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