Researching the topic of visual literacy was a good reminder about the power of visual arts. It is not a concept I can personally relate to because I do not consider myself artistically creative in this way. However, Martin Scorsese clearly articulated that some people possess a visual intelligence that allows them to tell as story simply by focusing a viewers eye on a visual input. In a video, the camera position, type of lens, lighting, etc., influences the viewers perspective. The visual techniques are grammar and they solicit emotional responses and particular perspectives from the viewer. Visual art is a language through images, without words, without symbols. It is amazing to me that my perspective and emotions can be manipulated through the use of visual techniques. I honestly did not connect visual “literacy” to its intended meaning until I viewed the video with Martin Scorsese.
I researched the PBS Teachers, Focus on Visual Literacy resources and discovered the Arthur's Guide to Media Literacy. I think this tool will be useful in the classroom to help students explore the concept of visual literacy. Arming students with critical thinking skills about how advertising and other visual aspects of society influence their own perceptions, behaviors, and desires is a powerful lesson. This resource provides 9 lesson plans regarding media literacy. The lesson plans detail how media literacy integrates with other subject areas including reading comprehension, health, and math for instance. These plans are tied into the popular children’s program, Arthur. The episodes provide a visual experience that the instructor can use to deepen the students’ knowledge of visual literacy through the provided lesson plans.
One example is the Popular Girls episode. The objective of this lesson plan is to identify distinctions between fact and opinion. It relates to reading comprehension and critical thinking. Although it is not provided, the plan can also be associated with building social skills. The plan includes active listening of the episode, a guided discussion, an activity, and an extension activity. I think these are quality lesson plans about an important topic and they are designed to address various learning styles of students. The activities move a student along the process of learning from remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating as well.
In addition, I reviewed the definitions of visual literacy provided on the wiki site, visual-lit. I think they were comprehensive such as, “the ability to see, to understand, and ultimately to think, create, and communicate. Generally speaking, the visually literate viewer looks at an image carefully, critically, and with an eye for the intentions of the image’s creator.” However, these definitions left me feeling incomplete. I think it is because communication is a two-way process and the definitions only focus on one side, the receiver.
In the definitions, there was little discussion about the creator as the visually literate. How it is that a person can communicate visually, without words, to create a response from the viewer. The definitions are very active, but I think there is a passive aspect to visual literacy that can be attributed to the creator, the communicator. This is the passive response of the viewer. For instance, I may feel fear because an image is presented in a certain way. It is not necessary for me to think, analyze, interpret to have the feeling. The feeling occurs because of the ability of the creator to present the image in a way that solicits my emotional response. Perhaps until I do analyze it I’m not visually literate, but the creator who successfully produced my emotional response is definitely visually literate. I am not sure if that is captured in the definitions or maybe that is the definition of art!
I think addressing visual literacy is important in the classroom because we live in a society that is saturated with visual messages, the television, movies, and through the internet for instance. Some children learn primarily through visual cues. As an instructor, understanding the impact of visual literacy on my instructional techniques and incorporating them appropriately will increase my effectiveness and therefore, the overall learning experience of the students.
I researched the PBS Teachers, Focus on Visual Literacy resources and discovered the Arthur's Guide to Media Literacy. I think this tool will be useful in the classroom to help students explore the concept of visual literacy. Arming students with critical thinking skills about how advertising and other visual aspects of society influence their own perceptions, behaviors, and desires is a powerful lesson. This resource provides 9 lesson plans regarding media literacy. The lesson plans detail how media literacy integrates with other subject areas including reading comprehension, health, and math for instance. These plans are tied into the popular children’s program, Arthur. The episodes provide a visual experience that the instructor can use to deepen the students’ knowledge of visual literacy through the provided lesson plans.
One example is the Popular Girls episode. The objective of this lesson plan is to identify distinctions between fact and opinion. It relates to reading comprehension and critical thinking. Although it is not provided, the plan can also be associated with building social skills. The plan includes active listening of the episode, a guided discussion, an activity, and an extension activity. I think these are quality lesson plans about an important topic and they are designed to address various learning styles of students. The activities move a student along the process of learning from remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating as well.
In addition, I reviewed the definitions of visual literacy provided on the wiki site, visual-lit. I think they were comprehensive such as, “the ability to see, to understand, and ultimately to think, create, and communicate. Generally speaking, the visually literate viewer looks at an image carefully, critically, and with an eye for the intentions of the image’s creator.” However, these definitions left me feeling incomplete. I think it is because communication is a two-way process and the definitions only focus on one side, the receiver.
In the definitions, there was little discussion about the creator as the visually literate. How it is that a person can communicate visually, without words, to create a response from the viewer. The definitions are very active, but I think there is a passive aspect to visual literacy that can be attributed to the creator, the communicator. This is the passive response of the viewer. For instance, I may feel fear because an image is presented in a certain way. It is not necessary for me to think, analyze, interpret to have the feeling. The feeling occurs because of the ability of the creator to present the image in a way that solicits my emotional response. Perhaps until I do analyze it I’m not visually literate, but the creator who successfully produced my emotional response is definitely visually literate. I am not sure if that is captured in the definitions or maybe that is the definition of art!
I think addressing visual literacy is important in the classroom because we live in a society that is saturated with visual messages, the television, movies, and through the internet for instance. Some children learn primarily through visual cues. As an instructor, understanding the impact of visual literacy on my instructional techniques and incorporating them appropriately will increase my effectiveness and therefore, the overall learning experience of the students.
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