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Infographics

Infographics serve as visual tools to enhance data, reports, and present innovative ideas aside from the conventional Power Point, Excel, and Word presentations. As an educator, graduate student, and future librarian, I found infographics to be an extremely effective method for transmitting important information in a quicker and much clearer format. Although infographics are an excellent resource for show-casting significant material, choosing the perfect infographic web application is key. I will be reviewing the following infographic webpages:

piktochart.com
infogram.com
easel.ly

The first webpage I used was piktochart.com. Free accounts are available, and Gmail or Facebook login is an option for convenience. The webpage asks you a series of questions before getting started to better set you up with relatable content. The site is easy to nagivate through, it has a dashboard with options like inforgraphs, presentations, posters, reports, flyers, and templates for inspiration. You can work from a selected template and modify it as needed, or you can start from a completely blank page. Piktochart will save your work and allow to share and download as PNG. If you want a HD visual or PDF you have to upgrade to PRO which costs 39.99 per year for personal use, or 239.94 per year for team use for up to 6 users. That was a big negative for me. This could work great for people in businesses or people giving daily/weekly reports. The templates seemed more "mature" for my specialty (6th grade ELA teacher). I was not drawn to this website.

The second webpage I used was infogram.com. As you first observe the website's presentation it is very intriguing. It is advertised that big companies use Infogram like MSN, GOOD YEAR, LinkedIN,among many others. Free accounts are available to set up and login through Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIN. Account options are available for basic (free), pro ($19 monthly), business ($67 monthly), team ($149 monthly), and Enterprise (call number). Saving and sharing is a feature, but upgrading to PRO allows for downloading PDF and higher quality images. Overall, the site takes a little longer to get used to and to modify templates. It would not be my first choice. 

The last webpage, easel.ly is the one that caught my eye from the start. I fell in love with its visual representation, tools, and templates available. The templates were colorful, cartoon-like, and well-constructed. I thought of the best infographics for my students, something that will get their attention, and this fit the mold perfectly. The site offers a free account that can be logged in through Gmail or Facebook. It offers templates for different categories ranging from business, medical, to education. It allows people to use blank pages, or work from pre-done templates and modify them as needed. You are allowed to change fonts, backgrounds, upload images, and format as desired. It saves all of your work and gives you the option to share and resize as needed. Easelly helps you share work through Facebook and Twitter, and also allows you to email and share links with others for editing. The only downside was the options for downloading. If you want a PDF or an HD quality image you have to upgrade your account and pay a fee of $4 per image. I was able to get a shareable link that worked just fine. Overall as an educator and grad student, I was most satisfied with this website. I made an infographic using this resource and had a great experience.


With an article from Pew Research Center, I made an infographic using Easelly which is available down below.
https://www.easel.ly/browserEasel/11010266


Stansberry, K., Anderson, J., and Rainie, L. (2019). Experts Optimistic about the next 50 years of
Digital Life. 5. Leading concerns about the future of digital life. Pew Research Center (Internet & Technology). https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/10/28/5-leading-concerns-about-the-future-of-digital-life/

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