Technology and the Visual Learner

Doing research on the visual learner created a couple of “a-ha” moments for me. First was the claim that the number of visual learners in our classrooms is increasing year over year. Added to that comment was the fact that there seems to be a resistance from adults (teachers) to this fact and that in response we are trying to “rewire” students brains back to the way they “used to be”. As I processed what the author had to say in her article and I asked the questions why, as the author claims, are there are more visual/right brain learners in our classroom and are we really trying to “rewire” their learning style back to a more traditional method of learning?
On reflection and through my experience I would have to say that the author is correct that there appear to be more students who would self-identify themselves as visual learners (through a Multiple Intelligence survey). Visual learners need colour, images, maps, diagrams, overheads, multimedia presentations in order to create meaning from what they are being taught. Auditory messages, copious words on pages and step by step instructions do not fit well with this type of learner. Visual/right brain learners today are able to deal with and process and multi-task, according to the author of this article, far better then students in the past. A great example of this would be having my 12 year old nephew over with his Xbox 360. Last Christmas he got two new games, without reading the rather thick and extensive user’s manual he dove right into the game and quickly became rather proficient at it. I, on the other hand, was experiencing tremendous difficulty being able to receive information from the screen and manipulate the controller at the same time and in the end found myself frequently having to turn to the user manual. Another characteristic of the visual learner is that they like to learn in chunks, the interesting correlation to video games I have come to notice is how the games themselves are “chunked” either by stages or levels. With the increasing amount of exposure to entertainment technologies that cater to and benefit visual learners it stands to reason that schools are seeing an increase in this type of student in our classroom. Educators therefore have a responsibility not only to recognize but also to adapt their teaching practices to accommodate these, and all, learners.
Which brings me to the author’s second point about adults trying to “rewire” students brains to accept more traditional methods of learning. I believe that anywhere there would be a conscious effort to do this however, the technology sometimes moves faster than the pedagogy can keep up. Once the pedagogy catches up there is a scramble to find the funds to support new best practices.
In this respect with visual learners and digital imagery I believe that the technology, the pedagogy and the technical know how of educators is on a level playing field. Digital cameras and digital imaging storage and manipulation software are so common place and the cost associated with the technology so reasonable that the transition to everyday classroom practices can be made quite easily. What I have discovered is that teachers do not need to reinvent their lessons and throw past best practices out the window instead they can incorporate the use of digital imagery and visualization into their current assignments.

MATH
In our school every Friday we have Learning Buddies. During one period all of our junior classrooms are matched up with a primary class and the topics covered span the curriculum.
Overview:
In this lesson I would have my grade 5 students match up with students from a grade one class to create a book about 2D and 3D shapes. Groups would consist of 4/6 grade fives and 4 grade ones (due to class sizes). Each group would have a scavenger hunt page which would show the 2D and 3D shapes that the group needs to find in the school/yard and photograph. Students would later load these images onto a computer and use them make a PowerPoint (Keynote) presentation. This would take 4 lessons based on the knowledge that the grade 5 students are already familiar with the use of the camera and the software technology. As they say, “You only truly know you understand something when you find you can effectively teach what you know to someone else.” The idea being that not only would the younger students have an opportunity to use technology but the older students would benefit from consolidating their own prior knowledge and passing it along to younger students.
Lesson 1:
Split students into groups and distribute the cameras (5 cameras required). Provide students with a clipboard and scavenger hunt page showing (Shapes Hiding in Our School) them which 2D and 3D shapes they have to find (each group would have a different set of shapes to find e.g., Group 1 – circle/sphere, Group 2 – square/cube). Go over any safety rules, behaviour expectations and timing you have for the lesson.(This might also be shared by the grade fives using images on a PowerPoint presentation they created previously).
The goal will be to have students take pictures and download them to a computer in one lesson.
Lesson 2/3:
Students will get back into their groups and work on putting together 4 slide presentation.
Slide One – Title includes names of both shapes and a picture
Slide Two – 2 D shape includes pictures of the shape and a sentence about the attributes
Slide Three – 3 D shape includes pictures of the shape and a sentence about the attributes
Slide Four – Closing Credits includes picture of the group and their names

Early finishers can work on adding transitions/effects, narration and music (Garage Band) to their presentation. This will allow those truly visual/right brain people a chance to shine.
Lesson 4:
Will be a celebration and presentation of the completed projects. Projects can be linked to class conference or to the school website.

Social Studies
Overview: Grade five students are studying Ancient Civilizations and are required to show how innovations made by various early civilizations have influenced the modern world. Students will be required to research and find modern examples of an early innovation that is in use in our community (e.g., architecture – pyramids, columns) and then take digital pictures of them. The presentation should take the form of a report and be completed on a desktop publishing program such as Pages for Mac. The tricky element would be making sure that students have access to a digital camera. Possibilities might be to where possible bring in objects (e.g., calendars, clocks, models etc) and photograph them. Another alternative would be to go on a walking tour of the community to see what can be encountered (irrigation systems, hydrants, community centres etc). Last possibility might be to sign out cameras for students to take home this however does come with possible problems namely the insurance that the equipment is cared for. The benefit will be in making the students really think and search out items/objects that are part of our everyday existence that we benefit from due to an early civilization.
Show students the example below


Language
Overview:
As an on going class project one of the simplest ways to involve students in using digital imagery is to have a class newsletter that is published electronically one a month. Different groups of students would be responsible for writing, capturing the digital imagery and publishing the paper using a program such as Comic Life or Pages. The completed version would then be published on the class intranet conference. By having the newspaper as an ongoing activity provides the students opportunities to reflect on what they and others have done. In turn students will have an opportunity to stretch their skills and creativity using photo editors and desktop publishing. Moving from capturing the digital image to the visualization of the final product.
The paper could include pictures of school, class or community events and interviews or photo essays on any subject. The benefit of an ongoing assignment like this is that it creates a level playing field for those with physical limitations both physical and intellectual with minimal support from teachers or EAs. Contributions can be made to the paper in a variety of ways and the technology allows for a common end product.

What I find interesting, although not entirely surprising, is that it is difficult to talk about different types of learners and the benefits of digital imagery in isolation for one particular learner or for that matter one particular technology. In the end all learners benefit from using technology and I find it almost impossible to use one piece of technology in isolation. Last assignment centred around digital storytelling but digital imagery goes hand in hand with that. Our next assignment looks at presentation programs like PowerPoint again if you create a narrated presentation incorporating digital imagery the end product is an activity or lesson that will appeal to many types of learners.