Visually Enhance the Success of an eLearning Course Using Infographics

infographics instructional strategies Aug 02, 2020

As instructional designers, we aim to design eLearning courses such that it reduces cognitive overload and gives a sense of accomplishment to the learner.

But what is the secret to create effective eLearning courses?

Declutter the screen with irrelevant images, graphics and heavy on-screen text. And your job is 50% done. Yes, it’s that simple.

Whatever type of eLearning course you're designing, relevancy is the key. And incorporating infographics can take your eLearning courses to the next level.

Infographics have been growing in popularity over the years and they are typically educational, entertaining, and useful tools.

An infographic a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data. Their purpose is to collect and organize data, creating an easy-to-understand visual.

The visuals within an infographic are chosen thoughtfully and systematically to tell a specific story.

The goal of an infographic is to guide the learner through the information in a logical sequence but not to overwhelm them with ton of facts and figures.

Incorporating Infographics in eLearning

In eLearning, infographics have a major role to play. They not enhance the effectiveness of an eLearning course, but increase its visual appeal.

Based on a rough estimate, one Infographic may convey the message of three to five eLearning slides loaded with text.

In eLearning, infographic can be made interactive and animated.

We can use infographics in almost all content types, such as:

Concepts
Storytelling
Comparative Analysis
Process and Procedures

Infographics vs. Photographs

There is a famous Chinese saying about image, "A picture is worth a thousand words". It’s more true for infographics.

Photographs convey unclear meanings – the learner may confuse or may infer different meaning.

Infographics are self-explanatory; the graphic structure and small content nuggets guide learner to the intended meaning.

Why Are Infographics So Powerful?

An infographic is 30 times more likely to be read than a purely textual article.

They are one of the best visual tools to hook learner’s attention and convey message effectively. It presents well chunked content with relevant graphics to help learners understand the content in less time and retain for a longer duration.

Learners scan the infographics and interpret the meaning well, especially the complex data, when compared to other visuals.

When you closely look at an infographic, large amount of content is broken into small pieces and organized in a meaningful structure with suitable graphical representation.

In addition to their ability to motivate learners with their visually appealing graphical representations, there are also many other benefits...

Research has found that merging linguistic and nonlinguistic competencies through the use of infographics has the potential to boost comprehension of instructional material.
Infographics are easy to understand. They help students wrap their head around complex topics. People retain approximately 83% of what they learn visually as opposed to 20% retained by reading.
Shows your expertise. The large amount of research required for creating an effective infographic will show your knowledge and position as an expert on your topic.
Helps to eliminate unnecessary details. Sometimes information overload makes it more difficult to communicate the key takeaways to your learners. They also significantly reduce number of eLearning course slides.
They help relate concepts. They are perfect for bridging the gap between two ideas.

Conclusion

If you want to convey the complex information succinctly and help your learners digest the content easily, then infographics in eLearning should be the best choice.

The purpose of an infographic is to promote understanding and assist learners at all levels by visualizing both narrative information and data.

Infographics are definitely an instructional tool that instructional designers should make use of when creating content for eLearning courses.

Learn step-by-step detail on how to create an infographic, the different levels of infographics, and best practices in applying learner-created infographics. Join the eLearning and Instructional Design for Beginners Community.

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