Stacey Fisher's NLP notes

Being visually literate encompasses a large majority of my classmates’ definitions as to be visually literate means to discriminate and interpret the visible actions, objects, images and symbols, natural or man-made, that one encounters in the environment, and the meaning can be comprehended or communicated from reading visually. One colleague even said, “  If you can read a map, draw a diagram or interpret symbols like (insert bicycle symbol) or (inset no dogs allowed symbol) then you are visually literate. Visual literacy is the reading and writing of visual texts. (http://k-8visual.info). “ Reading maps, using diagrams and interpreting symbols is a major part of visual literacy. Everyday we use our sight to determine which door to enter or exit, which bathroom to use in public, how to find a destination by using a map, to help us drive in an orderly fashion (stopping at stop signs, following the speed limit), how to interpret graphs, take meaning from an photograph or piece of art, etc and even communicate with others. We are surrounded by images that speak to us and ultimately control our life so visual literacy is more than just the ability to read and write it is about using our vision to extract meaning and use this to inform our life. Several definitions also included the use of technology and the part it plays in literacy. We as humans now read on laptops, iPads, tablets, kindles, cell-phones, etc. Again, visual literacy can be applied as the font, use of CAPS, information presented on the internet, pictures, and videos all play a part in technology. Again, VISUAL LITERACY IS EVERYWHERE! It can be applied across all other “literacies” as well. In geo-literacy students are using maps, reading maps, creating maps, exploring the water cycle and ecosystems, which can all be visually represented. Additionally, in emotional literacy a person’s emotions can be visually interpreted. If someone is crying one often attributes that with being sad, if someone is laughing and smiling one often attributes that with being happy. Furthermore, cultural literacy includes knowing about different cultural groups. One can use pictures and their ability to read to inform themselves as well as communicating with people from different backgrounds. So, the traditional literacies play a huge role in becoming visually literate. We use our eyes to read, help us write and read or interpret writing, speak (using body communication, sign language, emotions, gestures) and mainly view the world around us. The one traditional literacy element that is not necessarily used in visual literacy is “listening”.  Many aspects of visual literacy do not include listening. For example, reading a sign, symbol, logo, price tag, caption to a picture does not require any sound. In fact, those who are deaf use sign language to communicate but require vision to see and comprehend what is being communicated. Also, one could watch a performance or movie without sound and understand what is taking place either through body language, emotions, use of props, actions, or even captions. While hearing may help in this literacy, it is not a crucial element.

I am learning how much of the world around us revolves on having vision as everyday we use visual literacy. Before starting this project I understood that literacy was reading and writing but never realized how much images played a part in life.

Visual literacy offers advantages to all students in the classroom as Venn Diagrams,

concept maps, outlines, flow charts, diagrams in science, graphs, manipulatives, and pictures can help all students organize, synthesize, analyze and ultimately understand the material. ELL students can definitely benefit from visual literacy and sometimes using images can be an easier way to help convey information. Also, younger children love pictures, as the colors, textures, and elements within the illustrations help them make sense of what is going on. Furthermore, younger students are just learning to write so drawing a picture may be a better way to represent their thoughts and ideas. While they not be able to read a book, some can tell you that a green light means go, waving can symbolize saying “hello” or “goodbye”, and the golden arches represents McDonalds, etc.

I believe most students in my classroom have become visually literate. Although some students were born in another country, may speak another language and may even express themselves differently, they seem to be accustomed to the norms here in the United States. By this I mean, even the student who is a refugee from Africa, has not had more than 3 years of schooling and speaks another language could indentify several symbols, logos, gestures and extract meaning from photographs. While students may have difficulty using a Venn Diagram, using a timeline or flow chart and creating or interpreting graphs, they can still be considered visually literate. Visually literacy is a never-ending opportunity to learn as different cities, states and countries may represent things differently. In Michigan we have deer crossing signs, in South Africa they had baboon-warning signs, and we represent our distance traveled in miles and in other countries they represent their distance traveled in kilometers.

The students in my classroom are in fifth grade and this type of literacy is already present as visual literacy is present in their everyday lives outside of the classroom as well. Even when teaching my language arts lesson a few weeks ago I required the students to be visual critics of the book Voices in the Park. The students used their visual literacy skills to examine the illustrations, make predictions, inferences and analyze the different characters. The students are also using this type of literacy in social studies and science. There is definitely opportunity for new learning experiences with this type of literacy, as many students probably do not realize how much we rely on the images around us to guide us through our every-day lives.

The technology that my group decided to use was Prezi. This technology tool is similar to PowerPoint but more interactive and engaging. This technology is useful for teaching because themes can easily be established, images, sounds, and YouTube videos can be uploaded directly to the site to make it more interactive for the students. Also, Prezi can be used to help organize thoughts and ideas like a concept map, graphic organizer, flow chart, etc. For example, a slide may be more broad then it can zoom in within that frame several times to explain the several details of this big idea. Prezi begins to take presentations to a whole new level as there are layouts and backgrounds for several subject areas and they have even began producing 3-D layouts! Prezi helps communicate the ideas because it is all visual and therefore is appropriate for our project. As a group we have never made a Prezi before and every time we use this technology tool we are discovering new, exciting things about it.

Throughout the Prezi presentation several pictures have questions or comments that lead into the next idea. For example, a picture of logos is included and the viewers are asked, “how many logos can you identify” to elicit students thinking about this literacy. Prezi is a good way to get the viewers involved and make this a more interactive experience. However, there is no way to retrieve feedback, as Prezi does not allow for viewers to post questions, comments, or thoughts.

We are using reading, listening and viewing in different ways when using this technology. For example, our colleague’s will be asked to read logos, signs, gestures, photography, listen and view a video or two, view the several ways that visual literacy is incorporated in school and ultimately view the presentation made. Writing is involved within the presentation and one can see how the

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written can also be visual and in some cases convey information or meaning.
Prezi is still a bit challenging to use for me because I have never used Prezi before and it is a lot different than PowerPoint. I have found it challenging to add a new frame in the middle of the presentation and have it appear in the correct order and not last. With Prezi, just because the slides may be in a certain order in the left hand tool bar does not mean they will appear in that order, rather you have to manipulate the order by dragging the lines/arrows within the whole presentation. There is probably an easier way but again this is a new technology and some of the basics have proved challenging and time consuming.

As viewers the students need to understand that the text may be non-linear, they will be expected to “read” or analyze images, and that it is not necessarily like reading a traditional book as they will click a next arrow and not turn a page. When clicking this arrow, the screen may move with the transitions, the frame may rotate, zoom in, zoom out, etc. As authors some of these students may need help, as they unfortunately do not have much experience using computers. Several of the students from Africa have difficulty typing, finding valuable information and then synthesizing or making sense of this information.