Week 6: Media & Information Literacy

During Week 6 we learned about media and information literacy and how to use the Photoshop program. First, we learned and received an overview of visual literacy; visual literacy refers to the ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from information that is presented in the form of an image. It is essentially the idea that pictures can be “read” and a story can be told through these pictures. While learning about visual literacy, it is important to note that experiences and personal opinions affect how one understands and “reads” certain images. Our society is filled with visual signs—whether it is a stop sign, yield sign, traffic signals or Mcdonald’s sign. As humans we have learned to “read” signs and recognize the symbols that they stand for in society. In addition to learning about visual literacy, as a class we learned and gained new skills in Photoshop. From Photoshop I learned how to create different layers, colors and effects to certain images. I learned how to navigate this program, including locating different tools that allowed me to move items, create text, change colors, etc. Being able to create a story from four basic pictures showed me the power of Photoshop and visual literacy in society and in education.

Because we live in a world filled with visuals, it is important for educators to study photographs with their students so that they can better understand the world and its complexities. Visual literacy is extremely relevant to education and students can become visually literate through the practice of visual encoding (expressing ideas with visuals) and visual decoding (analyzing and understanding the meaning of images). Studying visuals and including this in a teacher’s curriculum can enable students to analyze photographs, develop and improve operational skills, and increase critical thinking skills. Visual literacy is also important to my field of education because photography is a powerful way to understand the past and analyze history. By utilizing primary photographs in their classroom, teachers can expose students to things from the past and make history come alive through objects from the period being studied.

The YouTube video I imbedded caught my eye because it is a video of an educator providing a workshop on the importance of visual literacy to his fellow colleagues. Seeing how visual literacy can be incorporated and analyzed and how teachers are taught to teach it was interesting to view. Frank Baker, the educator leading the workshop, brings up an image of President Obama surrounded by a group of doctors. It was interesting to see how the fellow teachers interpreted the image and how they determined the media was using the image to send out a certain message to Americans about health care; the doctors were all wearing white coats, which everyone determined was handed to them when they got to the White House. Baker then shows another image and stresses the importance of asking questions. He explained how the historical photo had been manipulated and how even way back in time people were changing photos in order to influence the opinions and thoughts of others. I thought this point was interesting and relevant especially since the media and the society we live in today definitely tries to portray certain images to its members.