Activity 1: Creating an Infographic using Google Drawing

Description of Activity
Link to assignment: goo.gl/cESaeX

For this activity, I want students to learn how to take data and turn it into an infographic.  I imagine the students using Google Forms to create surveys to obtain the datasets necessary for the infographic.  This way, they can easily create graphs and charts to easily incorporate into the Google Drawings.

Google Drawings provides users with a little more control over what is put onto the page as the students are presented with a blank canvas.  They find the images to place on the page and add all of the information.
There are no templates that are ready to use, so I created a guide for the students using data that I collected from students and teachers. I came up with the idea, "3 things I learned today" in order to focus students on a few things.  I even gave the students a tray at the bottom to put in their own thoughts or off-the-cuff type of information they thought was fun, interesting, or just plain silly.

What I like about Google Drawings for this application:

• I love the ability to do whatever you want.  I think that Google has provided a very creative space for users to just use.
• Other sites focused on creating slick infographics are mostly pay, have very little options, and are generally generic.  They are also hard to work with on a Chromebook.
• The font selection is immense and diverse.  I tried to show students this diversity without getting totally crazy.  The three fonts I displayed are whimsical, serious, and handwritten.
• The picture search feature AUTOMATICALLY searches photos that are free use.  I believe this to be the strongest point of the entire program.
• Once I had an idea, it really only took about an hour to create this.
• Students can collaborate and work on items together.

What I didn't like about Google Drawings for this application:

• Having ultimate creative freedom can be a burden. It took me a while to get an idea of what I wanted to do and ended up staring at a blank page for a while.
• It's not Photoshop.  The tools are one thing, but the problem that I have with Drawing lies in the layering of the project.  It was really hard to get a sense of where each element was on the page. In Photoshop and Gimp, this is really easy to interact with and control.  Just not here.

Bottom Line:
Google Drawings is a pretty intuitive program for students to create fantastic looking pictures that can easily integrate elements of other Google Apps.  Of course, this App works really well with Chromebooks.  The only drawback for some students is that it does not offer the control that other programs might have, but this program should provide every user with the ability to create something amazing.