1. Visual Literacy As UDL Solution
Part I.

2. Definition of Visual Literacy
The ability to “discriminate and interpret the visible actions, objects, symbols, natural or man-made, that he encounters in his environment.”
The ability to “communicate with others through the creative use of these competencies.”
Debes, J. (1969), International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA)

3. Visual Literacy: An alternative literacy Images as texts
A source of primary source materials
Visual encoding and decoding
Critical examination of the world

4. Why Visual Literacy?

5. Why Visual Literacy? Offers a different modality in learning
Provide a significant source of information and understanding
It is an important 21st century literacy skill
Students’ fascination with visuals

6. Visual Images & Visual Texts
Photographs
Drawings
Maps
Cartoons
Portraits
Charts
Diagrams
Tables
Storyboard
Graphic organizers

7. Meaning Making Visuals (Primary & Secondary Traditional Sources)
Textbook
Other Media
Other
Texts

8. Examine this photo

9. Type your answers to all questions [Use a different color]
What do you see in the photo? Write down everything that caught your eye. The first thing I noticed was the big African-American man standing in a mass of what seems to be cacausin people. I figured it looked like some sort of church gathering of some sort. It looks like a rally. I notice that there are both black and white people and they are all facing the same way.
When do you think this was taken? Where do you think this was? I would predict probably around the 1930s. This picture could literally be from anywhere but I would say maybe the Mid West Kansas type area perhaps?It could be the 1950s or 60s. It looks like it is after desegregation. It looks rural, so maybe Oklahoma.
Write a caption for the photo. [Note: a caption is a short line of text used to explain a phot]
”Lord Jesus, hear out prayer”

10. What is the difficult part in the previous task
What is the difficult part in the previous task? Type your answers below.
The most difficult part would probably having some sort of context to put the picture in. If you know nothing about history or what sort of events took place in recent history (last 150 of so) I wonder how you could put this picture in any sort of relevent context.

11. Now, choose one caption that you think fits the image from below
Now, choose one caption that you think fits the image from below. Change your choice to blue color.
On a hot summer day in 1947, these spectators watch the final moments of a tense baseball game. Some fans are yelling in disapproval at the umpire because they don't like a call he made.
Entertainer Paul Robeson sings to laborers working at the racially integrated Moore Shipyards in Oakland, California, on September 21, 1942.
A mournful crowd gathers to watch the funeral procession of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. drive past.

12. Type your answers in red.
What did you see in the picture that makes you say that?
I saw a guy standing that either shows he’s singing or preaching.
What are the visual clues you noticed that make you think that particular caption goes with that picture?
The same thing as I stated above. The African-American man standing in a crowd of white people.

13. Reflect and Answer
What have you learned about visual literacy from this simple task? That there are many type of impressions to be made by looking at a picture without any caption.
Find out what type of a learner you are by finishing a VARK learning style questionnaire:
What is the result of your questionnaire?
You have a multimodal (VR) learning preference.
Use the following helpsheets for study strategies that apply to your learning preferences:
multimodal visual read-write

14. Visual Literacy
Part II.

15. Visual images as learning texts
Visual images are
incomplete, subjective witnesses.
For example, photographs are open to varying interpretations from differing perspectives.
These perspectives change depending upon:
• the technological, aesthetic, and rhetorical components of the medium; and
• the context of people (photographer, viewer, subject), technology, time, and place.
Prof. Mark Newman, NLU

16. Visual images as learning texts
The nature of the photographic medium
Technology, aesthetics, rhetoric
Visual images as learning texts
Technology of cameras and film in the early 1900s:
Black and white photos
Rule of Thirds in
composition:
foreground,
center,
background

17. Visual images as learning texts
The varying perspectives
Photographer
Visual images as learning texts
“Provided the results are a faithful reproduction of what the photographer believes
he sees, whatever takes place in the making of a picture is justified. In my opinion,
therefore, it is logical to make things happen before the camera and when possible,
to control the actions of the subject.”
-- Arnold Rothstein, Farm Security Administration photographer
“While photographs may not lie, liars may photograph.”
--Lewis Hine, pioneer documentary photographer

18. Visual images as learning texts
The varying perspectives
Viewer
Visual images as learning texts
Most visual images, such as photographs, are familiar.
We see them everyday. They are a part of our daily lives.
The way we see things is affected by what we know or believe
We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice.
--John Berger, Ways of Seeing

19. Visual images as learning texts
How can all students use this photograph to learn about European immigration to the United States in the early 1900s?
What does this photo suggest about European immigrants entering the United States at Ellis island in the early 1900s.?
What does the photo not tell us about
European immigrants entering
the United States at Ellis island in the early 1900s?
Because photographs are incomplete and subjective texts,
they seldom yield one right answer.
They also raise more questions than they answer,
meaning they can help students connect to other learning resources.

20. Answer questions
Answer the three questions asked about the black & white photo in the previous slide (slide #19). Type your answers in red below:
1) It shows the fashion, quality of photograph, and the way Ellis Island (at least this small portion) looked in the early 1900s.
2) To me, it suggets most of the immigrants were male, that they were better dressed then we are now, and that they brought only small amounts of luggage with them.
3) It does not tell us about the hardships of their lives back home. It does not tell us about the journey to Ellis Island. It does not tell us who these individuals are or where they come from. It doesn’t tell us more then what it does tell us.

21. Briefly summarize what you have learned from the part II—Visuals as image texts. Any new insights about using visuals, including visual primary sources to teach?
They are a good way to use open-ended questions and to get students to think about things in ways they never did before. This could be a great tool for students who are very imaginative and even those who are not. Visual primary sources seem to be a great way to get a students attention right away. It is something for them to focus on and discuss about.