Visual Literacy and the Use of the Internet



Visual literacy is the ability to see, interpret, and understand an image. With the increasing amount of information being presented to us by way of visual media, being able to think critically and evaluate the importance being portrayed is a skill that students need. Visual literacy can be incorporated into lesson plans in a variety of ways and across the curriculum.

                Language Arts

·         Primary students can take a picture walk through a book and discuss what is happening by looking at the illustrations only.

·         A graphic organizer can be used during a class discussion.

·         A teacher can show a photo or illustration of people at a park and ask the students to see how many verbs they can see in the picture.

                Math

·         A teacher can use an illustration or picture to have young students talk about how many groups of odd or even objects they see.

·         Graphs, charts, and patterns are all great forms of visual literacy that get students talking and thinking about math.

                Science

·         Showing a video of a NASA space station introduce a unit on space will get students thinking and talking. The teacher can then guide the discussion.

                Social Studies

·         Showing a photo of the first American Flag could get students thinking about the number of stars or how long ago it was sewn.

·         A teacher could show a few different forms of communication from long ago to get students thinking about different ways to communicate today.

Visual thinking is a strategy that many teachers use without knowing they are actually using a particular strategy. There are ways, however, for teachers to guide students’ thought processes so the students are leading the discussion. Teachers must ask open-ended questions and students must be able to listen and reflect on their peers’ observations. The use of the Internet can greatly affect the teaching and learning in a classroom. Teachers can use the Internet to locate sources to add visual literacy elements to their lessons. One of my favorite resources for locating effective media for use in my classroom is Discovery Education. There are full length videos, video clips, and images with many of them having accompanying blackline masters or lesson plans.  

The Internet can also play a vital role in other aspects of teaching and learning. The Internet can be a useful networking tool. Teachers can incorporate blogs, wikis, discussion boards, and even social media sites to enhance learning. The Internet is here to stay and teachers need to use it to their advantage in the classroom. It is not meant to add more to an already busy teacher’s plate, but to enhance teaching and offer additional ways of reaching multiple learning styles. The Internet is an integral way of involving students in learning by speaking their own language: the language of technology. This seems easy enough said, but some adults don’t understand most technology like 21^st Century learners do.  The following quote can sum up this concept:"Technology is anything invented after you were born, everything else is just stuff"   -Alan Kay