TEACHING WITH Images4educationJanuary 25, 2009

ARE WE TALKING ABOUT

VISUAL LITERACY?

Courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/alisonkeller/2361365501/

www.educatebetter.org 

Visual Literacy: Wikipedia• the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented

in the form of an image. Visual literacy is based on the idea that pictures can be “read” and that meaning can be communicated through a process of reading.

• The term first used in 1969 • because multiple disciplines such as education, art history and criticism, rhetoric,

semiotics, philosophy, information design, and graphic design make use of the term visual literacy, arriving at a common definition of visual literacy has been contested

• Commonly refers to the ability to read eg graphs, colour coded diagrams, tables, flow charts, etc

• many educators in the twenty-first century promote the learning of visual literacies as indispensable to life in the information age. … educators are recognizing the importance of helping students develop visual literacies in order to survive and communicate in a highly complex world.

• I suspect that in our context as ’21stcentury educators’ we are referring to a subset of multiliteracy, or digital literacy, and the term visual literacy might best be avoided, or at least used with caution.

Title: Public PrivacyTags:Thailand, Koh Samet, jetty, pier, sea, privacy

Why Media?

• Adrian Miles (RMIT):

“ make our institution…more porous to the students’ private technologies – their mobile phones, their laptops and their cameras.”

• Innate human desire/need to create• Ubiquity and ease of participatory media enables

creation of images, film, documents, course content, assessments, etc

• develops Digital Literacy

http://flickr.com/photos/chunyang/800589975/

“The Read/Write Web”(Tim Berners Lee)

Original photo by Hummanna.

My Experience

with Flickr

Background courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/andrearusky/2240595375/

Using Flickr

1. Repository– Convenience– Would anyone else look at them?

2. Photographic Journal

Background courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/andrearusky/2538222041/in/set-72157606561568609/

Flickr and Networks

3. I started ‘following’ other people (when I realised some were following me!)

– adding other people as contacts– Using tagging to find others

DIGITAL LITERACY

4. Naming, Describing, Tagging– Adds value to your image– Easier to find (for you and others)– Becomes part of a body of organised

knowledge

Background: http://flickr.com/photos/andrearusky/2736194440/in/set-72157606561568609/

TAGGING

5. Tags can be categorised:

Literal

Concrete

Physical

Tangible

Visible

Figurative/Metaphorical

Abstract

Intangible

Invisible

Backround: http://flickr.com/photos/thingsarebetterwithaparrott/2088815029/

6. Creating your own

CLIP ART

eg tools, work, readiness

Image from http://flickr.com/photos/aaronescobar/2633772161/

7. DOCUMENTING THE

PLANET!

What is the IMPACT of all this?

Image courtesy of Mike Seyfang http://flickr.com/photos/mikeblogs/2506591015/

What is the IMPACT of all this?

• I take more photos (quantity)• I take more care when I take photos (quality)• More assiduous with my TAGGING• Routinely check the lives of friends and contacts

– Comment on others photos– Sometimes leads to discussion

Image courtesy of Mike Seyfang http://flickr.com/photos/mikeblogs/2506591015/

PHOTOS IN THE CLASSROOM

Dennisinphoenix says:

• Photos—individual ones, pairs, collages—make wonderful prompts for any kind of discussion or writing project in which there's a focus on impressions, conclusions, comparisons, descriptions, and reflections. Photos can be the basis for activities which are highly directed (such as an exercise focusing on a particular grammar point or an argument pro, con, or in-between) or only suggestive (e.g., looking at a photo, thinking about it, and then using one's own words to make a conclusion, invent a story, give an opinion, write a reflection, guess a location, describe / explain how a photo makes one feel, and much more). Photos and graphics are much more engaging than relying solely on written or oral directions, in my opinion.

Background courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/epzibah/273262048/

THE BIG CHANGE:• We can now all create and supply media from

our own lives for use in educational contexts– Ease of production; ease of access– Quality of product (not photocopied, or via overhead

projector)– Personalises the educational experience– Frees teachers and students from reliance on

published texts

• ORAL PRESENTATIONS (hobbies/interests, your home town or city, excursions)

• VOCABULARY: what is this? > tagging • GRAMMAR: what are they doing? (present continuous)• WRITING: description, identifying key words

– Literal v Emotive, abstract

• ORAL DISCUSSION– What are you doing? Where is this? Who is that? – Culture: (events, customs, artefacts) of own and host culture

• COMPETITIONS– Best sunset, best photo of person, nature, built environment, etc

YOUR THOUGHTS #1

mgabriela says:

• I was thinking about the difference between doing things with your students in a blog or wiki and in an environment like flickr. Even though a blog or wiki can be public and anyone can comment it is still yours, ours, theirs. It's difficult to explain. But suddenly, when I saw the art teacher and her class I felt something new. When I visit class blogs I feel like an observer, even when I comment. Here with that particular picture I felt part of it. Strange.

Background courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/epzibah/273262048/

YOUR THOUGHTS #2jomango274 says:

• when I showed them the maze: Choose Your Own Adventure Game they were really blown away by it. It's such a great idea that we language teachers (and subject teachers too) could really exploit. I also loved the notes on the paintings - could be great for student -generated vocabulary activities or for preparing for 'describe a picture' activities in oral exams. I think if learners can upload their own photos or choose them from Flickr themselves, they'll be so much more motivated.

• Just had another idea: learners upload a picture and others use Notes to ask them questions about things in the picture. Of course this would be nice as a speaking activity but could be a good piece of homework where they practise forming accurate and interesting questions.

Background courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/epzibah/273262048/

YOUR THOUGHTS #3

siberian_squirrel says:

• I was surprised at using hyperlinks in an image. What an interesting and very unusual idea - Adventure Game!

My idea: students will make a story out of 5 images (the story in 5 frames), but upload only their pictures. The rest of the class will guess the story. The authors will call the winner.

Background courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/epzibah/273262048/

YOUR THOUGHTS #4

etrc_moldova says:

• One computer in class needed.Idea : students have to write a paragraph on paper or in their personal blogs on an abstract topic, say “Yellow”. Share their writings. Search Flickr for “Yellow” tags; compare photo results with their ideas.

One of my students wrote about the yellow trend in fashion this summer, another about how she adores yellow tulips and the language of flowers, there was a paragraph about chickens and a lively discussion about what was first a chicken or a hen.

Background courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/epzibah/273262048/

YOUR THOUGHTS #5Shhkellie says:

• I would love to know how long the Adventure Game took to put together -- what a cool idea.

Made me think that maybe students could thread together a collaborative story: each person would be responsible for a section & finding an image to capture the mood of his/her part, passing along to the next person.

Also, I wondered about using the map feature to construct a journey (either fictional or real). Did this with GoogleEarth tours, but didn't know about the map feature in Flickr.

Background courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/epzibah/273262048/

MORE IDEAS AT:

http://teachingwithflickr.wikispaces.com/

This is a public wiki and can be edited by all so please addany new resources or ideas you find or think of.

Michael CoghlanNewLearningmichaelc@chariot.net.au