F.+Discussion+Intro.+to+Visual+Literacy

**Please participate here in a discussion of VISUAL LITERACY. Follow the instructions below to participate in the discussion**


 * Do some research on the following concepts and individuals:**
 * 1. Visual Literacy**
 * 2. John L. (Jack Debes)**
 * 3. Edward R. Tufte**

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 * __Dr. Ausburn__**

1. In your own words, define VISUAL LITERACY. What is it? Why is it important in contemporary society? How do you think it may have changed in the past 10 years and what caused it to change?
 * __In your response, please address the following questions:__**

2. What impact has "new visual literacy" had on education/training? How well is education/training coping with changes in visual literacy?

3. Who is John L. (Jack) Debes and what did he contribute to the visual literacy movement?

4. Who is Edward R. Tufte and what did he contribute to the visual literacy movement?

5. How does visual design of instructional materials relate to visual literacy?


 * __Please enter your comments for this discussion by Monday evening before next class meeting. Read your classmates' comments before next class and be ready for in-class discussion.__**

__**Marla Stubblefield**__ Visual Literacy is the ability of an instructor or learner to comprehend text/image layout and understand why good design works and is beneficial in the learning process and why poor design can, in turn, be a hindrance.

The new visual literacy has impacted education and training in a very positive way. Many students and employees have commented on their ability to understand and comprehend information in a concise manner with visuals to aide in their learning process. Lohr says, that many teachers and designers are asking the question, “If visual literacy is so important then why is this the first time we have heard of it?” In most cases, education is coping with changes in visual literacy in a very positive manner. Interestingly enough, over the last 10 years, I have seen the positive effects of good design, as well as, the negative effects of poor design. I think the change has occurred from students who have come through courses that have displayed poor design and these former students are now becoming the designers and educators who are researching and effectively communicating design that works.

John L. Debes began the concept of visual literacy in 1966. He introduced the “psychological, educational and societal foundations supporting the visual literacy concept” (Purvis, 1973). Edward R. Tufte was also a pioneer in the world of visual literacy and information design. He is best known for his work with charts and diagrams and the sparkline.

Visual design for instructional materials and visual literacy go hand in hand. The very meaning of visual literacy (being able to read/write with appealing visual images) is the very element that must go into designing instructional materials. For instructional materials to be effective in the learning process instructors/designers must incorporate the basic elements of design: type, shape, color, depth and space.

1. Visual Literacy is taking images from the past and present and incorporating them into teaching techniques and designs. Visual Literacy is important especially for the high percentage of the population that are considered visual learners. We have so much information available at our fingertips via technology that we should be using these in our classrooms. I think the concept of visual design has increased in popularity over the past 10 years and it will only continue to grow in popularity.Visual Literacy not only provides students with critical thinking opportunities but also allows them to utitilize their creativity. 2. WIth the swift changing world of technology, visual literacy is taking education into the 21st Century. Teachers are able to provide students with more virtual learning experiences which enhances their experiences. Even though this concept has been around for quite some time, it is a new concept to me. Since students are introduced to technology at a much younger age, it is important for teachers to incorporate visual design in their curriculums. 3. John L. Debes is Co-founder of the International Visual Literacy Association. He is also the pioneer who is credited with the visual literacy field. In 1969 he created the tentative definition of the visual literacy concept. 4. Edward Tufte is an American statistician and is also a professor emritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale. In 2010, Tufte was appointed to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's Recovery Independent Advisory Panel by President Barack Obama. 5. It is important for visual design materials to compliment visual literacy. These materials need to be clear and concise and easy for the student to understand. A variety of visual design materials should be included in presentations and these should be appealing to the eye yet easy to comprehend.
 * __Jennifer Duncan__**

1. Visual Literacy is the use of images used to critically analyze and reflect on meaning in overall concepts. The use of visual images to convey larger concepts is often what a visual learner must have to comprehend the underlying meaning and to understand it thoroughly. Through the use of well-constructed images we are able to further grasp complex concepts. Contemporary society requires more complex analysis of tools and resources. As a group, we now expect each other to take a set of processes and not only explain what it does but analysis its reason and justify why these same steps are taken. The problems and issues we face have become much more complex than they once were. Every day we as a society experience changes in our technology. The half-life of technology now is 6 months…if we are unable to keep up with and implement these tools then we as a society fall behind.
 * __ Brittany Bright __**

2. At one point, educators had very little technology at their fingertips to provide students with different learning experience. With the increase in technology over the last century, educators now have to understand how technology can be used effectively to serve students. For example, educators now have virtual reality, Blackboard, PowerPoint, and SmartBoards as resources that now require them to analyze the best layout that conveys understanding.

3. John L. (Jack) Debes researched and coined what is now called visual literacy. From this, he researched the difference in how humans learn from images opposed to words. His discoveries and innovations have allowed teachers today to overcome many obstacles with learning a vast majority of concepts in numerous fields.

4. Edward R. Tufte’s research focused on statistical graphics. His first publication was //The Visual Display of Quantitative Information//. He is known as an expert in the presentation of informational graphics that you would find in charts and/or diagrams. He is also well known for his criticisms on the use of Microsoft PowerPoint to incorrectly present information to an audience. He has made many contributions to the understanding of presenting quantitative data to audiences in a way that is understood.

5. Not all students comprehend information just because it is said to read. Often times an educator is responsible for also presenting information in a graphical form for those who learn more visually. Because of this, instructors must be able to take a concept and design it so that all students will understand its underlying meaning. This can also apply to instructional design in general. Visual literacy allows an instructor to think about the learning process and design their course as such. In our current generation with the taking off of virtual reality, the need for visual literacy in instructional design will become even more apparent.

__** Ephanie DeBey **__ 1. Visual Literacy is being able to read, interpret and derive meaning from visual images and in return to be able to convey a message back in the same format. It has become much more important in contemporary society with the increase in technology. On a daily basis, individuals are bombarded with images online, on TV, in the newspaper, in books and in movies. As a society, we are saturated with media everywhere we look. In addition, as individuals become more competent with technology and as web technology expands, more and more people are creating, displaying and sending their own visual messages. 2. Visual literacy is having a profound effect on education and training. In the past, technology was limited due to resources and lack of programming. Today, the better question is what can’t you do with technology! With decreased costs and improved programming, a variety of educational institutions and training facilities are adding visual literacy into their every day routine. At this point and time, traditional methods and media still remain important in the classroom/training room, but new technology has been added to increase and improve education/training. Overall, some areas are using and applying the new technology into every facet of their daily routine with comfort and ease. Other groups are still lacking training and resources to really use visual literacy effectively. In the future, I doubt these groups will be able to get by without it. 3. Mr. Debes is credited with the term visual literacy. He and his associates published a newsletter called Visuals in 1967. This newsletter began the dialogue on visual communications and led to the first conference in August 1968. He is the co-founder International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA). 4. A former professor at Princeton, Tufte worked with John Tukey on some joint seminars which became the foundation of //The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.// In 1982, he published another book Visual Display that rocketed him to the status of information expert. In his writings he coined the term "chartjunk" referring to useless, non-informative information. 5. Visual design is important to visual literacy. Designs should be clear, concise and well laid out in order to increase maximum efficiency using visual literacy. If literacy is not well designed, the student/employee may be confused about the message being conveyed.

__ Chuck Baukal __ 1. General literacy is where a person is at least conversant with language particularly reading. If someone cannot read and write in our society, they are at a tremendous disadvantage. Likewise, visual literacy means a person is conversant with images (Lohr argues that this may sometimes include text as well) so they can understand, use, and create visual images. Again, failure to be visually literate in our society also puts a person at a huge disadvantage because our society has become so visually oriented. We are bombarded daily with images from sun-up to sun-down. Who would have thought only a few years ago that we would even be able to see images on our phones. This is but one of the many changes that have occurred in the past 10 years. Another change is the ease with which graphics can be created, both good and bad designs. A further advancement has been color printing for the masses. It doesn't seem that long ago that most people only had printers that could print with black ink - not so anymore! The biggest reason for most of these changes has been the rapid changes in technology that continually get cheaper and better. 2. The new visual literacy has had a huge impact on education and training. Not that long ago it was not that easy to create visual images unless you had special and expensive software (and somewhat of an artistic talent), nor was it easy or cheap to produce those images. New advancements in technology have dramatically changed that so that images can be quickly and easily created by non-artists and then reproduced to give to students at a relatively modest cost. In some ways, education/training has jumped into the pool of visual literacy with both feet where everyone is creating all kinds of images to support their course content. The flip side is that in some cases teachers have gone overboard with all kinds of cute clipart and video clips that are entertaining but have relatively little to do with the actual learning objectives. 3. John Debes worked for Eastman Kodak as the Coordinator of Education Projects and was the founder and one of the most important people in the history of the International Visual Literacy Association and is credited with creating the term "visual literacy" in 1969. He wrote publications and organized conferences to educate people on visual literacy. 4. According to Edward R. Tufte's website ([|www.edwardtufte.com]), "Edward Tufte has written seven books, including //Beautiful Evidence, Visual Explanations, Envisioning Information, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information,// and //Data Analysis for Politics and Policy.// He writes, designs, and self-publishes his books on analytical design, which have received more than 40 awards for content and design. He is Professor Emeritus at Yale University, where he taught courses in statistical evidence, information design, and interface design. His current work includes landscape sculpture, printmaking, video and a new book." Tufte was selected by President Obama to serve on the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the Society for Technical Communication, and the American Statistical Association. He received his PhD in political Science from Yale University and BS and MS in statistics from Stanford University. He has written extensively about visual literacy including some landmark books in the field. His website has many examples of his work. 5. Visual design of instructional materials relates to visual literacy because it is the job of the designer to ensure the instructional materials are understandable to the learners and aid in the learning process. Lohr gives a number of examples of poorly designed visuals such as the Teacher Training (p. 9) where the learners could not see the visuals very well. Despite the fact that a slick animation was produced for the training, it was not helpful to the learners. Just because fancy visuals can be created does not mean they support learning. In fact they may actually reduce learning if they distract the learners from what they should really be studying.