Whitney R.

Langley

Wlangle1@my.westga.edu

April, 23, 2019

I loved this course! I feel that more than anything, I learned to “see.” Visual literacy

plays a huge role in the print rich society that we live in and it is important to teach students

to construct meaning through visuals. Based on the Toledo Museum of Art’s video, “90% of

all information received comes through the eyes (Kennedy, B., 2013.) This class helped me to

explore my surroundings and decipher information that was needed and irrelevant. I used

many platforms to display this newly acquired knowledge including building a wiki site!

An issue that stuck with me regarding visual and media literacy came from the

research assignment. I opted to gather information that supported the use of graphic novels the

teach history standards in school. Where I can immediately think about numerous titles that

my students seem to be unable to put down, there was little research that supported the

benefits of using graphic novels regularly in classrooms. In an article, Clark (2013) asserts that

much of the data surrounding graphic novels lacks empirical data. Some of the themes found

show that graphic novels motivate reluctant readers, provide cross-curricular connections, and

provide opportunities for critical thinking and analysis (Clark, J, 2013, p. 40). With so much

research that supports the transfer of knowledge from short term to long term memories based on

images, it seems that comics would be used more often to support learning.

It is my hope that I can apply many of the visual literacy standards with intentionality.

Throughout this course, I was surprised that I already incorporate many of these standards into

my classroom. I hope to continue to infuse these standards into each lesson to ensure that they

are engaging and offer students many ways to process information. I loved the process of
building a website for my classroom parents. I plan to apply the skills learned to enhance my

relationship with parents as well.

After reading my initial thoughts and posts, my enthusiasm for visual literacy has

remained pretty consistent throughout the semester. My initial thought about the course load was

overwhelming because I had previous difficulty blogging and formatting sites. The difference in

my class at work has during this course has been so beneficial. Having to redesign lessons and

artifacts from school has helped me to eliminate extraneous information, make infographics that

are more succinct, and aid students with their reference material.

The most challenging part of this course was overcoming my own thoughts and notions

about the work. The initial setup of the classroom seemed random and disjointed to me even

though I read the syllabus. As I completed tasks however, the assignments were tiered

appropriately and built upon the last. The quote that most resounded with me from all of the

material in this course came from Martin Scorsese’s video when he said that “visual tools

become part of a vocabulary that’s just as valid as vocabulary used in literature or language

(Scorsese, 2012).” I really feel like the items learned in this course will contribute to me

becoming a better educator.

I do not have any suggestions to make this course better. I felt that it was awesome as is.
Clark, J. S. (2013). “Your Credibility Could Be Shot”: Preservice Teachers’ Thinking about
Nonfiction Graphic Novels, Curriculum Decision Making, and Professional Acceptance.
Social Studies, 104(1), 38-45. Retrieved from
http://articles.westga.edu:2080/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ996437&site=eh
ost-live.
(2012, June 15). Martin Scorsese on the Importance of Visual Literacy [video file]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I90ZluYvHic