Entry 2 - Visual_Literacy.wav

 Visual Literacy, if you are not familiar with the term, is defined as the ability to evaluate, apply, or create conceptual visual representations. This link will lead you to a video that I thought was very insightful in familiarizing the topic. 

During our last meeting, my classmates and I wrapped up our first unit of the semester with Dr. TO. The unit mentioned was comprised of lessons and readings with regard to visual literacy, and I feel as though it was a great unit to start the semester with. When I enrolled in the course Writing for Nonprint Media, I had assumed that just meant that we would be learning how to effectively write for an online audience. I had no idea that the focus of the class would be diving into texts that by my previous definition of texts were not texts at all, but song, dance, art, and speech. Learning about visual literacy solidified my understanding of the course, and has exposed me to new learning strategies that I will not only be able to implement in my own studies but in my future classroom as well. I am excited to allow my students to engage with each other through more than just words on a piece of paper.

One reading in particular that stuck out to me over the course of the unit was I Just Need to Draw: Responding to Literature Across Multiple Sign Systems. This reading surprised me very much in the sense that I could not believe how creative some of the young students mentioned were able to be given heavier-toned subject matter. One particular example is Adam, a twelve-year-old student who illustrated a seven-panel comic strip on the topic of acceptance and how people change. Such is an overly complex topic for me to wrap my head around at nineteen, so for this young man to put this together at such a young age was extraordinary. I believe that without the opportunity to produce his work in the manner that he chose, a work of far less quality and understanding would have been produced. Comics and illustrations are often things that younger students enjoy even in their time outside of the classroom, so for that reason, I believe that Adam was able to get excited about this assignment. I feel as though writing a traditional essay would have restricted him by lessening his motivation and also his communicative capabilities for humans are often better at what they enjoy.