This week we learned about visual literacy and digital storytelling. We did a photo shop project as well. To be visually literate means that you understand what symbols mean without necessarily needing words to explain what is going on. Just like in writing, there are certain symbols that are common and pretty much universally understood. In one of the articles, it gave the example that cave paintings from a long time ago had deep meanings to those people that created them. The symbols changed into letters gradually, and now we use the alphabet as a means of communicating. It is not the only way to communicate though. You have to know the basics in order to understand more complex visual materials. Some of the basic elements are dots, lines, color hues, shape, direction, texture, etc.
Digital storytelling is another form of visual literacy. It is a way of telling a story through computer images, music, video clips, and recorded narration. Usually, digital stories range from 2-10 minutes in length and are usually focused on a certain subject. They are normally told from a certain point of view. They can be about anything from personal family stories to historical events. An example that they showed on the website was a report about Martin Luter King that was done through recordings of his speeches and pictures of him. They are a good way of documenting important historical events so that people later on can look back on them and remember where and what they were doing when a certain event took place.
Digital storytelling is a great thing to know how to do as a teacher. Many projects can be done by using technology like this. I find these projects to be much more interesting than simply doing a power point. Digital stories are helpful for students to become more engaged in a certain topic and may help them understand better since they are able to visualize what someone or something looked like.
Here are two clips that I found about digital storytelling. The first one is a simple explanation about what digital storytelling is and the second one tells you the basics of making your own digital story on a Mac!
What is digital storytelling?
How to make a digitial story
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