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Before we continue with the illustration resources for teachers, here are some basic things that you should know about illustrations.
What are illustrations?
Illustrations are visual explanations, interpretations, and decorations of a text, process, or concept, and they are designed to be included in digital or print published materials like magazines, flyers, books, posters, animations, films, video games, and teaching materials.
Basically, illustrators from around the world create illustrations frequently for different reasons. The most common way people use illustrations is to illustrate or portray written text. This strategy helps in telling a story or enhancing the text. Also, illustrations are provided in many ways, and this can be in digital form or traditional form.
Illustrations: iilustAC
They can also be colored drawings, or black and white drawings, both of which are widely used in different settings today. When it comes to teaching abstract information, illustrations come in really handy because they help in providing spatial metaphors for logical structure.
With the help of color, arrows, boxes, lines, space, and other elements, illustrations help in enhancing the idea of a concept or information. This is a learning process that teaches now applies a lot in the education sector.
One of the key things that you should know is that there are six interactive components for the learning process. They include graphomotor processing and organizing, language, memory, attention, and higher-order thinking. These are vital processes because they interact with each other and also with social skills, behavior, classroom climate, emotions, teachers, and even with family.
There are different research that shows that we can improve the ability to understand the concept and also increase engagement with the right teaching materials. Another important thing to note about illustrations is that they facilitate the ability of the memory to recall things. Other aspects that they help to enhance include recall, comprehension, problem-solving, and more.
The bottom line is that illustrations remain an effective tool that teachers can use to enhance learning. If you’re a teacher and you’re still wondering why you should illustrations to enhance teaching and learning, this article is for you. Continue reading to find out more about why you should use illustrations in teaching and learning. In this article, we’ll also go through the best illustration resources for teachers.
Why Should You Use Illustrations in Teaching and Learning?
Are you still wondering if it’s necessary to use illustrations in teaching and learning? Some teachers believe that you only need these illustrations for certain subjects, and it may not apply to every area of teaching. However, the fact always remains that when illustrations are incorporated into teaching, they help to enhance learning.
Here are some of the key reasons why you should use illustrations in teaching and learning:
1. To Create Long Lasting Memories
The most obvious reason why you should use illustrations in teaching and learning is to create long-lasting memories in your students. Basically, images are easier to remember than written texts. This is because it’s easier for the brain to process images and also access the processed images.
2. Make Communication Defter
In some cases, highlighting key points as bullets makes it easier for people to process the information contained in the content. However, the use of visuals always facilitates learning and the process of delivering information. Here are a few statics to support this claim:
There are up to 40% of nerve fibers are connected to the brain.
90% of the information that is conveyed to the brain is visual information
The brain processes visuals 60,000x faster than text
It takes only 13 milliseconds for the brain to see images
Humans can sense visual content within 1/10th of a second
The human eye registers more than 36,000 visual messages every hour.
From the above statistics, it’s clear that using illustrations and other visual elements is key for enhancing teaching and learning.
3. Support Better Comprehension
The use of visuals in teaching helps to guarantee clear and firm understanding. When combined with other components, like language, it increases the capacity to increase the human ability to absorb and comprehend information.
4. Act as Visual Stimuli
Another reason to use illustrations in learning is that they serve as a visual stimulant. Illustrations act on certain parts of the brain, and this helps them to generate strong and lasting memories, which is vital for learning.
5. Create Interest and Motivation
One of the reasons why students usually struggle with some subjects is because of a lack of interest which ultimately cause them to become bored with the subject. With illustrations, you can increase motivation. With increased motivation, students can easily comprehend subjects they initially had issues with.
These are the top 5 reasons why you should consider using illustrations in teaching and learning. The next thing we’ll look at is the best illustration resources for teachers. Continue reading to find out these illustration resources for teachers.
10 Best Illustration Resources for Teachers
1. illustAC
illustAC is a fast-growing illustration resource for teachers that are gaining popularity across the world. The website boasts of an endless list of resources that are handy for teachers to use to enhance learning. The main things you’ll find on the website include illustrations, logos, vectors, emblems, and many others. You can find royalty-free images on the website, and this implies that you don’t need to pay any public licensing fee.
Source: illustAC
As a teacher, there are many reasons to use these illustration resources for teachers. If you’re looking for a key way to improve learning, you can get the right illustration illustAC. Another interesting thing about this website is that all the illustrations are placed into different categories to make it easier for teachers to find the perfect illustration for their subject.
2. Pixabay
Pixabay is another amazing illustration resource for teachers and also one of the most popular options available. One of the features the platform boasts of is the search option that makes it easier for people to find the illustration they are looking for with much ease. Also, there are more than 2 million royalty-free and copyright-free vectors on the platform, which makes it a nice option for teachers.
Another reason why Pixabay is a great illustration resource for teachers is that it offers an amazing user interface. You can easily find any type of illustration, and you only need to input a keyword to find the exact illustration you want. It’s worth noting that you can also use the illustrations on Pixabay for other commercial purposes, in addition to using them to enhance teaching.
3. unDraw
Here’s another really popular illustration resource for teachers that you should consider checking. As a teacher, if you’re looking for a place where you can get illustrations to include in your lesson notes, this is a really nice place to consider checking. One of the amazing things about unDraw is the fact that it’s a really versatile platform to use. Regardless of the subject that you’re teaching, you can be sure to find the perfect illustration on unDraw.
The key features of the platform include the fact that you can easily customize the illustrations you get on the platform. Another key thing to note is that you can download the illustrations from this platform in different file formats. You also don’t have to bother about giving attribution to the images you download from the platform.
4. Freepik
Here’s another illustration resource for teachers who are looking to take their learning process to a completely different level. On Freepik, you’ll find thousands of vector images that you can use for different purposes, including for teaching. Like the other platforms above, you can also customize the images that you get on the platform, and this completely depends on your preferences.
Also, you can download illustrations from this platform in different file formats. The available options are EPS, AI, and SVG. Also, you don’t need to give attribution to the images that you get from Freepik.
5. Openclipart
The next illustration resource for teachers that you should consider checking is Openclipart, which currently boasts of more than 160,000 clipart, and they are all available for free use. Also, they are supplied in different styles and aesthetics, which makes them a perfect option for teachers looking to facilitate learning and comprehension.
Their website also has a large community of different artists, and you don’t have to give attributions to images from Openclipart. Also, you can download it in different file formats, depending on what suits you.
6. Flaticon
Flaticon is also one of the popular platforms where you can get icons and vector icons that you can use for different purposes. It’s also a great illustration resource for teachers, and anyone can use the illustrations that are provided on this platform. One of the main reasons why Flaticon was created was for use on Slides and Google Docs.
On Flaticon, you can download in different file formats, including EPS, Base64, PNG, SVG, and PSD. There are more than 2000 vectors that you can use on Flaticon, and they are all free to download. Also, you can make customizations to these icons before you download them.
7. VectorStock
Here’s a repository that has about 300,000 vector images, which makes it a great illustration resource for teachers. In addition to these vector images, you can also get logo designs like sports logos, monograms, and emblems on the platform, all of which are available for free download. These are also grouped by color, and you can be sure to find the perfect option for your lesson materials.
8. Vecteezy
Vecteezy shares a lot of similarities with illustAC, and they boast of more than 650,000 vector illustrations. Today, it’s one of the largest online databases, which also makes it a great illustration resource for teachers. It’s worth noting that their collection is grouped into different categories based on their license and their design.
A certain thing about using Vecteezy is that you can’t run out of options on the platform. Whether it’s an illustration, a logo, clipart, or even a video, you can be sure to find it on Vecteezy.
9. Vector4Free
Vector4Free is also an amazing illustration resource for teachers, and the site offers an impressive collection of illustrations. The site boasts a decent amount of illustrations that teachers can use for different subjects to enhance learning and facilitate comprehension.
You can download illustrations from this site in any file format, and the common formats are PDF, CDR, SVG, EPS, and AI.
10. Shutterstock
The last illustration resource for teachers that we’ll look at is Shutterstock, which is also one of the most popular platforms in the world today. Shutterstock is a great illustration resource for teachers, regardless of the subject that they teach. The platform boasts multiple illustrations, and you can find more than 50 million designs on Shutterstock.
Another reason why we consider it to be a great illustration resource for teachers is because of the unique editor, the image resizes, and the file converter that it offers.
Conclusion
The importance of illustrations in teaching and learning cannot be overemphasized, which is why we have taken the time to provide all the information that you need to know about illustrations and enhancing learning. In addition, we have also provided some of the best illustration resources for teachers.
There are currently so many options that you can choose from. However, we recommend illustAC as the best illustration resource for teachers or even anyone that’s looking for any type of illustration to use. On illustAC, you’ll find different illustrations, all of which are grouped into different categories. There’s also a search tool that you can use, and with this, you only need to type a keyword to find any type of illustration you want.
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