Info Design for Teachers

Enhance Classroom Technology With Information Design

Classrooms are full of hardware and software, yet teachers continue to ask how any of it makes them better teachers. Obviously, a computer does not make someone a better teacher. However, incorporating information design pedagogy into professional development programs may help teachers use technology in the classroom more effectively.

After a teacher learns basic information design principles, they can start focusing on creating documents and presentations that provide useful information. Instead of feeling pressured to use technology, teachers will feel free to select the technology tools that will help them meet the needs of their project. In addition, teachers that study information design will produce materials that reflect a more professional image.

Teachers are Information Designers

By most definitions, teachers are information designers. In her textbook, The Practical Guide to Information Design, author Ronnie Lipton defines information design as “the study and practice of bringing clarity and comprehensibility to visual materials that are meant to direct, teach, explain, or otherwise inform.”

Teachers practice information design when they create a worksheet, upload a web page, send an email, or  a prepare PowerPoint slide. Using information design principles helps make documents easier to understand and, therefore, more useful.

First Consider the Audience, Purpose and Context

An information designer starts a project by asking about the audience, the purpose, and the context. After determining these needs, the information designer chooses the tools that will help him or her meet the requirements of the project.

A teacher practicing information design will create worksheets that consider the needs of the users. For example, including instructions on a worksheet allows a parent to help their student at home. Including the grading criteria and deadlines helps a student plan homework priorities over a weekend. Including the teacher’s name, school, and email address provides contact information for parents, students, and colleagues.

A good lesson plan has a defined purpose, and the same is true for documents and presentations created for the lesson plan. Technology in the classroom provides many choices for presenting information. The trick is to use the right tool in the right situation.

A physical education teacher using a gymnasium presents information differently than a teacher using a traditional classroom. A physical education teacher might discuss basketball skills, and then let the students practice using actual basketballs. A classroom teacher might discuss the French Revolution, and then have the class visit the Chateau Versailles official Web site to see how the royal family lived.

An electronic medium like a Web site presents information differently than a oral presentation or a written document. For example, a Web site can provide links to additional information immediately. On the other hand, a handout with references is more appropriate for an oral presentation. A Web site allows students to work alone, whereas an oral presentation allows for more interaction and discussion.

Teachers Are Word Processors, Not Typists

Studying information design will help teachers become more familiar with the best practices, and the many benefits, of using word processing.

For example, many people learned that there should be two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence. Back in the days of typewriters, two spaces were required because the keys made all the letters the same width. Today, word processors use proportional spacing, which creates gaps when there are double spaces after a period. These gaps make the text more difficult to read. Therefore, the rule has changed to using one space after a period.

Email is an efficient means for teachers to communicate to students, parents, and administrators. However, poorly written emails can sometimes do more harm than good. Information designers learn to write concisely, and use text and spacing to make written documentation easier to read. Using numbering and short paragraphs in emails helps the reader navigate through the text more efficiently.

Figure 1: Although the text is too small to read, you can see that the worksheet on the right uses design elements to make the text easier to read.

These same concepts hold true for printed documents. Figure 1 shows two examples using the same text. Even though the text is too small to read, it is still apparent that the table on the right is easier to follow than the design used on the left. In addition, the design using the table allows space for instructions at the top. The example on the left has no extra space for instructions.

Teachers with a background in information design will write clear procedures, interesting presentations, and useful articles. They will not become graphic designers, but they will add images, tables, and color to documents, not as decorations, but as tools to clarify the purpose of the document.

The Documents Reflect An Image

A teacher’s first impression used to happen in the classroom. When students and parents walked into the classroom, they found clues about the teacher by looking at the bulletin boards, the desk configurations, and the pictures hanging on the walls.

Today, a teacher’s first impression probably comes from something outside of the classroom. Students and parents draw conclusions about a teacher’s ability through their website, their emails, their newsletters, and their worksheets. By using good information design practices, teachers will create documents that reflect their real capabilities as an education professional.

This issue extends beyond students and their parents. When elected officials and taxpayers see documents or receive emails created by educators that are unprofessional and inferior, it reflects poorly on the teacher, on the school, and on the district. Classrooms have tools that can help teachers maintain a more professional image, if they know how to design information correctly.

Stay On The Cutting Edge of Technology in the Classroom

This article started by saying that classrooms are full of technology, yet many teachers still ask how this technology makes them better teachers. These teachers are asking a fair question because most of their training has focused on learning how to use hardware and software, instead of how to design useful information.

Training resources for information design are readily available. Teachers can take information design classes at universities and colleges as part of their continuing education credits. In addition, the Society for Technical Communications can provide a list of local members who could offer classes through a school district’s professional development program.

Including information design in continuing education programs will help teachers understand how to use the technology in their classrooms more efficiently. As they embrace these principles, they will provide more useful written documents and oral presentations. Their students will learn more, the parents will have a better understanding of the goals of lesson plans, and educators will stay on the cutting edge of using technology in the classroom.

Jane DeChambeau began studying information design after helping teachers integrate technology in classrooms as a junior high library paraprofessional. Currently, she is a candidate for a Masters of Arts in Technical Communications from Boise State University.