Students tend to learn better when a visual component is present. This also applies to predominantly auditory and kinesthetic learners.
Ideally, students develop visual literacy, where they hone the ability to accurately interpret and create visual messages. They accomplish this through the process of decoding and encoding visual information.
Decoding occurs when students correctly interpret and create meaning from visuals. Younger learners under the age of 12, tend to decode images more literally and by section. Older students are apt to assimilate meaning from whole scenes. Regardless of the age group, simpler images complement better visual learning.
Encoding refers to students creating visuals. This can occur via presentation software, including PowerPoint and Keynote. Other visuals include pictures, drawings, graphs, charts, posters and cartoons.
It's important to note that students from different cultures often interpret images based on their cultural background.
Based upon research outcomes, the effective use of visuals can decrease learning time, improve comprehension, enhance retrieval, and increase retention (Kouyoumdjian, 2012).
When students create visuals, they make concrete references for ideas and can motivate learners through better engagement.Visuals also complement auditory and written information, brining it to life.
Reference
Kouyoumdjian, H. (2012), (July). Learning through visuals: Visual imagery in the classroom. Psychology Today (36) (3).
Questions
1. If you're teaching, do you use slideshows as an instructional tool? If so, what is your favorite digital photo site, and does your school pay for a subscription if it is fee-based?
2. If you use slideshow presentation software, which one do you find to be the most user-friendly?
3. Do you think your colleagues at school, as a rule, are comfortable using slideshow presentation software, including manipulating many of the bells and whistles that complement such software?
Tim, I am going to address your first question. As a classroom teacher, the first thing I learned last year was how important visuals are in the learning process. It took me a couple of months to figure out that my middle schoolers could not deal with just reading a text and listening to me talk. I noticed during those first couple months teaching that after twenty minutes, my kids would be ready to climb the walls from boredom.
ReplyDeleteBy incorporating different types of visuals, their favorite being videos, I noticed I was able to keep their attention longer. By keeping the student's attention on the video or other visual aids I was able to find, they understood more of what I was trying to teach them versus me just lecturing.
My favorite digital slideshow site is called Slideshare. When I simply did not have time to create my slideshows on ppt I could look up what I wanted and project it onto the whiteboard and enhance my content with a slideshow that more often than not also had narration or other sound effects. Not only do educators contribute their slideshows to the site, but students could also create their own and post them on the site for public use, which gave my students the extra incentive to do theirs to the best of their ability. The best part is, the site is free so anyone can use it.