Examples of Visual Literacy and Learning

In my previous post, I stated that visual association could be very useful to education. As soon as I started thinking about this idea, a couple examples of how visual aids could be effective in understanding cultural differences popped into my head. However, I came across a cool example quite a while ago.

Over the summer I saw these really interesting graphics that mapped out the linguistics differences of certain words across America. I found out that we all use different words for things, depending on where we live in the country. I spent such a long time looking at these maps, because I have family all throughout the nation, and I found the results to be entertaining and extremely accurate. I looked further into the project, and discovered that this project was done by a Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University by the name of Jonathan Katz.

I encourage everyone to take a look at this project, because it is a perfect example of how cultural differences can develop throughout a city, state, or country- and how we can easily highlight these differences with visuals.

The link to Katz's project is here: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jakatz2/project-dialect.html

Enjoy!

Open Up Your Eyes!

Photo credit: flickr.com

Before I get started with this post, I just want to take the time out to say that I am proud of myself in how far I have come in this MOOC course, and in my understanding of the various concepts of metaliteracy. When I first began this course, I found myself to be so lost. I don't know if the topics are becoming easier or more interesting, but I really think that the course is beginning to make a lot of sense.

Anyway, back to what I'm really here to talk about! This week's MOOC talk was about the importance of visual literacy to metaliteracy. I have to say that this week's talk was pretty cool. I know that for me, I learn best from visuals and hands-on learning, but I never realized that such a huge part of our overall learning and understanding comes from visual aid. I think its great that Mr. Stone used this talk to highlight the importance of visual literacy.

Mr. Stone uses a lot of great examples in his lecture, but one of my favorites had to do with the project that was done on his campus. Large letters that spelt words like "thrive" and "grow" were placed in relation to trees and bushes, in order to draw attention to nature. Mr. Stone noted that so many students walk around with their heads down in their phones, and paid absolutely no attention to their surroundings. I think this project was an interesting way for the students and faculty of the campus to really engage with their surroundings.

I also thought the juxtaposition of information with nature was pretty awesome. Many of us do not associate nature with information or technology. After seeing this example, I tried to think of more examples where our natural environment was utilized to dispense or provide information, but I could not think of anything. I also think that the visual word association in this project was interesting. Words like "thrive" and "grow" are words that can be associated with plants and nature, but they also can be related to college and education. Isn't college a place where we come to thrive and to grow? We come to branch out, and to leave as more developed and informed person. Was this project supposed to intentionally have more than one meaning?

I made these connections from a couple of videos I saw on Mr. Stone's Vimeo account. There are two "Type in Motion" videos for the words "vacuum" and "wind," which work mostly with the aforementioned concept of visual word association. For "vacuum," the letter U is sucking up the rest of the letters, which is the motion that we would typically associate with that word.

In thinking about metaliteracy as a whole, I think that visuals such as these could be vital to global metaliteracy. Could you imagine using videos like Mr. Stone's to teach different languages to students young and old? For example, I can already see how videos like these could be useful to a person learning English (which is arguably one the hardest languages to adopt). Imagine there being videos for nuanced words that look and sound the same, but are radically different; like see and sea or red and read. Or what about using these word associations and infographics to inform students about other cultures? With ideas like this, I think that visual literacy could be (and is!) a vital part to our learning and understanding.

My Thoughts About Textbooks

Photo Credit: z-comix.deviantart.com

I just read a post from one of my fellow MOOC classmates, which was a mini-rant about textbooks. I would have to say that I agree with him in thinking that textbooks have been the biggest rip-off of my college career (aside from the meal plan). We, as students, spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks every semester for our courses, which I think is highly problematic for three main reasons:

Issue Number 1: I think that textbooks make some teachers unbelievably lazy, or lose their zest for actually teaching and instructing. Some professors think that if they come across a textbook that aligns with their course work, they can just prescribe this as our main course of understanding, and then go over any questions that we have in class. I have taken way too many General Education courses where this was the issue. Some professors even assign readings that we do not go over in class, but they somehow end up on our exams.

Issue Number 2: By show of hands, how many of you have taken a class where a professor has assigned a textbook, and it spent the whole semester collecting dust in your car, on your desk, or in a drawer somewhere? Well, I have both of my hands waving high in the air. I have taken many courses just like this, and I still remember some of the really absurd prices that I paid for textbooks that I did not use ($160 math textbook my Spring semester of freshman year!). If a professor does not plan on having us crack into a book, then what is the point?

Issue Number 3: I feel the pain of this issue every semester; the problem of selling back your textbooks. We spend hundreds of dollars on these things, and once the semester is over, we're lucky if we can get back even half of the price that we paid. Every semester, there is at least one or two books that I shelled out a ton of money for, only to reel back, mouth agape, when I hear of the price that is offered to me when I try to sell them back. I would snatch my (now useless) book up in horror, clutch it tightly to my chest and quickly flee from the scene, because I refused to give up something so expensive for so little (Yes, this is exactly how I react, every time!). With that in mind, how valuable could these textbooks really be if institutions are willing to offer so little to purchase them? It really makes me wonder.

Personally, I have gained just as much from a class without textbooks (if not more), as one with them. A perfect example would be this course, where there are no textbooks and the class is largely online. Yet, I feel as if I am learning so much.

I think my verdict here is that textbooks do have their merit, when they are used as an integral and sensible part of the course. However, I respect those professors who do not use textbooks at all,  and have utilized other sources (poems, short stories, novels, movies, pictures, group work, the list goes on) as teaching aids.  I have had many professors who have done this, and those were the classes where I was thoroughly engaged, and still remember the key concepts.


*My classmate's blog post link here: http://ggmetaliteracy.blogspot.com/2013/10/free-textbooks.html

Metaliteracy Across the Globe

Photo credit: oskard.deviantart.com

I found this week's topic of global education and metaliteracy to be quite interesting. Personally, Mr. Prinsloo's MOOC Talk presentation and his reading entitled "Modernity and its outcasts-the role of higher education" stood out to me the most this week.

During Mr. Prinsloo's MOOC Talk, he opens up his presentation by introducing himself to his audience, and by providing us with a few key facts about himself.  He makes it a point to say that he is not presenting a global view, but simply a glimpse into his own view of metaliteracy. However, I do not think that this point is valid. After this slide, Mr. Prinsloo spends the rest of the time speaking about a wide variety of metaliteracy topics that I really found myself to identify with and understand. Although he claims to not be making a case for the issue of metaliteracy across the globe, I really think that his presentation and ideas can definitely be utilized to make a case for the importance of a new kind of education that would be relevant to all parts of the world.

In every country, city or any other realm of the globe, there is always an area that is underprivileged. These areas usually contain people who do not have the ability to access education. A perfect example of this can be seen in Prinsloo's article, where these people are classified as "homo sacer." It is so unfair that if a person does not have the choice to access education, then they are seen as useless. Therefore, I think I can see a synthesis between Prinsloo's lecture and and his article. In his lecture, he speaks about the importance of "reading the world," and in his article, he states that there should be strides taken to "disrupt...schemas dictating the rules of belonging and worth."

In thinking about all of our metaliteracy topics up to this point, I think that everything comes back to the idea of the "alternative student." Just as we need to recognize that there are new institutions of learning, we also need to "read the world," and modernize our preconceived notions of what a student should be.

A student is not just a young person in a dorm room, or one who attends a physical institution. Unfortunately, there have been way too many times that I've seen someone's willingness to learn be invalidated by their age, economical/ social background, or by where they choose to obtain their education.

The alternative student is vital to Prinsloo's call for a new type of graduate and faculty. I think that any type of alternative student (including the ones that Prinsloo mentions in his article) has a better understanding of their (and others') world. At some point, education may not have been their primary focus, which I think makes them more receptive to new ideas and concepts, once they are interested in being educated. Therefore, I think that these people can also qualify to be the "new faculty." There is so much more to being wise than a couple of extra letters at the end of a name.  Experiences are what truly make us intelligent, and give us the authority to inform and educate others.

Why Are Some Institutions of Higher Learning More Credible Than Others?

Throughout the last couple years, there have been many "online institutions" that are usually targeted to the alternative student; perhaps a person who is past college age, or does not have the time to make a full-time commitment to school like the average student. However, these institutions do not garner as much clout and respect as the other physical institutions (such as the University at Albany, for example).

In keeping with our entire class theme, my question is, why not?! Metaliteracy and the ability to utilize technology to gather information is at the forefront of our every day processes, some that we don't even realize. From being able to pick up our cell phone and search the nearest gas station to hopping online to do intensive research, we are constantly plugged into information. 

So why is it that these institutions do not receive the credit that they deserve? From taking this course I have come to realize that they are on the cutting edge of technology and metaliteracy. To have an entire institution that is solely online takes a lot of time and dedication, and this should be taken into consideration. I can only hope that once the concept of metaliteracy and MOOCs spread even further, that these institutions will gain more believers, and will be amongst the top names in academia.