Visual Literacy and the Internet
Visual literacy – defined as the ability to construct meaning from images- combined with the internet can enhance student learning and assist teachers in reaching students with learning disabilities, ELL learners or simply students that fit in the visual/spatial learning style. Students and teachers can manipulate images to communicate different meaning or information to other people. Using visuals as part of daily instruction helps young learners connect meaning to real life situations, become more skilled at particular reading skills such as comprehension and provides them with new knowledge in making inferences and drawing conclusions. For example, last week I began a unit on inferencing (a skill my students struggle with greatly!). Using images and pictures from the web, my students and I looked for clues, added it to what we already knew and generated a simple sentence / making an inference.
Strategies
= Creating a picture dictionary and vocabulary resource
= All About Me PowerPoint presentation using pictures to show likes and dislikes
= Digital storytelling
= Using the 5 W’s to determine the main idea of particular articles, online sites, TV programs, etc.
= Using webcams to assist with speaking and listening
= Make comics on ReadWriteThink or Comic Life
= Make videos
= Inspiration or Kidspiration
= Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
Role in Classroom
The Internet is an important part in my classroom when –especially for my students who need visuals and have a difficult time writing. Its role is to enhance instruction and provide reinforcement, to provide information on a variety of topics, to answer questions, clarify particular topics, and to give the teacher additional resources to the lesson.
Resources
Chen, Elaine. (2005). Journal of Educational Computing, Design and Online Learning. A Brief Review of Strategies and Tools That Make Thinking Visible.
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