Visual Teaching Alliance

All Blog Posts (753)

Dyslexia Facts

Facts on Dyslexia

90…

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Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 24, 2010 at 12:27pm — No Comments

8 Ways to use Camera Phones in Education

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Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 19, 2010 at 10:32am — No Comments

Teach Me, Teach My Brain: A Call for Differentiated Classrooms

November 1998

November 1998 | Volume 56 | Number 3

How the Brain…

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Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 18, 2010 at 10:15am — No Comments

The Educational Implications of Brain Development

You may have heard it said that the brain is like a muscle that benefits from exercise. Though the brain is not a muscle, it does benefit from use. In fact, the brain grows not merely through the passing of time, but rather as a direct result of its experiences. From an educator’s point of view, understanding the development of the brain has become essential. More and more we recognize that learning itself changes and improves…

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Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 18, 2010 at 12:00am — No Comments

Introduction to Visual Skills

85% of classroom learning come through the visual…

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Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 17, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Ten Big Ideas From TED

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Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 14, 2010 at 11:55pm — No Comments

USER FRIENDLY: The Educational Implications of Brain Development

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Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 12, 2010 at 12:36am — No Comments

Our Sense of Sight: Eye Anatomy and Function

Our Sense of Sight:

Eye Anatomy and Function

Developed by Marjorie A. Murray, Ph.D.; Neuroscience for Kids Staff Writer…

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Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 9, 2010 at 10:36am — No Comments

Processing of Visual Signals

Initial Processing of Visual Input in the Retina

Although there are millions of rods and cones in the vertebrate eye, it's necessary to be somewhat selective in the transmission of the signal back out. Some light-sensitive elements will be on and others off at any…

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Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 8, 2010 at 11:02am — No Comments

Electronic Portfolios in the K-12 Classroom

The electronic portfolio, already a well-established tool in higher education, is beginning to appear in K-12 classrooms as well. Learn what electronic portfolios are and discover how they can help you and benefit your students. Included: Guidelines for developing personal portfolios.

The use of personal portfolios for assessment and presentation long has been a component of higher education. In fact, personal portfolios are a graduation requirement at many colleges and universities.… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 4, 2010 at 10:15am — No Comments

How The 'Mind's Eye' Works

In a first-ever demonstration, UCLA School of Medicine and Caltech researchers have shed new light on how the "mind's eye" works, uncovering evidence that single neurons -- individual cells in the brain -- are involved in recalling specific visual images to mind.

The study, published in the Nov. 16 issue of the journal Nature, further defines the role that individual neurons play in the brain during imagery and builds upon previous UCLA… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 3, 2010 at 12:30am — No Comments

Virtual Reality in the Classroom at Suffolk

Before the advent of the Internet, an avatar was defined as the incarnation of a Hindu deity. In today’s high-tech world, avatars have morphed into computer-generated facsimiles of real people. Sign on to a web site, choose a representative character, and let your electronic alter-ego roam a virtual world where life mirrors everyday existence.

And that’s exactly what Michael Kraten, Assistant Professor of Accounting, is doing. He uses virtual reality (VR) to teach students in the… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 2, 2010 at 11:00am — No Comments

Born With Half a Brain, Woman Living Full Life

FALLS CHURCH, Virginia (CNN) -- Michelle Mack has turned medical thinking upside down.

The right side of Michelle Mack's brain rewired itself to take over functions controlled by the left.

Born with only half a brain, Mack can speak normally, graduated from high school and has an uncanny knack for dates.

At 27, doctors determined that the right side of her brain had essentially rewired itself to make up for function… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on January 29, 2010 at 10:36am — No Comments

Industry Makes Pitch That Smartphones Belong in Classroom

SAN FRANCISCO — The cellphone industry has a suggestion for improving the math skills of American students: spend more time on cellphones in the classroom.

Students at Southwest High School in Jacksonville, N.C., were given cellphones with programs to help with algebra studies.

A teacher at Southwest High School in Jacksonville, N.C., said the special cellphones helped students improve their math skills.

At a… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on January 29, 2010 at 12:30am — No Comments

Right-Brained Online Learning

>Right-brained learners will generally do better in an online learning environment than those learners who are predominantly left-brain learners. No one is exclusively right- or left-brained, but most everyone has preferential tendencies toward which side of the brain is used more often when learning or interacting with others. Some individuals are what is called whole-brained, using both sides of the brain equally. Schools have traditionally… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on January 28, 2010 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Visual Literacy & Visual Thinking

Visual Literacy

Visual literacy in education develops a student's visual literacy - their ability to comprehend, make meaning of, and communicate through visual means, usually in the form of images or multimedia.

Images have always been involved in learning with pictures and artwork to help define history or literary works. However, visual literacy in education is becoming a much broader and extensive body of learning and… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on January 27, 2010 at 10:27am — No Comments

Visualization

What is visualizing, anyway? Well, here's our fancy educators' definition:

Readers create images in their minds that reflect or represent the ideas in the text. These images may include any of the five senses and serve to enhance understanding of the text.

But for your students, try this:

Create a movie in my mind while I'm reading.

So what are we trying to do here? Here's how you'll know when your students get it!

Learning… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on January 25, 2010 at 10:15am — No Comments

Opening the Door: Teaching Students to Use Visualization to Improve Comprehension

Visualizing text is a proven way to improve reading comprehension. It is a technique that can be taught using this simple, step-by-step strategy from literacy consultant Cathy Puett Miller. Included: Tips and resources for developing students' comprehension skills.

"Proficient readers spontaneously and purposely create mental images while and after they read. The images emerge from all five senses as well as the emotions and are anchored in a reader's prior knowledge."

-- Keene… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on January 22, 2010 at 10:24am — No Comments

"Awakening Your Visual Vocabulary" — (It's All About The Thinking)

"Words, words, words, I'm so sick of words ... Show me" — So says Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady." From lack of use, we dulled our ability to think in visual terms. We need to awaken a thinking that is natural to all of us from the time we are children. However, words come easier to us as adults. Our focus shifts from the speaker, or the presenter, to the listener, or the receiver. Thinking in "show me" terms requires us to move to the creative, playful part of our brains.

THE… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on January 21, 2010 at 10:53am — No Comments

Study Skills for Students with ADHD/ADD and Visual Learning Disabilities

Imagine being diagnosed with both ADHD, ADD and a visual learning disability. For ADHD/ADD students with a visual learning disorder, differentiating instruction will require additional study skills and learning techniques to process information.

Study Skills and Techniques

Students with ADHD/ADD deal with behavioral and academic disabilities that can compound their ability to acquire learning through traditional instructional practices. Couple that with a visual… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on January 20, 2010 at 1:14pm — No Comments