Visual literacy Reality check

Visual literacy Reality check
I have interviewed Peter Walch an innovative teacher at Southwell School
about the impact of visual literacy on learning. Learners in Pete's class have told powerful stories with Visual Language driving the message. I asked Pete some questions about Visual Literacy and he came up with some interesting answers.

Video from 2007

Key Competencies in my classroom.

The image below is taken from eduorigami a indepth look at learning from Andrew Churches of Kristin School. I used the image to help me consider what learning might look like for students. We have been asked as a staff to consider what we see as important with the key competencies so here Goes. What would it look like in my classroom? While Andrew's diagram is not only about competencies it has helped me to think where I stand with them. What would we try to work towards as a group.




Thinking

• Creating something original and owning ideas
• Real problem solving and reflection using
  
• Teaching others how to do things about what we discover
  
• Looking from different perspectives (the discipline of creativity)
  
• Creative thinking across disciplines
  
• Taking risks in problem solving
  

Communication

• Real world communication (online publishing, blogging, commenting on others etc)
  
• Working with and creating visual and oral communications
  
• Media literacy (understanding the purpose and origin of media we see and hear)
  
• Using digital tools to communicate effectively
  
• Working with an Audience
• Understanding and working towards realistic standards of work
• Adapting and creating knowledge.
  

Managing Self

• Self assessment and peer assessment
• Regular Goal setting and review
• Managing impulsivity with technology
  
• Persistence and extending ability
• Risk taking
  
• Being the best we can be
  
• Feeling ok with who we are
• Act appropriately in a range of settings
• Having our own strategies
  

Relating to others

• View situations from others perspectives
• Working with people distant in time and place
• Peer review and support
• Varied group work
• Manners
• Be an active listener

Participating and contributing

• Social action informing others
  
• Service
• Team commitment and involvement
• Operacy as in the ability to do and be part of something

What do you think about cyberbullying?

I read a bebo comment where someone was called a loser and asked to "go cut themselves". I know that online insults often don't hold back. Well we notice more people involved in having their say. So "students" have a look at this video on youtube. Have your say Comment on any of the following or just make general comment about this clip.

• Is cyberbullying real for you?
• What would be different if this video was filmed in New Zealand?
• How effective do you think this video was?
• What methods of filming did they use to get their message across?
• How is the talent show connected to cyber bullying?
• If you were to make a video about cyber bullying what would it be?
  

Inventions

A teacher at my school is working with young students using Dipity
Learners will feel proud to establish and share the information together.
What questions and discussions would bring learning to the fore here?

• To stimulate students writing a story/poem about that image - enhancing creative and language skills
• To encourage team work and foster collaboration and the sharing of a learning experience
• To encourage critical thinking skills (e.g. describing a photograph from many different viewpoints)
• To illustrate concepts and to show examples of what you are talking about during a lecture when you can't visit the real thing (e.g. building site practices, e.g. VR model of Roman villa) or see the item (e.g. chemical model)
• To illustrate case studies (e.g. where text may prove to be slightly ambiguous an image can define points)
• To enhance visual communication skills (e.g. decoding the message from a photograph)

Please comment.

Inventions

Posted using ShareThis

When do we go with the cloud?

Determined to post. In the cloud ?

As microsoft schools agreement comes to a close do we jump onto the cloud in the
hope that we won't fall through?

• The reasons why to jump

• the netbooks with microsoft are

• slower to boot
• more battery hungry
• invest development in a fading star
• are expensive and focus efforts on what is known

• Life on the cloud

• looking at things with new perspective
• collaborative opportunities to the fore
• blending and mashups are more able to personalise experiences
• anywhere/anydevice
• less complicated
• more universal
  

We have one teacher embedding dippity in one of our online spaces. Their investigation of inventions was well suited to this. So long as we keep our eyes and ears out for purpose the
web won't let us down.

Reality Check 1

Reality Check 1

I have always backed visual images and sound as great learning tools. There is more information in these than text. I am interested in what information and collaboration will develop with a group using text about Darfur compared with one using a Youtube video clip.





What Students produced from the thinking tool

• Think
• Puzzle
• Explore

going with google

I guess I am a believer in google.
But Why???
So what is so good about a google map, doc etc.
For me the same opportunity is consistent. Collaboration is my preferred learning style in this web environment. Creativity, added knowledge and personalisation make me feel as if I can serve some purpose.When we add and individualise a map we are adding knowledge value. As others add knowledge this increases further.

• historical events
• story telling where event move from one location to another
• all the place where you can eat, exercise, view
  
• all the places to collect, pine cones, water
  
• areas that are changing
• holiday spots measure distance
• school camp description
• becoming familiar with other people and worlds
• poems
  
• water quality sample results
• oral history map references

Here is a map I have been using to test some of the features in Googlemaps

View Larger Map

here is a link to a google earth in education page