Why Visual Literacy?
“Text and oral presentations are not just less efficient than pictures for retaining certain types of information; they are way less efficient” (Medina, 2008 p. 234).
“We know that young adolescents and adolescents are changing in every conceivable way, including physically, socially, emotionally, morally, and cognitively” (Hume, p. 15).
“Their brains are restructuring, pruning some neural connections and strengthening others” (Hume, p. 15).
A Third Way
There is a need in education to branch out from traditional literacy and focus on teaching multiple literacies. This includes visual literacy.
Parker Palmer (2009) offers a unique perspective when he refers to a third way to approach a topic. it could be a song, poem, story or image. He is advocating for the use of different literacies. It is referred to as a third thing because it is separate from a teacher and also separate from a student.
"When people wander from a topic and make comments unrelated to it (often because the topic is touching some nerve), the facilitator can call them back to the boundaries of the text itself, asking them to anchor whatever they say in a word, image, or line from the story or the poem. As we are brought back to the text, we are also brought back to the issue — and to the voice of the inner teacher. Now our exploration is more likely to be driven by the agenda of the soul than by the agendas of ego and intellect lurking in the room" (Palmer).
Parker Palmer (2009) offers a unique perspective when he refers to a third way to approach a topic. it could be a song, poem, story or image. He is advocating for the use of different literacies. It is referred to as a third thing because it is separate from a teacher and also separate from a student.
"When people wander from a topic and make comments unrelated to it (often because the topic is touching some nerve), the facilitator can call them back to the boundaries of the text itself, asking them to anchor whatever they say in a word, image, or line from the story or the poem. As we are brought back to the text, we are also brought back to the issue — and to the voice of the inner teacher. Now our exploration is more likely to be driven by the agenda of the soul than by the agendas of ego and intellect lurking in the room" (Palmer).
The students have a very natural understanding of the "Third Way" as a mode of learning. They take it upon themselves to interact with a vast amount of information in cyberspace. A large part of this learning is honing and understanding visual literacy and as they expand their boundaries through the visual imagery, this contributes to the development of their concept of "Self".
I am...
“In a world dominated by Internet, always-on advertising, YouTube videos, on-demand movies, video games, and even television, it is critical that students are capable of processing media and have the ability to locate, manage, interpret, and use images to communicate ideas and passions” (Cofino & Jakes, 2012, p. 155).