Visual Literacy As UDL Solution

Part I.

Definition of Visual Literacy

• The ability to “discriminate and interpret the visible actions,

objects, symbols, natural or man-made, that he encounters in

his environment.”

• The ability to “communicate with others through the creative

use of these competencies.”

Debes, J. (1969), International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA)

Visual Literacy:• An alternative literacy• Images as texts• A source of primary source materials • Visual encoding and decoding • Critical examination of the world

Why Visual Literacy?

Why Visual Literacy?

• Offers a different modality in learning

• Provide a significant source of information and understanding

• It is an important 21st century literacy skill

• Students’ fascination with visuals

Visual Images & Visual Texts

• Photographs

• Drawings

• Maps

• Cartoons

• Portraits

• Charts

• Diagrams

• Tables

• Storyboard

• Graphic organizers

TraditionalTextbook

Visuals(Primary & Secondary

Sources)

Other Texts

Other Media

Meaning Making

Examine this photo

Type your answers to all questions[Use a different color]• What do you see in the photo? Write down everything that

caught your eye. • Lots of farmers surround a man in a suit. The people all appear to

be singing.• When do you think this was taken? Where do you think this

was? • The 1920s due the the clothing the people are wearing, probably

in the North because the man in the suit is black and there was more discrimination in the South.

• Write a caption for the photo. [Note: a caption is a short line of text used to explain a phot]• Joining together, standing side-by-side for one cause.

What is the difficult part in the previous task? Type your answers below.

• Speculating on the meaning behind something without any prior information given. Opinions were formed solely based on the observations taken on a snapshot. I had to use my prior knowledge of the time period, which was deduced from the clothes the people were wearing, to make a judgment.

Now, choose one caption that you think fits the image from below. Change your choice to blue color.

• On a hot summer day in 1947, these spectators watch the final moments of a tense baseball game. Some fans are yelling in disapproval at the umpire because they don't like a call he made.

• Entertainer Paul Robeson sings to laborers working at the racially integrated Moore Shipyards in Oakland, California, on September 21, 1942.

• A mournful crowd gathers to watch the funeral procession of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. drive past.

Type your answers in red.

• What did you see in the picture that makes you say that? • The “laborers” are those in the farm clothing and the many

singing to them was a black man, denoting a racial integration with the mostly white laborers.

• What are the visual clues you noticed that make you think that particular caption goes with that picture?• Again, the people in the picture with the farmer-type clothing

would strike me as laborers. Most of the crowd was white in race and the man in the middle (the main focus of the picture) was black.

Reflect and Answer• What have you learned about visual literacy from this simple task?

• Perceptions are a powerful tool.

• Find out what type of a learner you are by finishing a VARK learning style questionnaire: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

• What is the result of your questionnaire? • Visual: 3• Aural: 6• Read/Write: 10• Kinesthetic: 1• Strong Read/Write learner

Visual LiteracyPart II.

For example, photographs are open to varying interpretations from differing perspectives.

These perspectives change depending upon:

• the technological, aesthetic, and rhetorical components of the medium; and

• the context of people (photographer, viewer, subject), technology, time, and place.

Visual images are

incomplete, subjective witnesses.

Prof. Mark Newman, NLU

The nature of the photographic medium

Technology, aesthetics, rhetoric

Technology of cameras and film in the early 1900s:

Black and white photos

Rule of Thirds in

composition:

foreground,

center,

background

The varying perspectives

Photographer

“Provided the results are a faithful reproduction of what the photographer believes

he sees, whatever takes place in the making of a picture is justified. In my opinion,

therefore, it is logical to make things happen before the camera and when possible,

to control the actions of the subject.”

-- Arnold Rothstein, Farm Security Administration photographer

“While photographs may not lie, liars may photograph.”

--Lewis Hine, pioneer documentary photographer

The varying perspectives

Viewer

Most visual images, such as photographs, are familiar.

We see them everyday. They are a part of our daily lives.

The way we see things is affected by what we know or believe. . . .

We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice.

--John Berger, Ways of Seeing

What does this photo suggest about European immigrants entering the United States at Ellis island in the early 1900s.?

What does the photo not tell us about European immigrants entering

the United States at Ellis island in the early 1900s?

How can all students use this photograph to learn about European immigration to the United States in the early 1900s?

Because photographs are incomplete and subjective texts,

they seldom yield one right answer.

They also raise more questions than they answer,

meaning they can help students connect to other learning resources.

Answer questions• Answer the three questions asked about the black & white

photo in the previous slide (slide #19). Type your answers in red below:• Students can note the clothing and attitudes that others seem to

be giving the immigrants. They can form judgments and opinions based on prior knowledge.

• The photo suggests that immigrants traveled lightly with only what they could carry. They also seemed to dress differently than others who were already here.

• It does not tell us where they are coming from, why they are coming, and who they are as individuals.

Briefly summarize what you have learned from the part II—Visuals as image texts. Any new insights about using visuals, including visual primary sources to teach?

• The Rule of Thirds in Composition (foreground, center, and background) was new to me. I never realized that placement within visuals supported or enhanced learning by making us focus on different aspects of the picture. They also enhance certain areas of focus.