Visual Teaching Alliance

February 2009 Blog Posts (5)

Visual Literacy Under the Microscope

There are two major impediments to research on visual literacy. The first is a lack of a widely accepted definition of the term visual literacy itself. The second, perhaps a consequence of the first, is a lack of a cohesive theory. We must confront the ever-present problem of identifying visual literacy itself before we can identify the body of visual literacy research. The visual literacy concept as an area of study has been plagued by an identity crisis from the outset. Skeptics doubt that… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 24, 2009 at 10:43am — No Comments

Visual Material

There are good reasons why students should be encouraged to introduce visual material into their writing. Jay Baetans provides four reasons. The first is that of readability where visual images make it easier for the eye to manage the text blocks. Secondly, images convey information in an economical way. Thirdly, images convey modernity in that today we expect the visual to play an important role in communication. And lastly, there is the networking of images and text where “images…reinforce… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 16, 2009 at 8:52pm — No Comments

The Visual Essay

If PowerPoint is framed primarily as a visual presentation medium, then the user is encouraged to try to represent their thinking visually. The visual essay, in its turn, provides a different context where technology can serve as a tool with which students can think and represent the world in more complex ways.

The photographic/visual essay is a genre that is especially associated with Life magazine. Henry Luce, the founder of Life believed that this form of visual communication… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 10, 2009 at 6:16pm — No Comments

Technology Education and the Visual

Technology Education and the Visual

All these views suggest the centrality of visuality in modern life. Whether we are dealing this off screen or on screen, “human experience is now more visual and visualized than ever before,” (Mirzoeff, 1999, p. 1) If this is the case, then our teaching programs should provide our students with opportunities to look how society, both in the present and the past, has attempted to visualise experience, as well as providing opportunities for… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 6, 2009 at 10:10am — No Comments

Visualising the Visual

Visualising the Visual

The visual dominates so many areas of life now. Our view of the world is mediated through TV, and increasingly the Internet as it in turn becomes a more visual and interactive medium. Most forms of communication are highly visual. Is there a day that when we don’t use the power of simple icons to carry out complex instructions, whether on our personal computer or the local ATM? And this type of interaction applies even more so to our students who are… Continue

Added by Timothy Gangwer on February 2, 2009 at 1:15pm — No Comments