Jane Krauss | BlogWalker

Jane Krauss and Diana Laufenberg are leading the Beyond Words: Using Infographics to Help Kids Grapple with Complexity session: “With digital data burgeoning, helping students make sense of information is more challenging now than ever. Infographics –visual representations of data- can play a critical role in developing students’ information literacy so they can make sense of their world. ”

Here’s their presentation link, which also includes a Session Description page. I love being able to revisit how they constructed the hour-long session. From the Session Links Chart , you can explore a broad sampling of online infographics, starting with the first infographic – Minards Map.

From Minards Map, we moved on to a high school student’s Utah Ski Map. Jane posed the question: How could you show distance to airport? Great audience participation in response to this question.

Besides the links on the chart, Diana recommended visiting David McCannless’ TED Talk: The beauty of data visualization, which I’m heading into watch right now.

I became intrigued with infographics following the BP oil spill. The enormity of the disaster was instantly understandable to me via infographics like 50 Ways of Visualizing PB’s Dark Mess. Much inspired by Jane and Diana’s presentation, one of my goals for the new school year is to explore infographics as a tool for English Language Learners.

How do we justify project-based learning (PBL) in a test-driven climate? I’m sitting in a session with Jane Krauss and Sylvia Martinez, who are discussing the reality that you have to make some adjustments to your curriculum in order to fit PBL into your curriculum. Fact: Thinking takes longer than multiple choice. Fact: “PowerPoint does not a project make” (Jane).

So how do you translate authentic assessment to measurable numbers? “You can do it; it just takes a little longer” (Sylvia). But since we tend to teach the way we were taught, how to we change our ways? Idea: have a tech-using, PBL-oriented teacher come demo a lesson using another teacher’s students – with that teacher in the room as an observer – who will no longer be able to say “Oh, my students could never do that.” This model = “embedded professional development.”

How do we provide the evidence (research)? Start blogging your classroom practice. Blogging = self-reflection and … action research.