The (Old) Age of Infographics

Believe it or not, even before the word "infographics" was coined, data visualization has been around for hundreds of years! Ever since man has learned to draw on the walls of caves, mankind has not stopped from creating visual representations of information.

Watch the video below from Easel.ly to learn about the history of infographics:

What is it exactly? An infographic collects data, organizes it, and turns it into a visual product that is easy to understand. The benefits of infographic are: eye-catching, easy to share through social media, easier to connect with targeted audience, simplifies complex ideas, and increases knowledge retention. Teachers can have their students create infographics as an assessment tool or to help students organize their thinking to build a foundation or create a deeper understanding of their learning.

Technology has made infographics even more ubiquitous. Based on Search Engine Journal, infographic search volume has increased by 800% from 2010 to 2012. That's how popular infographics have become!

Making an infographic seems to be fun. Before I started, I scoured the world wide web for tips on creating an infographic. Behold...there's an infographic for that!

Although there are lots of websites and apps that can help me create an infographic, I only tried Easel.ly, Piktochart, and Infogram. Kathy Schrock has other software, sites, and tools to create infographics listed on her website:

http://www.schrockguide.net/infographics-as-an-assessment.html.

Here's the infographic I created using Piktochart:

Of the three, Piktochart gave me more options on graphics, text frames, and background using a free account. It allowed me to group objects to manipulate the texts and images easier. Easel.ly and Infogram have less available images and very limited customization feature without subscription.

What I like about Easel.ly is the ability to lock the position of an image to prevent it from being repositioned accidentally. Easel.ly has more templates to choose from than Piktochart and Infogram. All three have the capability to add videos and charts although Infogram has more types of charts to choose from.

Infogram has more additional features than the other two, but I would choose grouping and ungrouping objects more than the other features offered. When it comes to going "pro," Easel.ly is the most affordable to subscribe which only costs $36.00 annually.

Overall, my top pick is Piktochart when using a free account. I tried to create an infographic on the other two websites, but gave up because of the limited options that I had. I find the basic account from Piktochart to be the most user-friendly for budget-conscious users like me.

Sources:

Costill, Albert. (2013, October 24). 6 benefits of using infographics. Retrieved

from: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/6-benefits-using-

infographics/70917/.

Digital Chalk. (2014, February 27). 5 tips for creating infographics. Retrieved

from: https://www.digitalchalk.com/blog/5-tips-for-creating-infographics

Easel.ly. (2017, March 21). The history of infographics. Retrieved

from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSMLIzPuinE

Pappas, Christopher. (2016, March 13). The 7 top benefits of using

infographics in online training. Retrieved

from: https://elearningindustry.com/7-top-benefits-using-infographics-in-

online-training.

Schrock, Kathy. (2010, October 16). Infographics as a creative assessment.

Retrieved from: http://www.schrockguide.net/infographics-as-an-

assessment.html.