Visual Literacy

 

Visual literacy is the ability to understand and use images. This includes to think, learn, and express oneself in terms of images. In the 1960s, IVLA (International Visual Literacy Association) was formed to help people learn more about visual learning, visual thinking, and visual language.

 

Children learn to read pictures before they read words. Unfortunately, we often stop visual teaching once children can read. In this information age, it's important to continue to help people interpret the visual world around them. From books and television to billboards and animation, students are bombarded with visuals. Visual literacy is a critical life skill.

 

This page will explore the challenge of visual literacy including from scanning and digital photography to tools, techniques, and visual resources.

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Right Here on This Spot,

Book Cover

Reading Visuals. When you read a visual, you need to look for clues in the parts and whole of the picture. You try to identify the subject, plot, and setting. Let's take a picture from the American Memories site on the History of Women. Select a photograph to "read". What does the photo say? Look at the entire photo first. Who are the people in the photo? What do they look like? What are they wearing? What does their expression tell you? Who are the characters in the visual story? What are their lives like? How did they get into the situation of the photo? What's the setting? Do these characters belong in this setting? How and why? Look beyond the photo to specific areas of the picture. Divide the picture into nine parts visually and examine each section. What artifacts do you see? Are there things you don't recognize? Why?What's the purpose of the picture? Why are it taken? What is the "plot" or "story" of the photograph? Although you may learn things from the text related to the photo or the person who took the picture, you can also draw inferences from the picture itself. Or, you may wish to invent a story. Use the facts you know about the world, history, and science to come up with your own characters, plot, and setting. Like discussing a poem or song, a visually literate person could talk about a single visual for an endless period of time. Can you "read" pictures?

 

Visual comprehension goes beyond description. It involves explanation and understanding. In the book by Sharon Hart Addy called Right Here on This Spot the story is told visually by examining the changes that take place in a single location over thousands of years. Use books as examples to help students in reading visuals. Many visual stories can be told this way through exploring changes over time in a building, river, or object.

Interpreting Visuals. Once students become confident in reading visuals, they need to begin interpreting visuals. This might involve retelling, identifying, describing, explaining, and critiquing. For instance, you might show students a picture taken underwater at a coral reef and ask about the relationship among the creatures seen in the visual. When focusing on standards-based activities remember to importance of visuals for learning. If students are faced with a vocabulary list, provide visuals to assist students in remembering the words and definitions. A visual definition can help provide a mental picture for students to help in retention. For example, if students are learning the features of different trees, use visuals to illustrate the ideas. Or, you might show students pictures of World War II propaganda posters and ask them to identify the techniques that were used. You might show students a photograph and ask them to discuss the time period and provide reasons they think the photo was taken at a particular period in history. If you're looking for photos, consider a clip art series or photo set such as FTC Publishing Group's thematic sounds, videos, and photos.

 

When starting a project, consider beginning with a visual rather than a topic. Ask students to brainstorm what they already know about the pictures and what they'd like to know. If it's a picture of a penguin, students might ask why they're black and white, where do they live, or how does their skin feel? You'll be surprised at the range of questions when a visual is used to stimulate ideas.

Using/Applying. Next, students are ready to begin using and applying the visuals they find. They're ready to focus on selecting, organizing, arranging, labeling, and telling stories with pictures. Again, rather than focusing on the creation of visuals, use existing resources you can find for free. Students might use a visual as a starting point for a creative writing activity, a travel brochure, or a science discussion. For example, you might provide photos of children from around the world. Ask students to select a picture and learn more about the culture represented, then write a short story. Use FreeFoto as a starting point to finding all kinds of pictures such as clouds and leaves. Be careful if you go to FreeFoto. Do NOT go to FreePhoto, an inappropriate site for students. The Peace Gallery shows pictures from different cultures around the world. Use the Internet to look for new perspectives on traditional topics. For example, when you think of "women's roles" in history, students might be interested in a photo showing a woman mending a canoe. Create simple activities that ask students to label or tell about a visual. For example, you might show a picture of a hillside and ask students to write about the erosion they see or the rock formation present in the photo.

Designing. Once students have had a chance to explore and apply visuals, ask them to begin designing their own. For example, you might give students a photograph and ask them to crop, extract, modify, or transform the picture. In order to concentrate on specific skills such as cropping, give students a specific mission for this activity. Start with simple activities such as extracting a head shot of yourself and placing it on the head of an astronaut or Civil War soldier. Be sure to get permission from the photographer before placing these modified pictures on the web. These visual modification activities help students see how a visual can be repurposed and transformed for a specific design need. When developing drawing skills, demonstrate new techniques and ask students to apply a particular design technique. In a project based on the book Drummer Hoff (Grade 2), students were asked to focus on body proportions retelling the story.

Created by Students in Hudson, Ohio

Give students lots of opportunities to critique the work of others. Provide them with a visual and ask them to look for the subject, action, and point of view in the visual. Have them consider the lighting, color, depth, and context of the picture. If they were creating the picture, what would they change? What other photographs would they take if they were on a field trip to this location? Why? Experience is the best way for a photographer to increase their skill. The next best thing is critiquing the work of others.

Composing/Creating. Once students become effective consumers of visuals, they're ready to emphasize composing and creating. Of course, they can begin creating before they become good consumers, however their experiences will be more meaningful if they're thinking like a composer rather than just taking "snapshots" or drawing pictures. Regardless of whether the students are taking photographs, creating scanned images, drawing or painting with technology, composition is critical. Start with simple activities that don't required involved techniques. The Day and Night example is a simple KidPix project. Next, ask students to focus on a particular photo they have taken such as the lizard activity. In this case, the project is a single HyperStudio card. When users click on a part of the lizard, information is provided from the lizard's point of view.