to create an infographic, or better yet, have your students create an infographic.

The tools are arranged alphabetically with a link to each as well as a short description. Some have costs involved but others are open source and freely available. 

Are you looking for some great infographics/visualizations? If so, check out this post from Visual.ly that provides 20 great infographics of 2012, 20 great motion graphics of 2012 and 20 great interactive visualizations of 2012.

Infographics and visualizations are great tools to use with students. Here is a list of a few of what you may find when you click through to the post: Curiosity's Landing on Mars (The Seven Minutes of Terror), a map of Hurricanes since 1851, Measuring the Universe, and the History of Manifest Destiny.