Visual Content Completes the ARC: The Value Of Appeal, Retention, and Comprehension

Source: Little Bits of Big History

The influence of visual media on how content is communicated and consumed plays an enormous role in how we synthesize information. So it is no surprise that A&E History partnered with the design firm Column Five to produce Little Bits Of Big History. We’ve been big fans of Column Five as one of the leaders in developing visual communication that educates, engages, and inspires – all core parts of its mission. These mini-infographics, along with their accompanying short animations, illustrate a selection of history facts on a variety of subjects from a "just because it’s interesting" approach.

Source: Little Bits of Big History

Each of these little gems is colorful, engaging, and informative. They’re not only ideal to use in any classroom, but they also provide clear stylistic approaches as guides for learners to follow in designing their own bits of information. They fall into the “ARC” of visual thinking – Appeal, Retention, and Comprehension.

Source: Column Five

The images catch viewers' attention, help retain what they see, and assist with comprehension. Take a look at Column Five’s infographic on “Why Your Brain Loves Visual Content” to view how making content more visual increases its impact and effectiveness because of ARC.

Source: Little Bits of Big History

The wide variety of tech savvy tools to make one's own infographics and animations provides a great way for students to present content. The research does not require a huge amount of time, and leaving the topics open to student choice could yield some interesting facts. It is an interesting and effective way to share information for any discipline. We can easily see these used for historical tidbits, scientific morsels, mathematical crumbs, and more.

Who knows, maybe we can start our own in-house trivia channel? We’re sure our kids would love that, and for them, audience definitely matters.