Visual Constructivism Visual

Open up a textbook; check out an educational webpage. Chances are within a few flips of the page or scrolls you will stumble upon a graphic. Our current teaching materials are littered with images, from frog dissection sketches to screenshots. 

We as teachers have become so accustomed to including images in our educational resources. But why? What needs are our visuals meeting? What types of visuals are we including? 

Thankfully, we have moved away from adding graphics because they are cute. We now recognize that appropriate use of well-designed visuals can lead to complex, nuanced learning. Now, as we continue to explore the use of visuals to construct knowledge, we should also consider the type of visual being used. In her article, "Visual Constructivism in Distance Learning" Kathryn Alesandrini (2002) denotes 3 categories of visuals: representational, analogical and abstract. She proceeds to explain that the majority of the visuals currently be used for educational purposes are representation images--remember those frog dissection sketches and screenshots (Alesandrini, 2002). 

As we continue to leverage technology and create constructivist classroom, challenge yourself to think of these three types of visuals. Feel free to use/share our Visual Constructivism Infographic or click on the image to see the original Piktochart! 

References: 

Alesandrini, K. (2002). Visual constructivism in distance learning. USDLA Journal. 16(1). Retrieved from http://209.151.89.205/usdla.org/public_html/cms/html/journal/JAN02_Issue/article03.html

Let's Talk about Informational Texts

A few weeks ago, my favorite nutrition site, Precision Nutrition, sent me their latest post. I clicked on the link and found this AMAZING infographic. Not only did I love the information, but the teacher in me kicked in! This was a great example of some of the ways that we convey information using well-selected design elements.

So, as my students entered into the final days of their Somaliland presentation designs, I decided to have them analyze Precision Nutrition's visual as readers and writers.

Based upon our discussions, these are the key elements we identified. I then created the infographic below to help them remember these elements as they finalized their presentations.

Feel free to use with your students & check out Piktochart as a great tool for creating infographics! And for more great ideas, check out ActiveHandprint!