EDOL533-01 week three

Why are visual images important?

Visual images break up the monotony of text.  Visualizations are easier to remember, or relate to.  Visual images can be iconic, like that of a famous painting or the logo of a product brand.  Visual images call attention to themselves and the issues they are trying to convey.

How have you used in the past, or are now using, visuals?  Personal or work examples:

I have personally used visuals in presentations for both school and work.  When I create a slide show presentation I try to limit the inclusion of text as much as possible, and rely heavily on images to convey the message I want to as I discuss the topic.  I have used images heavily in the posters I designed for use at Fossil Butte National Monument’s visitor center museum.  As a museum exhibit these posters needed to be able to grab people’s attention and visuals, images and graphs, do this nicely.  Graphically representing data is a great way to convey information visually, and is much more striking in comparison to a simple table of numbers!  While teaching I will incorporate visuals into posters, handouts, and slide show presentations. 

This week’s lessons:

This week we have discussed the use of visuals in the classroom.  Visual aids can greatly enhance the look of a presentation… but visuals can also distract from the point trying to be made.  Using visuals that are inappropriate or too flashy can distract from the professional appearance of the resource.   

This week we discussed how to create resources using word processing and desktop publishing programs.  Uses of these programs in the classroom range from having students write their papers and assignments using a word processor to make it easier to read and edit, to using desktop publishing programs to produce posters, brochures, and other projects.  Using these software programs to enhance the learning experience gives students the ability to be more creative, practice decision making, and practice using technology to create a unique product. 

The ability to use these products and other web based products offer opportunities for teachers to differentiate their lesson plans covering multiple levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.  Specific to the different levels of cognitive development in education, with the top levels being those requiring higher order objectives, many different resources can be used at every level to highlight these objectives.  The adjusted bloom’s technology pyramid outlined how different web resources can satisfy those needs.

A visual/handout I use… and how I can improve it:

I’m not yet teaching so I do not have any hand outs that I have created yet to use for this assignment.  However, I do have something I created a while back in hopes that it would help me land a job!  I created a business card using Microsoft power point.  Here is the first rendition of that business card (my number and address have been changed for this upload... I don't want that info just floating around the net!)

Here's the front:

 And here is the back:

What makes these items visually appealing?

These are simple, but the visuals tell a story that enhances the business cards... If you know what you are looking at!  The front of the card has my name and a little tag line simplifying my experience.  Behind that is an image of a trilobite, a type of iconic fossil that most people recognize.  The back of the card has my information, organized simply and concisely, with an image of a stratigraphic column to the left. A strat. column is used by geologists to map a vertical series of rock layers, which I thought was fitting for the back of my business card (me being a geologist and all).  

What distracts from the message I was trying to communicate?

I found out after handing these cards out to several people that no one (outside the few geologists I showed them to) knew what the strat. column was!  I found that people were distracted by that image, and didn't understand why it was there or what purpose it had.  Luckily, most people did recognize the trilobite fossil and this visual was a conversation starter!  I even had people that I contacted later refer to me as the "trilobite guy," in reference to the image on my card!  

I took the experience that I had with those who I handed out my card to and decided to re-create the card.  Here is my card as it looks now:

I used the same visual from the front, and re-formatted the text in a more attractive way around the image. 

I also re-created the front of the card to give me some variety.  

This alternate front features the skeleton of a fossil fish species from the Green River Formation of Wyoming, which was protected by Fossil Butte National Monument.

These visuals on my business card are great conversation starters when I hand them out.  They are both of fossils I find interesting, and most people recognize them as fossils.  When asked about them I explain that the trilobite is a species of trilobite found in Tennessee, and is one that I have in my personal fossil collection.  The fish fossil spurs conversation about my time spent as a park guide at Fossil Butte National Monument and expresses my job experience there.  

I think my business card is an excellent example of how visuals can enhance the presentation of printed materials that are often boring and uninteresting.  Used correctly, visuals can call attention to a document and help make it memorable!