Digital Tools 2: Images

Visual images and visual learning are a significant part of effective teaching and learning in today’s classroom. Whether we present an image as a visual stimulant or whether we use auditory cues for students to interpret and re-create an image, visual images are still dependent on social and cultural understandings and interpretations.
Because visual images are a powerful tool too many or too much may be over stimulating for certain learners, particularly some Autistic students, or may cause distraction for learners as they are mesmerized by the images. To others the images may represent a social or cultural experience which is significant or which they want to learn more. Images can be a catalyst for understanding or a tool for engaging, it depends on how the teacher or Learner Manager chooses to use the tool.



This is a photo that I took of Ned Kelly's Armour. The photo was taken at the Library of Victoria in Melbourne. I have re-sized the photo using MobaPhoto before uploading it to the blog. Prior to doing this, I tried to upload the full photo but it was taking a long time, so I stopped it. I resized the photo using MobaPhoto which only took a few minutes then downloaded it onto the blog.


The photo itself could be used 'educationally' for any number of purposes in a classroom. The image itself could be used to introduce a unit on Ned Kelly, or Australian Bushrangers, or even an investigation into armour. It could also be used as a stimulation for students to write a story or journal entry "When I was a bushranger" or "The bushranger next door". Many and varied suggestions come to mind with this image. Even, for photography students, "How to take good holiday photos!". There are other images similar to this that I found using Google Images, and they would also be suitable for a similar use.

This is a photo that I took of Australia playing cricket at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in a one day test match against Pakistan. Again, this image, like any other is limitless in its application to use as a teaching tool. Even though it is just one image it could be used to indicate field placings on a cricket team; it could start a discussion regarding advertising in sport; horticulture students may be interested in the cross cut of the pitch and the field; maths students may be interested in the seating plan, trying to locate a person in the crowd. The image may again, similar to the Ned Kelly Armour be used as a prompt or started for writing a story or narrative for students of any age. In this instance it may engage students particularly interested in sport.

PLUS:

1. Images impact on emotion that is why we use them as a learning tool. It inspires students to take action or to do something. (In this instance - writing).
2. Images have different significance to different people, the same way that knowledge is built, so is the interpretation of images.
3. Images can be used as a 'hook' for a unit; or simply as a stimulus for discussion.
4. Images aren't just about what is seen, it is sometimes what isn't seen, and what the image represents that is the stimulus.
5. Different images can be used for different age groups. Single images for Prep students, Van Gough pictures for upper primary.
6. Images can be photos, art, drawings, video clips, anything visual that is used as a stimulant for learning.
7. Students can use images or photos as a form of displaying their understanding of knowledge through drawings, powerpoints, photos, along with written words or verbal information. This is an effective assessment tool.
8. Images can be used to maintain the focus or point of a lesson.

MINUS:

1. Cultural sensitivity may need to be adhered to with some images.
2. Overstimulation of senses may be stressful for some students including ASD or Autistic Students.
3. Some images may have different meanings indifferent cultures, so the teacher must place the image in the right context using verbal communication as well.
4. Images are emotional, so a teacher must be aware of this when prompting students to interact on a personal level with a partiuclar image or photo.
5. There are particular guidelines relating to use of photos or images on the internet. Whilst this is not particularly a minus, I have included it here as a reminder of responsibilities as teachers.

Interesting Improve Implement

Images are a strong emotional stimulant and their use in a classroom, particularly for younger and hearing impaired students should not be overlooked. One way to discover how powerful and diverse images are to students is to read them a story they have never heard before, without showing them the pictures. Have the students draw their own pictures or images. Then show the students the pictures in the book, and have them look at their own images they have drawn. This is an effective form of discovering 'prior knowledge' in younger students.

In this digital age, images are an important part of assessment in the form of powerpoint presentation and video recording of experiments or investigations. It not only helps the students to understand what they are learning and experiencing but helps to guide them to outcomes of lessons and learning. Visual images are everywhere for students from advertisements to musicclips to photos taken with phones and photos cropped to cut out friends. Images are a powerful tool, and as a teacher and Learner Manger we need to ensure that we choose the right images to engage and not enrage our students.

WHAT I THINK:

I love images in any form. I think they are a fantastic tool, and used the right way in the right context can stimulate students in one form or another. I use images as a teaching tool everyday, and it is fantastic to see students respond. As a teacher, I can use my words to tell about the blue oceans and the golden sands around Africa and the green strip which is the Nile, but to show students this image on an Interactive White Board is another understanding of the world altogether. Have a look for your self at Blue Beauty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g8KtFCiBDU