Existentially, this lesson plan is about challenging student conceptions of information dissemination and questioning notions of universality embedded in web narratives of access. We like to think of the internet as a democratic space of unlimited maneuverability. But for many users, it is not. Here, we want students to consider the overwhelming prominence of visual, picture-based knowledge and ask who is excluded? Who cannot move freely in this space? Who is not granted access? Effectively, this assignment asks students to …
Lesson Plan: Infographics – Digital, Visual Stories
Image source: www.the-digital-reader.com. Image source: www.the-digital-reader.com. Both infographics and data visualization are tools to visually represent data. They make it easier for audiences to grasp difficult concepts by communicating meaning through a visual summary. It is the level of narration where the forms diverge: data visualization will employ algorithms to directly represent vast quantities of data and make interpretation simpler, whereas infographics are constructed by a human to tell a story about the data–to summarize its context, its meaning, and …
Accessibility Project Update: Mapping Narratives of Access
In the DWRL’s ongoing Accessibility project, we’ve kicked off the semester by asking: What makes a story visible or invisible? How does visibility affect accessibility? We considered whether or not popularity, or “trending,” obfuscate access to less normative narrative, and if “fake news” and “alternative facts” operate to distract from, obscure, and ultimately hide “true stories” and “real information.” This led to a broad discussion of search engines and search terms through Google Analytics to gather insight into about things …
Rhetorical Numbers: A Workshop with Dr. Joanna Wolfe
Across public and social media, there is a tendency to treat quantitative evidence as facts that are above argument. Most students, indeed most people, tend to say things like “numbers speak for themselves” when instead they should ask, “what are these numbers being used to say and how?” The University of Texas recently hosted a lecture and workshop with Dr. Joanna Wolfe, Professor and Director of the Global Communications Center and at Carnegie-Mellon University. A graduate of UT’s Department of …
Adobe Creatives: What’s the Difference?
We are interrupting our usual broadcast of highly-fluent research narratives and pedagogical concerns to address an issue of practical import. Many curriculums now require a segment on visual literacy and infographic assessment (understandably, with the daily assault of information-rich images on web and other media sources), but this is quite a challenge for instructors who may feel shaky about making visual media. For anyone looking to introduce infographics in a way that incorporates Adobe Creative Suite or anyone who just …
Lesson Plan: Navigating Research with Mind Maps
Typically, when we think about data visualization, we think about a product–an infographic or chart that helps viewers understand and engage with complex information. Today, we’re doing something a little different and thinking about visualization as a tool for students to identify relationships and patterns in their research. We’ll start by introducing MindMup, a digital mindmapping tool, and present a basic how-to for its use. We are then going to use MindMup as a way to uncover relationships. Usually, mindmaps …