Kayla Visual Literacy

The best definition that I found for Visual literacy was “Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image, extending the meaning of literacy, which commonly signifies interpretation of a written or printed text. Visual literacy is based on the idea that pictures can be “read” and that meaning can be communicated through a process of reading” (Wikipedia). I felt that this definition encompassed the many aspects of visual literacy. Becoming literate in visual literacy includes becoming familiar with images and how to interact with them. This involves a lot of practice, especially in a classroom. Students can often read images before they can read words and this skill needs to be reinforced as they continue on with schooling. An important way to enhance this skill is through the use of speaking and listening. Discussing images will help students see other perspectives besides their own and learn a lot from what their peers have to say. This is also engaging to students when they do not seem interested in images. Having text with images is a helpful strategy to get students thinking about what pictures are saying however, sometimes words can stump student’s imagination. If they read a caption they may not try to read the image. However, if there is an explanatory caption and the students still discuss the image together this will show students that there are more to images than simply their captions.

As I continue my research I am becoming more familiar with the different types of images and activities that can go along with the images. There are many different strategies to use while reading the meaning of an image. I had no idea how much I did as I read images but now that I am learning the strategies I realize what goes into evaluating an image. I was surprised how important of a skill this was. So many important messages are within images.

The students in my second grade classroom see images everywhere they go. However, they do not often discuss or evaluate them. I think it would be great if more image evaluation could be done within the classroom. They are beginning to read longer books which often do not have many images if any at all. The teacher reads chapter books to them. I think it would be great to incorporate a few picture books or graphic novels where the students have the ability to discuss the images and what they are adding to the story. This exercise would help them directly interact with images and learn from them instead of just finding answers within the text.

The technology that my group has decided to use is Prezi. No one in my group has ever used a prezi so we are using this project as a means to explore this technological tool. I have seen Prezi used in a lot of classroom settings in order to present information either directly to a class or as supplemental information for students to look at on their own time. I think it is an engaging way to teach a lesson and offers a more interesting way to present information. Instead of the traditional PowerPoint you can use Prezi which is more interactive. You can directly insert YouTube videos that will play in the presentation and add links that are clickable. Being able to put these resources directly into the presentation is a way to make the information more interactive.

This is a great tool to teach about visual literacy because it is completely all visual. There are images and text working together to teach. The images can move and be interactive with the student. The student will definitely need to read and visually evaluate the images in the presentation. There will also be listening involved since we are able to incorporate videos. However, I do find it challenging to make a two-way conversation. It is interactive since the student can be in charge of going through the slides however, we have no way to know exactly how they are using the information or get feedback from them. This is a limitation.

The way the text is written is very similar to traditional print/PowerPoint options. However, the way they interact with the images can be quite different since images are able to move on Prezi. My students are familiar with Smart Boards so using Prezi as a means to present information would be very similar to what they are used to. They would need to read the text as well as the images. However, if they had to work a Prezi on their own they would need more technology skills in order to move slides, play videos, click links, etc. My students are not very technology savy and would have difficulty with these tasks. We would need to have a lesson on how to use the computer. This could easily be done during their technology time where they each get a laptop at their desk. I would go through the various buttons with the students and answer any questions they might have. This would allow the students to work at their own pace through the lesson. Through using Prezi I am noticing how important images can be to learning in the classroom.