Flowcharts
Whether you’re doing laundry or designing a product, every task follows a process—and flowcharts help you see it clearly. This short explainer introduces flowcharts and shows how they can help you visualize steps, improve efficiency, and share knowledge with others. Watch now to learn how a few simple shapes can make complex processes easier to understand.
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Standards
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About this video
Almost everything we do—making coffee, getting dressed, or solving a technical problem—follows a series of steps. When those steps are written down or shared, they can get confusing. That’s where flowcharts come in.
This video explains how flowcharts help us visualize and understand processes. Using the example of doing laundry, it walks through each shape in a typical flowchart: ovals for starting and ending points, rectangles for activities, diamonds for decisions, arrows for flow, and even parallelograms for inputs.
As we follow the laundry process—gathering clothes, sorting them, choosing water temperature, and checking for stains—we see how mapping out each action and decision reveals opportunities for improvement. What’s more, the flowchart becomes a tool that can help others understand and follow the same steps.
Flowcharts aren’t just for chores. Organizations use them to design better systems, solve bottlenecks, and train people in everything from airport operations to computer programming. The video shows how a clear process map can lead to better results, less confusion, and smarter teamwork.
Educational Standards
Flowcharts help you turn complex tasks into clear steps. This video shows learners how to use flowcharts to better understand processes, communicate them to others, and identify opportunities for improvement. It’s a simple but powerful tool for anyone who wants to think more clearly and work more efficiently.
By the end of this video, you’ll be able to:
- Understand why visualizing a process is key to improving it.
- Use a flowchart to break down tasks into clear, step-by-step actions.
- Recognize how flowcharts are used in everyday life and professional settings.
- Create a basic flowchart using standard shapes for activities, decisions, and outcomes.
Educational Standards
ISTE
The International Society for Technology in Education defines standards for students, educators, and leaders integrating technology into learning.
ACRL
The Association of College and Research Libraries framework identifies the core concepts and practices that define information literacy in higher education.
This video maps to the following standards.
- ISTE Standard: Computational Thinker, Indicator 5c
- ACRL Info Literacy Frame: Information Creation as a Process
