Graphic design should absolutely be incorporated into the classroom. For not only visual learners, but all learners, the use of graphic design can help students learn and retain information. Graphic design can help students understand complex ideas or information containing a lot of data more easily when it is represented visually for them. Also, students who might struggle with reading and decoding difficult content area text may benefit from seeing the information presented visually, instead of just in paragraph form. Graphics can be used by both teachers as well as students in the classroom.
Third grade studies the water cycle and a graphic would be a great way to support this concept! The teacher could use a graphic, like the one to the right, to help students understand this process more easily. By keeping the graphic simple, only using two different complimentary fonts, and keeping the labels close to what they are representing, these design principals will help maximize the effectiveness of this graphic for students. Additionally, the teacher could have the students create their own graphics of the stages of the water cycle as a formative or even summative assessment of learning.
Some ways we could use graphic design to better support the learners in our classrooms might be to use infographics to help students understand complex ideas. Using graphics as visual aides can really help students visualize challenging or complex concepts. Students could even create their own infographics to show understanding of a concept. Graphics can also be used in the beginning stages of the learning process to kick off a new unit of study or to spark a classroom discussion on a new topic. Additionally, graphics can be used when students present information to their peers in class using Keynote, Google Draw, or Google Slides. Graphics can also make for great classroom posters to hang on the walls for reference. Posters can be purchased pre-made or can be created by the teacher or even the students using tools like Canva or Piktochart. In my role as a TOSA, our team used Piktochart to create a visual aid of the services we can provide to staff members and we hung them in staff lounge as a reminder of how we can support our staff and students. Graphics can even be paired with audio like music or a short audio clip to target the multiple ways students learn.
Third grade studies the water cycle and a graphic would be a great way to support this concept! The teacher could use a graphic, like the one to the right, to help students understand this process more easily. By keeping the graphic simple, only using two different complimentary fonts, and keeping the labels close to what they are representing, these design principals will help maximize the effectiveness of this graphic for students. Additionally, the teacher could have the students create their own graphics of the stages of the water cycle as a formative or even summative assessment of learning.
Keeping the graphics simple and to the point is helpful for students. I also like the idea of having students incorporate audio to further enhance the graphic is a fantastic idea. I like using Keynote to have students create graphics and infographics. Using that app it is so easy to add audio recording and share those creations as a movie by posting on Seesaw.
ReplyDeleteJessica, I love your point about having a student create an infographic in order to show deeper understanding. I teach our highest math kiddos and as we get into more abstract concepts, it's great to see them put as much as they possible can into a graphic of what the remember from previous years as well as what we're currently studying. A lot of times my students struggle to put these things into words, so being able to create it into a graphic is a great alternative.
ReplyDeleteWow! What an exceptional graphic design of the water cycle. Very impressive. I like your idea of info graphics. I should try to learn how to use them more. I enjoy looking at them and they help me learn and so I am sure they would be great to use in the classroom, but I have just been intimidated by trying to make them. It would also be great for for students to create them as well.
ReplyDeleteJessica you are the TOSA with the MOST-A! Love your water cycle graphic! Many students prefer to "create" something to show what they know and using graphics is a great way for them to share their knowledge. I had a girl struggling with science concepts and she drew a picture of photosynthesis. She got mad props from me and I hung her picture in the room for the entire unit. So someone who wasn't excelling, got some credit for being able to show me what she knew!
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