{"id":57886,"date":"2020-01-28T03:18:08","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T07:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/?p=57886"},"modified":"2020-01-28T11:03:58","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T15:03:58","slug":"using-visual-literacy-in-the-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/01_28_2020\/using-visual-literacy-in-the-classroom","title":{"rendered":"Using Visual Literacy in the Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cVisual literacy is not just about art \u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all heard the adage, \u201cA picture is worth a thousand words.\u201d Learning to read those pictures gives us advantages in both work and life. The University of Toledo and Toledo Museum of Art\u2019s Visual Literacy Initiative is paving the way for what it means to speak visual. <\/p>\n

Visual literacy is defined as being able to read, comprehend and use visual images effectively. The initiative provides faculty with visual literacy tools to prepare students for the future. To date, the initiative has advanced student learning across all disciplines by launching visual literacy modules for UToledo faculty to use with their students. <\/p>\n

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UToledo students visited the Toledo Museum of Art for a visual literacy exercise called Back to Back Drawing.<\/p><\/div>\u201cVisual literacy is not just about art. It\u2019s about understanding the world around us through observation, critical thinking, perspective and collaboration in a vast world of images and visual stimulation,\u201d Dr. Heidi M. Appel, dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College, said. \u201cTo communicate successfully in our increasingly image-saturated culture, we must also learn to read, understand and critique images \u2014 to become literate in visual language.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ability to speak visual will be important in all fields of study and employment whether it\u2019s to read and design schematics, visualize problems and solutions, see data, diagnose patients, interpret clinical images, or communicate information. <\/p>\n

\u201cVisual literacy is a way to engage students to begin the process of deep learning and creative thinking,\u201d Dr. Arun Nadarajah, UToledo professor of bioengineering, said.<\/p>\n

There are new University of Toledo courses that focus exclusively on visual literacy in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, the Honors College, and the College of Arts and Letters. <\/p>\n

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Shari Norte, assistant lecturer in the School of Exercise Rehabilitation Sciences, left, and Mirta Parodi, senior lecturer of Spanish, participated in a visual literacy activity that challenged teams to build something with Legos and write instructions so others could replicate the same object.<\/p><\/div>All faculty now can include visual literacy in their courses using modules and exercises to support instruction while achieving student learning outcomes. The modules are made to be easily adaptable and span across all disciplines. <\/p>\n

“We’re all visual learners. These modules are a great way to infuse our already vital subject areas with more active learning strategies that increase visual literacy,\u201d\u00a0Dan McInnis, assistant lecturer in the Jesup Scott Honors College, said. \u201cThe visual literacy modules and exercises assist me as a faculty member to deliver specific skill sets to students, giving them conduits to stronger visual understanding.” <\/p>\n

One module from the initiative titled Infographic Creation and Interpretation \u201cis designed to meet student learning outcomes and provide students with an understanding of the use of infographics for communicating complex ideas efficiently and effectively.\u201d Students also have shared their experience with this module. One student said, \u201cThis module taught me that we process pictures faster than words, so by having a picture represent information, people want to share.\u201d Another student said, \u201cInfographics should be an aid to help us tell a story.\u201d Not only did this module teach students how to interpret and read infographics, it taught them how to create their own infographics. A student reflected on his experience: \u201cThe module put the \u2018common sense\u2019 of visual interpretation into words. It helped me understand why we need concise, accurate and appealing infographics beyond \u2018they look nice and are easy to understand.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Another student said, \u201cI feel more confident when analyzing an infographic. I look at its content, the structure of the image, how clear it is, if it\u2019s simple, how did they emphasize on the problem. For the design, I pay attention to the colors, if it\u2019s attractive, how easy it is for me to digest and retain the information provided.\u201d<\/p>\n

The visual literacy modules and exercises are made available through the Visual Literacy webpage<\/strong><\/a> or Blackboard<\/strong><\/a>. To access the visual literacy modules and exercises through Blackboard, use the Faculty Support tab on the top of your Blackboard page to find Other Resources and select the Visual Literacy link. Visual literacy will then show up as one of your organizations below your courses. You\u2019ll find instructions on how to use the modules and exercises there.<\/p>\n

Campus community members are invited to explore visual literacy modules and exercises during open houses:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Friday, Jan. 31<\/strong>, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in Nitschke Hall Room 5013;<\/p>\n

\u2022 Friday, Feb. 28<\/strong>, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the Center for the Visual Arts Conference Room on the University\u2019s Toledo Museum of Art Campus.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Friday, April 24<\/strong>, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in MacKinnon Hall Room 1370. <\/p>\n

An extended workshop also is planned for Friday, March 27<\/strong>, from noon to 3 p.m. in Toledo Museum of Art Room 128.<\/p>\n

Register to attend an open house or workshop on the University Teaching Center website<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

To inquire more information about the Visual Literacy Initiative and its campus-wide efforts, visit the Visual Literacy Initiative website<\/strong><\/a> or contact visualliteracy@utoledo.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mejias Santoro is an academic and adult programs coordinator at the Toledo Museum of Art.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read how the University and the Toledo Museum of Art’s Visual Literacy Initiative is making a difference for students and faculty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":865,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,38,9,62,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57886"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/865"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57886"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57935,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57886\/revisions\/57935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}