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By Ayisha Brailsford
* Visual Literacy refers to the learned ability to interpret visual massages accurately and to
create such messages.
*
* Visual Literacy
can be delivered through two major approaches:
helping learners to decode, or "read", visuals proficiently by
practicing visual analysis skills and helping learners to encode,
or "write", visuals to express themselves and communicate with
others.
* Seeing a visual does not automatically ensure that one will learn
from it. Learners must be guided toward correct decoding of
visuals. One aspect of visual literacy, then, is the skill of
interpreting and creating meaning from visuals.
*
Encoding: Creating Visuals
Another aspect of visual literacy is the ability to
create visual presentations. You should
encourage students to present reports to the
class by carefully selecting images from a CD or
online collection, which can help them to develop
their aesthetic talents.
* Let's Explore the six types of visuals commonly found in the
classroom: pictures, drawing, (including sketches and
diagrams), charts, graphs, posters, and cartoons.
*
* Pictures are photographic (or photograph-like) representations of people,
places, and things. They are readily available on the internet and in books,
magazines, and newspaper.
*
* Drawings, sketches, and diagrams employ the graphic
arrangement of lines to represent persons, places, things, and
concepts. Drawings are readily found in textbooks and
computer-based materials.
*
* Charts are visual representations of abstract relationships such as
chronologies, quantities, and hierarchies. They appear frequently as
tables and flowcharts.
*
*
Graphs provide a visual representation of numerical data. They also
illustrate relationships among units of data and trends over time.
*
Posters can incorporate visual
combinations of images, lines,
colors, and words. They are
intended to capture and hold the
viewer's attention at least long
enough to communicate a brief
message, usually a persuasive
appeal.
*
Cartoons are drawings that are
rough caricatures of real
fictional people, animals, and
events. They appear in a variety
of print media, newspapers,
periodicals, and textbooks.
*
* Provide a concrete referent for ideas
* Make abstract ideas concrete
* Motivate Learners
* Direct Attention
* Repeat Information
* Recall Prior Learning
* Reduce Learning Effort
*
* The visual selected for a particular situation should depend on the
learning task. Visuals can be subdivided into six categories.
Realistic Visuals show the actual object under study. They can
translate abstract ideas into a more realistic format, allowing
instruction to move from one level of abstract symbols on the
concrete-abstract continuum to a more concrete level.
*
*Analogical Visuals
Analogical Visuals convey a
concept or topic by showing
something else and implying a
similarity.
*Organizational
Organizational visuals show the
qualitative relationships among
various elements, Common
examples include classification
charts, timelines, flowcharts,
and maps.
*
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Relational visuals
communicate
quantitative
relationships.
Examples include bar
and pie charts or line
and pictorial graphs.
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*
Transformational
visuals illustrate
movement or
change in time and
space.
Interpretive visuals illustrate
theoretical or abstract
relationships. Examples
include a schematic diagram
of an electrical circuit, the
food pyramid, or an
evacuation plan.
*
There are many ways to view visuals in a classroom
*
Presentation Software
provides a format for
displaying computer-based
visuals with a digital
projector. The most widely
known presentation software
is a PowerPoint.
*Presentation Software
Digital Images
Visuals can be captured and
stored in a digital format by
using a digital camera or a
scanner. Digital storage
methods include CDs, DVDs,
portable storage devices,
and computer hard drives.
*
The overhead projector
system is still widely used in
classrooms because of its
availability, low cost, and
ease of use.
*
Designing a visual begins with gathering or producing the individual pictorial and text elements that you
expect to use.
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Arrangement
Balance
Legibility
Color
Appeal
Universal Design
*
Planning is an important component of creating visuals
Planning
Lettering
Techniques
Drawing
Sketching, and
Cartooning.
Designing
Visuals
with
Computers
Creating
Presentatio
n Graphics
Creating
Overhead
Transparen
cies
* The End