Trends in Visual Storytelling

By -
People have been telling visual stories for a very long time. When I grew up it was all about using a camera (with film!) or drawing with colored pencils.  Times sure have changed and it's no wonder that today's visual stories are much more interesting and flashy. 

 Gone are the days of a simple image growing the interest and success of marketing an idea. New trends in visual storytelling today include GIFs, real-time broadcasts, and infographics.  

 GIFs are really starting to take off in popularity even though they have been around for quite a while.
http://www.gifsmile.com/sound-waves-gif-animation

A series of still images looping one after another creates an animation that can visually explain a concept.  

If you would like to create your own GIF I recommend a site called Picasion.  Simply upload a series of images to create your GIF.  Makeagif.com is a site that will create a GIF from images, a YouTube video, an uploaded video or a webcam.   
Students could create GIFs to demonstrate the steps for solving a math problem, or showing a physics equation. Students could also create a how-to GIF or even a GIF to show a transformation of a living thing.

Real-time broadcasts are also growing in popularity.  Meerkat and Periscope are two such apps.  Periscope grew out of Twitter and is quickly becoming a phenomenon.  If you haven't given Periscope a try, I highly recommend checking it out. There is something about broadcasting an event live and in person that gives this storytelling 
app an edge above other apps and also gives others a chance to interact in real time while the story unfolds.  Students could broadcast a presentation or a science experiment live.



Infographics explain a concept in a very visual and factual way. Even the most complex information can be displayed in an understandable way with an infographic.  

http://sciblogs.co.nz/visibly-shaken/2010/08/12/natures-light-show-infographic/
I recommend using Pictochart or Easel.ly for creating your own infographics. Both of these sites have templates to help you get started.  Students could collect and display data on a historical event,  science concept, famous person(s), or on a specific location in the world.   Infographics tell a story in a uniquely creative and critical way.

 What is your favorite app or site for visual storytelling? How might you use that tool?  I'd love to hear from you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Concrete Poetry Sites - This Is So Much Fun!

By -
Image
Poetry Month is Right Around the Corner Are you getting ready for Poetry Month in April? If so, I have some resources to share with you for creating concrete poems. Concrete poems are words written in a shape to convey a poem. They look like this: Recently I went on a mission to search for a site to use with a fellow colleague and her students. They wanted to make concrete poetry on their Chromebooks. There aren't many sites that allow the user to actually write words into any shape.  There is the Read, Write, Think interactive for Theme Poetry.  Here is what it looks like. The words can be added inside of a shape. The interactive guides students through the writing process There is a site from WildAboutWoods.org  where a person can choose a shape or draw one of their own and add words inside of the shape. There are word banks to choose from or a person can type in their own words to add to the shape. I like that adding words is as simple as click and drag f
Read more

Buncee Can Be Used in Many Ways - Presentations, Blended Learning or a Student Showcase

By -
Image
Buncee is a Great Site I learned About This Past Summer If you are an educator I recommend going to edu.buncee.com  This is a free site that allows you to create a slideshow type presentation, but also can be used to blend learning for a lesson or even as a student portfolio or showcase. Your students will enjoy creating content with Buncee as well. When you first open a Buncee you are able to choose a background  from their gallery, from the web or upload an image of your own. Next you can choose from many different types of media to add objects to your page. Once your page is created you can add additional pages and view your Buncee in preview mode whenever you want. I love all of the options for adding media to your pages. The animations, drawings, videos, and stickers make your slides visually appealing. One of the richest types of media you can add is a 360 degree image from Buncee's gallery. These images allow the audience to click and scroll to view
Read more