Visual Literacy

To paraphrase a popular song, "signs, signs, everywhere signs," and we live in that world now more than ever especially in science.  The science laboratory is filled with safety symbols and signs everywhere.  It is vitally important that children know and understand each and every symbol for their own safety and the safety of those around them.  Therefore, visual literacy becomes an important key to learning in the science classroom.

What is visual literacy?
Visual Literacy is the learned ability to interpret images correctly. The students need to learn how to decode a visual image into a message and encode data back into visual images. (Smaldino p 136)  Examples of visual literacy in the distance classroom can include the following: digitally scanned photos or drawings, clip art, computer generated presentations, cartoons, animations, and video.  In each case the student will have to look at an image and decode the meaning behind the visual.  Take for instance the OSHA Fire Diamond seen in the photo above.  This diamond tells the reader the kinds of chemicals that are housed inside the door or room they are entering.  The red is for flammability, yellow is for reactive, white is for special notices (like oxidation), and the blue color is for health hazards.  The number system tells the reader how potentially dangerous each diamond is from zero to four with four being the most hazardous.  Whether you are a firefighter, teacher, or student you need to be able to read this sign and know the dangers and information that this sign tells you. (By the way, don't go in that room if you don't have to.)

Why is it important for K-12 eLearning? 
The online environment is the perfect platform for visual imagery and hence the importance of visual literacy.  An excerpt from the text says it well.

"Visual media design, development, and production; digital creation; and Web design and development all utilize critical thinking skills and can enhance students' abilities to learn, exhibit their learning, work, and succeed in an increasingly visual world."  (Smaldino p.137)

 Visuals play import roles in the online classroom. They can provide concrete references for ideas or abstract concepts.  They can motivate the learner or direct attention to relevant parts of the visual.  Visuals can present the information in different formats or allow the concept to be seen from a different point of view.  Visuals can help in the recall of prior learning and possibly reduce the learning effort for the student. (Smaldino p. 139-140)
The digital classroom is an environment unlike any other in the case of visual imagery.  Computer screens can deliver a color palette that can not be seen in the real world.  A digital image can be altered with the help of filters that could enhance the image in many ways.  Images can be zoomed or cropped to direct attention to relevant parts.  Students have many online/computer tools they can access to manipulate and create visual imagery that can display their work or communicate ideas to the public.  Creating a visual in the place of writing a term paper is a great way to alternately assess your students' understanding of a concept or idea.  This provides them the necessary practice at encoding data into a graphic format which is a needed skill as well.
The digital classroom seems to be tailor made to work hand in hand with visual images.  Visual images are becoming more and more prolific in our society as we move faster toward a worldwide digital superhighway.  Visuals have the potential to pack lots of information in a simple design that can be read and understood by all people regardless of their native language (Just ask any world traveler who was in need of a restroom.)  Therefore, visual literacy is a vital skill to teach students in the eLearning environment.  It will be a skill they will use and is relevant to their daily lives.

Photo Credit: Beige Alert via Compfight cc

Teacher Roles in Distance Education

As I learned from Activity 2 in the weekly lesson, the differences between teacher roles in the distance classroom and traditional classroom are not as diverse as one might expect.  Both types of teacher are responsible to present content to the learners. Assess student learning.  Include a variety of learning resources that covers all learning modalities. Encourage students to create projects and /or artifacts that demonstrates they have gained the content knowledge.  Provide timely feedback.  Engage in parent-teacher communication when needed (and often IF needed). And provide homework and practice time for the assmilation of content presented in class.

One item that remains clearly in the field of the classroom teacher is the facilitating of record keeping such as attendance and lunch count as Activity 2 points out.  Distance educators don't have to worry about daily attendance concerns because the student is learning in an asynchonous environment.

The textbooks mentions further differences between eLearning teachers and face to face teachers.  Because the online learner is more often going to be self motivated to learn, the teacher will become a facilitator of learning rather than direct leader.  Distance educators will be classroom monitors.  keeping an eye on the activities of the students in order to make sure that no one is falling behind.  It is also the online teacher's responsibility to organize the lessons to encourage interactivity and to guide students on how to act appropriately in the online environment.  Lastly, distance education teachers provide two-way communication when the teacher and students are not in the same location at the same time.  Since the nature of asynchronous education removes the face to face daily contact, it is important for the teacher to replace that missing element with meaningful communication with the student.



Photo credit: 123RF.com

Teacher Centered vs Student Centered learning

The differences between teacher centered classrooms and student centered classroom are like night and day.  In the teacher centered classroom the teacher is the information deliverer.  The student is passive  and will listen, take notes, and occasionally ask questions for clarity.  In the student centered classroom the teachers role changes to a facilitator or mentor.  The students are given the essential question but then must find the answers in a way that is meaningful for them.  The learning must be authentic.  Student must believe that the information they are gathering is relevant to their lives and community.  Therefore, the essential questions should reflect concerns that the students can get behind and really strive to find answers.  The teacher shall give direction and guidance to aid the student and point them in the right direction.  In student centered learning, the student is an active learner.  They seek information, sort out data, ask questions, refine hypothesis, ask more questions, compare data, and share/publish results.

In the eLearning environment, the student is responsible for their learning.  The teacher, who may be miles away cannot be the information deliverer.  The student must rely on their own skills and suggested readings to find the answers they seek.  It is easy to see that the student centered learning environment is better suited for the online classroom.

image: http://teachingaheadofthecurve.blogspot.com/2012/09/morphing-into-student-centered.html

Technology and Media

What do you need to know about technology and media in the classroom?  Technology is the hardware, software and tools required to make the connection to students in the online world.  Media is the way you can communicate to and reach the students.

Technology:  Computers are usually the first thing that people think about when they discuss technology.  But computers are just scratching the surface.  Today's students have access to a multitude of technology at their fingertips.  Smart phones, for example, are capable of so much from connecting to the internet to voice and facial recognition.  Compact digital cameras can video conference with sharp HD picture quality that fits in the palm of your hand.  And software designers are making thousands of small yet powerful apps that give the technology its  form and function.  For the K-12 classroom technology is the great barrier at times to distance learning.  Budget concerns and teacher training are big hurdles to jump before a technology grant can be put into place.  Then there is the systems testing and extended time it takes to get the package classroom ready so that it is functional for both teachers and students. Once it has been overcome, however, students are ready to learn anything anytime anywhere.

Media: If technology is the Tin Woodsman, then media is the beating heart.  Media is the content and communication necessary to reach the students.  From audio podcasting to videoclips on YouTube or visuals from Google Earth, it is the media that drives the content forward and provides the means of communication to the learner.  Once again with a simple smart phone a student can access podcasts, videos, and use apps to see Google Earth all within a few clicks of virtual buttons.  For the K-12 classroom the teacher must take the time to find appropriate media that ties into the course objectives or create the materials themselves.  At any rate this is a time consuming task.  Yet if the distance education program is to be successful, that is exactly what needs to be done to best serve your students.

Both of these concepts go hand in hand with distance learning.  You can't have one without the other.  Combining technology and media allows students to learn asynchronously and at their own pace.