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Word Clouds
I have used word clouds both as a learner and as an educator before. I think word clouds have some merits. They allow learners to notice or review the lesson’s vocabulary in a visually appealing format and they are fun to create. Beyond these benefits, I think word clouds have a limited application in learning. It reminds me of Dirksen’s (2015, p. 150) position that although decorative graphics derive positive reactions, they can cause distractions so they need to be used with caution in learning content.
Infographics
Infographics, on the other hand, make learners think and process their learning. The information in an infographic is condensed to make it concise and visually appealing at the same time. In her book, Dirksen (2015, p.149) has mentioned the benefits of using visuals to grasp and retain a learner’s attention. In a blog post on the benefits of infographics, Pappas (2016) stated that infographics help with knowledge retention and recall. He also states that since infographics offer step by step directions or simplified versions of the information, they tend to make it easier for learners to interact with the content. Using infographics with adult learners would demonstrate the key elements of constructivism since the learners critically view the infographic and actively make connections with their prior knowledge to come to new conclusions.
This Week’s Ed Tech Exploration
For this week’s class, we had to build Word Clouds and Infographics. It was a collaborative task in which small groups had to work together to create infographics, and there was a competitive element since the group with the best infographic would get an ebadge. We had to think about the readings for the week and extract the important ideas for our infographic. Creating the infographic made us reflect on our learning in a deeper, more focused way. I think this was an excellent activity not only to review what we knew but to construct new knowledge, while also learning how to use a new application called Canva. There was some frustration in our group regarding the application because we could not work at the same time on the application so we had to wait for each group member to finish before the next member could make any changes. This slowed us down a lot as a group. I think this activity will be excellent to use in a face to face classroom or in a Google application so that all group members can contribute at the same time.
References
Dirksen, J. (2015). Design for how people learn (2nd Ed.). Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
Easel ly. (2016, July 13). Infographics in the classroom [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Vlyu0H3wo
Pappas, C. (2016, March 13). The 7 top benefits of using infographics in online training
[Web log post]. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/7-top-benefits-using-
infographics-in-online-training.