Visual Literacy in the Classroom

A Victorian Classroom by Thomas Webster, circa 1845.

According to Dave Gray, author of three books and founder of Xplane (a "visual thinking company") - has called our society "visually illiterate." I would agree, as a recent powerpoint on visual literacy I recently viewed taught me quite more than I expected. I was unaware how little I knew about evaluating and understanding visual images and art - and I consider myself a generally well-educated person.

Elements like depth (foreground, mid-ground
background), angles, clothing (which can indicate time periods), objects, symbols, colors, settings, and more are all powerful clues that add meaning and understanding when they are known to be looked for.

Images (like music) are powerful in that they can inspire, alter, and enrich our understanding of not only the image itself - but also any accompanying text, subject, or lesson it might be related to. In addition, other benefits for students are that some better express themselves in creative or visual methods.This becomes particularly pertinent when considering the "+1" of the 6+1 writing traits: visually representing. In addition, with technology use on the rise, students are exposed to far more images and videos than they ever were in the past, and at a faster rate than TV (which was a huge adjustment for another generation itself.)

Some apps I've recently used that are wonderful for visual projects are Piktochart (infographics) and ToonDoos (comic-book style cartoon wizard) - but others from the text Bridging Technology and Literacy: Developing Digital Reading and Writing Practices in Grades K-6 deserve highlighting.

I am a big fan of felt boards. At an early childhood conference in Grand Rapids 35 years ago I bought an entire felt-board based storytelling program/package. It was the single best purchase of everything else I purchased while attending. Now there is an amazing (and multiple award-winning) app called Felt Board (available for iOS - supporting iPad - as well as Android tablets). Traditional storytelling and setting elements are not the only features - there is also letters and numbers, and it also claims to help eye-hand coordination and fine-motor skills. I'm a fan already!

Inkflow is another amazing app for the visual-purposed. Subtitled as "the visual thinker's notebook,"
An apple pencil, which I have, would probably be ideal for this app. Sketching, drawing. chart making, note taking - its versatility is extraordinary. Qrayon, the design company, also claims that the resolution of the ink stays sharp no matter how much you zoom in. This would be a fabulous app for middle schoolers and above for note-taking alone. Instead of multiple notebooks, it's self-contained, with the added bonus of visuals for enrichment - as well as for those who work and learn better that way.

Thinglink is another app well worth mentioning. The first thing you see on this digital storytelling  website is the following statement: "Create interactive images, video, and 360 content in minutes." I signed up as a student and had trouble accessing it without a teacher invite code, but would love to discover the possibilities.

As a future teacher, I am going to start collecting these for use so that I am familiar with them before my first class, and I recommend others do the same. What a world of beautiful possibilities await today's - as well as future - students.