“Visual literacy is the ability to understand and use images. This includes to think, learn, and express oneself in terms of images.” (Lamb, 2001) We live in a society where we are surrounded by visual imagery. Whether it is street signs, posters, store displays, billboards, instructions, or even warnings, we are constantly exposed to images and we’re expected to interpret them.
Being able to decode imagery is an essential skill for today’s learners; and, they need to be able to evaluate what they see with a critical eye. Some images are designed to deceive, especially in advertising (and finance, apparently). Equally important, the ability to encode imagery is an essential skill for today’s workers. So, how are our children expected to learn these skills?
We have the opportunity every day to teach visual literacy to our students in elementary through high school. Students love visual stimulation. Videos, clip arts, graphs, illustrations, and pictures – we already use these because they are engaging to our students and can help deepen understanding of the content. We can take our teaching to the next level by letting the students discover key ideas through analysis of a visual. For example, instead of a teacher lecturing on the events leading to the Boston Tea Party, the students can be given a set of pictures (newspaper headlines, artist renderings, etc) and try to figure out what happened. After they’ve analyzed the images, they can compare their conjectures to the historical facts. This lends itself to higher order thinking skills and it creates a natural curiosity – Why did the colonials dump the tea into the harbor? What were they so angry about? ...
I intend to implement a variety of visual-thinking strategies in my classroom. I want my students to discover mathematical concepts for themselves. Not only will we use the internet for research, web quests and virtual field trips, but we will also visit websites such as www.explorelearning.com where students can see and discover math using Gizmos, or www.creately.com where students can collaboratively create graphic organizers. To top it all off, we will use programs like Windows Movie Maker or Photoshop to create presentations that synthesizes everything we’ve learned.
Sources:
Cinergix Pty. Ltd. (2008-2009) Creately: Online Diagramming and Design. Retrieved May 24, 2010 from http://www.creately.com/
ExploreLearning (2010). Experience Math and Science With Gizmos. Retrieved May 24, 2010 from http://www.explorelearning.com/
Lamb, Annette (2001). Visual Literacy. Retrieved May 23, 2010 from http://eduscapes.com/sessions/digital/digital1.htm
I found this video on youtube. It's a perfect example of today's
visual learner.
YouTube (2009). Gizmo Factor Trees by Cole. Retrieve May 25, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vN_GLy9tFA
Hi Sheryl,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the post. Question: If we insert links to our sources is citing a requirment in a blog?
Sheryl,
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting. The video is just a small segment, yet it made me curious about what else the site can do.
You have done a great job showing and explaining visual literacy. I like the arrows at the end of the street, I bet people that are not familiar with this are confused right away. The decoding skills are needed in many areas for students to do well. The young boy on the video was confident and wanted to share what he knew. This is usually created by the confidence that comes with understanding.
Great work,
Nancy Bedard