I usually post about education topics, but sometimes there are other things in my wired life… like the iPhone. I currently have an iPhone 3GS, love it, use it extensively. I am, however, likely to upgrade to an iPhone 5 when they come out. I won’t be camping out to get it. I’ll get it when it is convenient for me, when I don’t have to wait in a long line, etc.

The post was prompted by Mashable’s iPhone 5 infographic, “iPhone 5 Infographic: Will You Upgrade?”. This is where the connection to education comes in….

Is this information something I needed? No, but was it interesting? Yes. Would I have spent time reading an article that told me the same information? Probably not. Did I spend the two minutes it took to “read” the infograhic? Yes. I probably got more out of the infographic than I would have from text.

Infographics are incredible teaching tools. The New York Times did a series of articles about teaching/learning with infographics  (intro article: Aug. 23, 2010 ). Infographics are powerful, visual teaching tools for giving kids information.

Richard Byrne (of FreeTechnology for Teachers fame) points out, “Viewing infographics can be helpful, but designing an infographic is a better way for students to increase their understanding of data sets.” That’s our next challenge – having students build their own infographics. Check out 10 Aweseme Free Tools to Make Infographics from the  makeuseof blog.