Think Visually Learning Resources Course, CBU August 2008 Instructor: Brenda Mac Isaac

Visual Texts/Resources

Visual resources can be categorized into a number of categories: Print (visuals in magazines, newspapers, books, etc. Examples: photographs, posters, graphs, diagrams, art reproductions, pictures…..) Internet (websites, interactive activities, virtual trips, videoconferencing, telecommunication…) Video (film, movies, short video clips, broadcasts, documentaries…) Visual Tools (cameras, camcorders, LCD projectors, overhead projectors….) Visual Productivity tools (multimedia programs, image editing software, computer design, spreadsheets-graphing options….) Visual Resources All these resources can be used in the classroom.

Can you ‘read’ the following images? What meaning do they convey?

If you could ‘read’ the images on the previous slide, then you have demonstrated that you are visually literate. If you can read a map, draw a diagram or interpret symbols then you are visually literate. What is visual literacy? Based on the idea that visual images are a language, visual literacy can be defined as the ability to understand and produce visual messages. or construct meaning from a photo

Visual literacy is being able to make meaning from visual resources - print, media, internet, and video resources. It is the ability to understand, use, and create both m o v i n g and static images to communicate with others and represent ideas. It is the ability to think and learn in terms of images. More detail:

A text is anything with which we make meaning. Books, websites, videos, even smiles and gestures can be thought of as texts. A visual text makes its meanings with images,or with meaningful patterns and sequences. What are some examples of visual texts ? Visual texts can be maps, photographs, art, diagrams, tables or charts, graphs, timelines, cutaways and cross sections, graphic organizers, facial expressions, movies, video clips, ads, ….

A television show is a visual text.

Ashape, such as a triangle, conveys information visually.

A bill board is a visual text.

A flow chart is a visual text.

A piece of art work is a visual text.

A calendar is a visual text.

A photograph is a visual text.. What can you ‘read’ from this photo?

What can you ‘read’ from this visual? An wedding topping is a visual text.

An advertisement is a visual text. What message does this visual convey?

A graph is a visual text. Visually appealing Easy to see comparisons, patterns, and trends Chart updated automatically to reflect changes in data

A flow diagram is a visual text.

A cut away diagram is a visual text.

Concept Mapping NECC 2006, Molly Carbo California Technology Assistance Project - Region 10 NECC 2006, Molly Carbo California Technology Assistance Project - Region 10 A graphic organizer is a visual text.

Classification NECC 2006, Molly Carbo California Technology Assistance Project - Region 10 NECC 2006, Molly Carbo California Technology Assistance Project - Region 10

A movie is a visual text.

A face is a visual text. What can you ‘read’ from these faces?

Visual texts range from diagrams to documentaries. They can be printed (such as an atlas) or electronic (such as a DVD). They can be fiction (such as a movie) or non-fiction (such as a map). Visual messages are everywhere: on street signs, in books, on television news and packaging. Even the buildings we inhabit and the clothes we wear convey visual messages. Although visual texts make meaning with images, they don't have to be without words: in fact, words and images are often combined to make the meaning. Think of a map: the words are needed to name the places, while the images are needed to show where places are and the distances between them. Visual Texts

Why use visual texts? Some kinds of information are best expressed in words, but others are more clearly expressed visually. These visual texts do the job better than the "same information" written out in words alone. What messages/information do these photos convey? Which is faster in communicating the message–print text or visual text? Which is more memorable? Reason #1

The Brain’s Cortex “As human beings, our brains are wired for images. According to research … we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. This is because we take in all the data from an image simultaneously while we process text in a sequential fashion.” Lynell Burmark, Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn Why use visual texts? Humans process images an amazing 60,000 times faster than text. Reason #2

The Power of Color Color is a powerful communicator The power of color –we react physiologically and psychologically in different ways to different various colors. Color improves retention by more than 75 percent and accounts for 60 percent of the acceptance of an object. Reason # 3 Why use visual texts? Locating a target word in a document is speeded up 74 percent by printing that word in color. Plus, recall of that highlighted item is 55 percent greater. How can you use this information in your classroom? One way to use color to teach is to use the strategy of ‘color coding’. ( see following pages.)

Summarizing and note-taking are key strategies for supporting student achievement. Teaching students the specific structure of writing using the strategy of color coding allows them to predict where types of information are likely to be found when they are reading expository text. Research has shown that making students aware of the explicit structure of expository text helps them to be able to more easily make meaning from the text. It also helps them in retelling or summarizing the information. Adding other cues, such as the italics, bold print, different font styles or sizes, underlining, etc. can help students who are color blind stay with the class. Why color code texts?

Use of Color in Text: Color Coding My favorite animal is a horse. Horses help people in many ways. They have been a good form of transportation throughout history. They are still used today on farms and ranches to help people do their jobs. Horses are also beautiful animals to watch. Many people enjoy watching horses race. I think horses are really man’s best friend. This example activity is taken from:

Use of Color in Text My favorite animal is a horse. Horses help people in many ways. They have been a good form of transportation throughout history. They are still used today on farms and ranches to help people do their jobs. Horses are also beautiful animals to watch. Many people enjoy watching horses race. I think horses are really man’s best friend.

Topic Sentence My favorite animal is a horse. Horses help people in many ways. They have been a good form of transportation throughout history. They are still used today on farms and ranches to help people do their jobs. Horses are also beautiful animals to watch. Many people enjoy watching horses race. I think horses are really man’s best friend.

Supporting Detail or Fact My favorite animal is a horse. Horses help people in many ways. They have been a good form of transportation throughout history. They are still used today on farms and ranches to help people do their jobs. Horses are also beautiful animals to watch. Many people enjoy watching horses race. I think horses are really man’s best friend.

Explanations and Examples My favorite animal is a horse. Horses help people in many ways. They have been a good form of transportation throughout history. They are still used today on farms and ranches to help people do their jobs. Horses are also beautiful animals to watch. Many people enjoy watching horses race. I think horses are really man’s best friend.

Supporting Detail or Fact My favorite animal is a horse. Horses help people in many ways. They have been a good form of transportation throughout history. They are still used today on farms and ranches to help people do their jobs. Horses are also beautiful animals to watch. Many people enjoy watching horses race. I think horses are really man’s best friend.

Explanations and Examples My favorite animal is a horse. Horses help people in many ways. They have been a good form of transportation throughout history. They are still used today on farms and ranches to help people do their jobs. Horses are also beautiful animals to watch. Many people enjoy watching horses race. I think horses are really man’s best friend.

Conclusion My favorite animal is a horse. Horses help people in many ways. They have been a good form of transportation throughout history. They are still used today on farms and ranches to help people do their jobs. Horses are also beautiful animals to watch. Many people enjoy watching horses race. I think horses are really man’s best friend.

Learning science, technology, social studies, health and nutrition, history and geography, mathematics, arts and crafts all rely on visual texts such as maps, diagrams, graphs, timelines, tables, and so on. Using these visual texts in the various subject areas improves student understanding and achievement by… Why use visual texts? Reason # 4 Brain-based research has shown that Visual Literacy supports classroom practice in many ways across the curriculum.

Visual Literacy Improves Student Learning By … Clarifying Thinking Deepening Under- standing Increasing Retention Helping in Conceptualizing Solutions to Problems Helping To Build New Knowledge Tapping Creativity

Why use visual texts? Reason #5

Our youth has grown up with television. The average teen has watched about 22,000 hours by the time she graduates from high school. (Compare this to the 12,500 hours spent sitting in classrooms!) What does this tell us about the learning styles of today’s students? How can schools increase their influence?

Students today tend to be more visual learners than in previous generations because their world is rich in visual stimuli. Visual genres and mediums now dominate communication; photographs, television, film, video, the internet, cartoons, posters, t-shirts, comics, multi media presentations and computer simulations. Therefore, ‘increasingly, an argument can be mounted that a literate person in contemporary western cultures is, first and foremost, someone who is able to recognize, read, analyze and deploy a variety of visual genres and mediums’ (Schirato & Yell 1996, p. 209).

And our children are coming to the very visual medium of computers at an earlier and earlier age…

Therefore, "We need to work with today's learners in the medium of their generation..." Steve Jobs Teachers need to design learning materials and opportunities that capitalize on what we know about how our students prefer to learn.

What can we use visual texts for? How can we integrate visual literacy and visual texts into the curriculum? Teachers need to realize that visual literacy is not an add-on but an important part of learning in any of the content areas. In science, students can be taught how to read a cross-section diagram or can show what they know about a topic (water cycle) by constructing a flow chart with labels and captions. In social studies, students can use a timeline to illustrate their knowledge of a particular era or they could be taught strategies for reading a map. In ELA, students could read a graphic novel or they could tell a story digitally. In math students could use manipulatives regularly and use visual representation to find solutions to problems.

To find out more about using visual resources in the classroom and to find out about activities that will help students read and construct various types of visual texts, please return to the module. Return to the Module Sources of information and graphics for this power point can be found on the next slide.

NECC2006 conference presentation (PPT) NECC2006 conference presentation Sources