Why might incorporating graphic design into the classroom be valuable? I can’t say it any better than the wyzowl blog: “…studies have shown that people tend to remember an impressive 80% of what they see and do.” Eighty percent. That’s a staggering statistic. It almost makes me want to market a lesson the way an ad agency markets a soft drink. I see the incorporation of graphic design as really a two-way proposition. Teachers can be more purposeful when incorporating graphic design into their instruction and students can use graphic design as a new way of showing what they know.
As a special education teacher, I’m always thinking about how my students will absorb the information. It can never be one-dimensional and it can never be a one and done situation. The information needs to be presented using different mediums over different occasions. I always have to be cognizant of the font I choose, the size of the font and how much text I have on a page. To keep their interest, I often include visuals. And although I haven’t asked my students to make any infographics, I do spend time teaching them how to read them and interpret the information as a valuable part of the text. Something I would love to try do with my instructional kids is mind mapping or concept mapping, where pictures are used to represent and show relationships between ideas. Not all student are exceptional at using words to show acquired knowledge, but graphics give students another avenue to display learning.
In the spring, I will teach the novel Number the Stars. I never teach a novel without a guided reading packet that I create, and I have to give a lot of thought to the graphics of the packet. I always choose a serif font because it’s easier for kids to read (or so I was told by a mentor teacher I had many years ago). I also always choose a larger font size because I have some kids who are visually impaired. If I have too many words or complex sentences on the page, I will lose kids, so I have to make sure the layout is clean and uncluttered. I also use bold and italics to help draw attention to important aspects of questions. Additionally, I will incorporate images and fun icons as bullet points to help maintain focus and interest. Since the book is about the Holocaust and that is a complex, deep issue for kids, we could do some mind/concept mapping when exploring these difficult themes and concepts.
As a special education teacher, I’m always thinking about how my students will absorb the information. It can never be one-dimensional and it can never be a one and done situation. The information needs to be presented using different mediums over different occasions. I always have to be cognizant of the font I choose, the size of the font and how much text I have on a page. To keep their interest, I often include visuals. And although I haven’t asked my students to make any infographics, I do spend time teaching them how to read them and interpret the information as a valuable part of the text. Something I would love to try do with my instructional kids is mind mapping or concept mapping, where pictures are used to represent and show relationships between ideas. Not all student are exceptional at using words to show acquired knowledge, but graphics give students another avenue to display learning.
In the spring, I will teach the novel Number the Stars. I never teach a novel without a guided reading packet that I create, and I have to give a lot of thought to the graphics of the packet. I always choose a serif font because it’s easier for kids to read (or so I was told by a mentor teacher I had many years ago). I also always choose a larger font size because I have some kids who are visually impaired. If I have too many words or complex sentences on the page, I will lose kids, so I have to make sure the layout is clean and uncluttered. I also use bold and italics to help draw attention to important aspects of questions. Additionally, I will incorporate images and fun icons as bullet points to help maintain focus and interest. Since the book is about the Holocaust and that is a complex, deep issue for kids, we could do some mind/concept mapping when exploring these difficult themes and concepts.
Erika,
ReplyDeleteI really like your title of this blog; it pretty much sums up the whole blog is a super-concise sentence! I too was amazed by the 80% statistic. It made me realize that I definitely need to incorporate as many visuals as possible into my instruction. I also teach special education; although, at the high school level, and I see the importance of graphic design as a means of instruction and comprehension as a necessity. You make a valid point when stating that visuals/graphics are an excellent way to have students show what they have learned. You also mentioned formatting...colors, fonts, size. In the past I had not given much thought to this, but after reading the sources in the modules I realize the importance of this and will be more cognizant of my visualsgraphics as you mentioned.
Erika,
ReplyDeleteThe article/infographic on the wyzowl blog also stood out significantly for me. I think both the information it presented and the way it was presented made it very impactful. The idea that people better remember things they read over heard, and seeing and doing more than reading or hearing made sense to me. However the statistics of 10% hearing, 20% reading, and 80% seeing or doing was shocking. I also felt myself just drawn into the information, in a way that I am often not in a typical article. It is easy to see how students would find this type of information more engaging and better to understand. I can appreciate your being more aware about fonts and type as a special education teacher. I have found myself much more aware of these types of things this year having a student with a visual impairment. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Erika,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of mind mapping different concepts. I have used this in the family unit in 7th grade. We talk about the different types of families, the challenges and joys of each type of family and also the family life cycle. This could be a prefect lesson to incorport the website piktochart. I have used it in the past for students creating posters (for example, a tip about safety and sanitation in the kitchen). Let me know when you try concept mapping, and we can share out ideas!
Erika,
ReplyDeleteYour comment, "Not all student are exceptional at using words to show acquired knowledge, but graphics give students another avenue to display learning.", really hit home with me. We have been spending a huge chunk of our writing time developing argument based persuasive essays lately and the process is so difficult for some of my students. The written argument does not flow easily. Allowing them to incorporate visuals might really help them express their thinking. Thanks for the idea!