Influencing policy (training slides from Fast Track Impact)
Digital Literacy Conference
1. Connecting Visual Literacy with
Traditional Literacy Grades K – 8
Meg Griffin
PAWLP Fellow
Fourth Grade Teacher CBSD
mgriffin@cbsd.org
2. What are your thoughts on visual
literacy?
• Go here to share YOUR thought
•http://goo.gl/qcmlAc
3. Tradition Literacy Is……
• "... the integration of listening, speaking,
reading, writing and critical thinking.
• It includes a cultural knowledge which enables a
speaker, writer or reader to recognize and use
language appropriate to different social situations.
The National Secretariat for the International Year of
Literacy, 1990.
4. Tradition Literacy Is……
• ... the making of meaning and its clear
communication to others.
• Truly literate people not only read and write,
but regularly do so in order to sort out their
ideas
• Truly literate people are thinkers and learners."
Brown & Mathie, 1990
5. Tradition Literacy Is……
• "... the foundation of effective citizenship,
human communication and social integration in
a literate society.
• Literacy is the foundation of learning in all areas
of the curriculum."
Holdaway, 1979
6. Tradition Literacy Is……
• Reading
• Writing
• Viewing
• Listening
• Speaking
• Understanding
• The online environment is increasingly a visual
environment
• Interpretation of visuals is the most subjective
7. Visual Literacy is…
• the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make
meaning from information presented in the
form of an image, extending the meaning of
literacy
8. Visual Literacy is…
• “is a set of abilities that enables an individual
to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use,
and create images and visual media.“
• The Association of College and Research
Libraries Image Resources Interest Group
9. Question ??
• "If students aren't taught the language of
sound and images, shouldn't they be
considered as illiterate as if they left college
without being able to read or write?"
• YOUR thoughts
Film maker George Lucas, quoted in Edutopia
10. Programs to integrate Visual Literacy
with Traditional Literacy
• VoiceThread
• Animoto
• PhotoStory
• Moviemaker
• Wordle, Tagxedo
• Big Huge Labs
11. • VoiceThread allows you to create an interactive
slideshow using pictures, videos, documents, or even
Powerpoint presentations. You or your students can
record video/audio that allows you to describe each
slide in more detail. But that’s not all…Viewers of your
VoiceThreads can leave responses and comments to
your VoiceThread. This tool is excellent for supporting
writing workshop. I have seen it used for publishing a
class poetry book, students created informational texts
that they narrated, and one first grade class published
their interactive writing about a class field trip to the
zoo. VoiceThread makes it really easy to share
published works with families!
13. • Animoto For Education is a Web 2.0 tool that
allows teachers and students to create impressive
and unique digital stories and presentations
(incorporating images, video clips, music and
text) quickly and easily. Animoto is a wonderful
tool for students because it allows them to focus
on content creation rather than trying to learn an
editing or manipulation tool. In the school
context, Animoto For Education is ideal tool for
students to create their own booktrailers, digital
stories or music videos.
15. • Wordle creates a “word cloud” that helps
to interpret the meaning of the words by
assigning font size according to how
frequently the word appears in a text or is
typed into the Wordle text box. We have used
Wordle for brainstorming and as a reflection
tool at the end of a professional development
session.