Visual Literacy

A set of abilities that enable an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create visual media.

Visual literacy skills equip a learner to understand and analyze the contextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technical components involved in the production and use of visual materials.

A visually literate individual is both a critical consumer of visual media and a competent contributor to a body of shared knowledge and culture.

Adopted from ACRL VL Draft Standards 2011

Chi Roe -From the Book of Kells

Some Motivating Factors

• Digital democratization and technology penetration

• Intercultural lingua franca

• Interactions with memory - knowledge-construction and critical thinking

• Situational and contextual scaffolding

• Participatory and collaborative pedagogies

• Access, flexibility, and durability

• Normative scholarship and associated expectations

GFP Bunny. Eduardo Kac

"American Progress," by John Gast, 1872

After Berry et al. 2008. The role of emotion in teaching and learningHistory: a scholarship of teaching exploration.

1. Water2. Over-fishing3. Predatory-Prey

http://site.arbico-organics.com/images/japanese-beetle-lifecycle.jpg

http://www.chrisjordan.com/

Adopted From: http://tinyurl.com/3yl9jq3

http://www.sciencemag.org/vis2008/show/

Some Pedagogy

• Use images that require interpretation and raise questions

• Use images from other disciplines and everyday life

• Distinguish between memorizing and image and understanding what it represents

• Be prepared to teach students how to analyze images

Some Challenges

• New teaching technologies require new skills

• Ad hoc use of imagery vs. meaningful classroom activities

• Copyright

• Lack of comparative study and documentation

• Academic incentives and rewards

Visual Imagery

• Brings intuitive meaning to data• Facilitates long-term memory and knowledge retention• Provides a rich contextual background to scaffold ideas • Offers a structure to explain concepts or theoretical arguments• Generates unique perspectives • Encourages student, creativity, interactivity, and discussion