Educational Technology-Week 5

When I read the words visual literacy I thought I knew exactly what that would mean and what those resources would be like; I was not accurate.  After listening to the Scorsese video I had a better understanding of the importance of visual literacy.  Throughout our lives many of us learn more than we realize from visual resources.  I think that the Scorsese video made great points about the importance of visual literacy.  It is important to have visuals in order to have understanding of any type of emotion or feelings and it can help prove psychological points.  I do agree that film and photos can be so powerful, useful and rather than just showing a video for extra understanding, a visual can actually be used alone as a learning tool.

Once I had gathered an accurate understanding of what a visual literacy tool was, I was still unsure what those types of resources would entail.  I was very intrigued by the tools that were available at the wiki and PBS sites.  I was very glad to learn that there were so many resources on PBS.  I had never thought of checking this website for educational tools.  After going through the sites I learned that these resources can be used on their own for educating students on a subject and they do not simply need to be used for extra understanding.  Most of the tools available on the site I really enjoyed and depending on the grade level, I thought they could be very useful in teaching students the information.  On the wiki site I really liked the George Washington Portrait tool. (http://www.georgewashington.si.edu/kids/portrait.html)  I realized how engaging tools like this can be for students, yet they are still very educational.  They also can really help students to get a visual of the time period and themes that were common in particular years.  On PBS I liked the Frontline site. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/)  It is a site full of great information and videos that can educate students on specific topics.  This could be a great tool for teaching if there is a video that cover the material for the current lesson plan.