Visual Literacy in the Classroom

      

“People learn more than half of what they know from visual information, but few schools have an explicit curriculum to show students . . . about visual data.” ~Mary Alice White, Columbia University researcher

Mary Alice wrote that quote during the nineteen eighties. Teachers are still learning and figuring out how to teach students visual literacy. 

Visual Literacy is “the ability to interpret and understand visual texts, with "texts" being broadly defined as any print visual item, including artwork, picture books, advertising, web sites, or any other item that can be visually interpreted.” (Hommel, Riegler, & Uhlrich, n.d.)  Students today are bombarded with images, text, and sound hundreds of times throughout the day. There is television, the World Wide Web, text messaging, smart phones, iPods, and whatever new device the engineers are dreaming up next sending information both good and bad to everyone who is linked into the information highway.  We need to start or continue finding ways to integrate more images into our teaching so students can be connected to their learning.   

Students today may be tech savvy, but they still need to learn what is real and what has been manipulated through electronic means. We all know the importance of pointing out to girls how cover models are photo-shopped and air brushed, but what about other images? (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Other Disorders) Recently a team of researchers decided to put out a fake story about the endangered tree octopus to see if students would figure out that this was obviously a fabricated story with a manipulated photo. Unfortunately the students believed the story because it was on the Internet! (Dykes, 2011)           

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/sightings.html

We need our students to become critical and creative thinkers for the 21^st century. Helping them learn how to analyze images will help them become more discerning about what they see and read on the Internet.  There are two ways to teach our students visual literacy. The first way has teachers help students “decode visuals through analysis.” And the other way has students “encode visuals as a ways for communication.” (Stokes, n.d.) Students need to learn how to interpret what they are seeing as well as learn how to use images properly for classwork and for real life presentations after they have graduated. 

Using appropriate images while we are presenting information is also important. Realizing that many of our students are visual  learners, including visuals is very important. Visuals can include timelines, mindmapping, videos from the Internet, paintings, and photographs. Visuals can be a very broad term. I am getting better at including images with my lectures. For example, while I'm telling stories about World War I bombers I can show movies of the planes and how the dogfights actually looked like. Students can see videos of a caterpillar metamorphosing into a butterfly. 

For visual-thinking creating mind-maps and timelines are very beneficial for students to see cause and effect, main ideas, and how ideas on a topic can be related.  I intend to create a Venn Diagram with my students showing the similarities and differences between the play "A Raisin in the Sun" and the movie "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."  It is a very eye-opening essay for the students when they start asking questions about race relations in the fifties and sixties compared to today.

 The Internet is very important in showing images to students. When I was a student teacher I spent a lot of money converting some Jacob A. Riis photographs into slides. My mentor teacher still has them. Thankfully those images can be viewed on the web and are a much higher quality than my slides. Being able to find images that are the perfect companion for lectures is always wonderful, especially when you don't have to leave your desk!

More Information:

What is 21^st Century Media Literacy?

Frank Baker’s Links for Visual Literacy

Internet Resources from the Association of College and Research Libraries

To help students tell the difference between what is real and what has been edited, they can try this quiz: Autodesk: Fake or Foto Challenge

References

Daly, J. (n.d.) “Life on the screen:  visual literacy in education.” Edutopia. Retrieved May 25, 2011      from http://www.edutopia.org/life-screen.

Dykes, B.M. (Feb., 2011).  “’Tree octopus’ is latest evidence that internet is making kids dumb, says  group.”  The Lookout, a Yahoo News Blog.  Retrieved May 24, 2001 from         http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110202/ts_yblog_thelookout/tree-octopus-is- latest-evidence-the-internet-is-making-kids-dumb-says-group.

Hommel, M.,  Riegler, B.,  and Ulrich, K. (n.d.) “Expanding the definition of visual literacy.” Retrieved  May 25, 2011 from http://ccb.lis.illinois.edu/Projects/youth/literacies/lit_home.html.

Miller, K. (January, 2011).  “Media advisory: schools facing learning crisis spawned by internet .”  Austin,                TX, Pearson. Retrieved May 23, 2011 from  http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/01  /prweb5010934.htm.

Stokes, S. (n.d.) “Visual Literacy in Teaching and Learning:A Literature Perspective.” Retrieved             May  25, 2011 from http://ejite.isu.edu/Volume1No1/pdfs/stokes.pdf.

21st Century Learning

Today's students are different from students of 30 years ago or even 15 years ago! As teachers we need to strive to meet our students where they are and give them the tools and strategies they need to grow and reach their potential. Students still learn the same way they always have, the teaching profession just has new labels and descriptions. Students have always learned in different ways and can be taught through a variety of different methods, only now teachers recognize this truth more and more. Students are different today since so many of them are immersed in technology unlike previous generations, including mine. I really agree with using scaffolding as a way of teaching and reaching today's learners, especially those familiar with online gaming. To play many of today's role-playing games, you have to first master basic skills before you are allowed to advance to the next level. Teaching should be similar to this. Marc Prensky, Dr. Judy Willis, and Dr. Jane M. Healy all are in agreement in this. Building upon prior knowledge as a stepping stone to acquiring new information and understanding is crucial for all students. This scaffolding can be done through a variety of techniques and strategies to address different learning styles.

An example would be teaching about the Renaissance. During a short lecture, maps, pictures of art and samples of music could be played to reach auditory and visual learners. In the computer lab students could engage in a web quest where they learn about daily life, the monarchy, and arts and sciences during that time. Students would be in groups and receive detailed information to help them find the information they need to complete the assignment. The groups could create their own presentation to share with the rest of the class. Students could also participate in simulations about the time period for further understanding and enlightenment. The teacher and students could work on a culminating project where they could come in period dress and prepare a skit to show other grades or put on a Renaissance Festival at the school.

This type of teaching unit covers Kinesthetic, Musical. Spatial, Interpersonal, as well as other Multiple Intelligences, it covers Bloom's and even has some of the 16 Habits of Mind. These kinds of lessons reinforces what students have learned and allows them to show their comprehension in a fun yet worthwhile way.

Technology helps myself and students to have quicker access to information as well as experiencing history in a way that was not possible before. With technology we can go on virtual field trips, interact with historical figures, and communicate through our class web page, wiki, and blog. All of this makes their time with me more interesting and engaging than if we had just textbooks alone. Even with just textbooks, I know I could still create in-class scenarios and simulations, but we would not be able to time travel like we can through the Internet.

As a society we are all impacted by the use of technology. How it impacts my students is up to me. I hope the impact will be meaningful and lead them to the enjoyment of learning about history and other people.