Visual -Stills

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1. Brief Description: 

Still visual aids don’t move or produce sound. The most common types are, photographs, overhead projector slides/ transparencies, flip charts, White boards/ black boards and slides.  A still visual should focus the audience’s eyes on the point the presenter is making. A static visual should also help the audience situate the point within the presentation. (Malcolm 1988) Additionally sources of data or information in the form of a visual representation can be provided in a digital/paper handout.

2. Standards and Goals: 

Use visual aids to display complex information clearly and introduce variety into your delivery technique. Make sure that you are familiar with the equipment required to create and display visual aids, and deploy visual aids creatively in your presentations mixing techniques and media to create an impact.

3. Application to types of learning:

     a. Cognitive objectives: 

Still visuals can simplify information that is difficult to understands. Diagrams can make it easy to store and retriWords don’t look or sound like the thing they stand for but visuals are iconic, that is, they have some resemblance to the concrete thing they represent. eve such information.  When visuals accompany spoken or written information they present that information in a different modality and make abstract ideas concrete.  Visuals can be used to activate prior knowledge stored in long=term memory and to summarize the content.

     b. Psychomotor objectives:

Visuals can simplify information that is difficult to understand.  Tactile images are used for students who are visually impaired to physically feel the Tactile graphics, including tactile pictures, tactile diagrams, tactile maps, and tactile graphs are images that are raised surfaces so that a visually impaired person can feel them. They are used to convey non-textual information. image to understand the concept.

tactile image of a cell for the visually impaired

     c. Affective objectives:

Visuals provide a direct attention to the concept that is considered simple and concrete which motivates students and provides meaningful connections.  Use a visual pointer to draw the learners attention and thinking to relevant parts of a visual. Visual pointers may be color, words, arrows, icons, shading and animation.  (Smaldino 2018) 

4. Strengths: 

  • Readily available – everyone has a professional camera in their pocket and still visuals are in almost all print and digital educational materials.
  • Range of materials – Visuals cover all curriculum areas and grade levels
  • Inexpensive – Visuals are available at little cost. Many are free.
  • Ease of Use – Visuals are very easy to use. Even young children can effectively use them for presenting ideas (Smaldino 2018)

5. Limitations:

  • Copyright- The right to display an image or photo, the right to make and use photos, sell or distribute copies of the images and the right to create adaptations based upon the image or photo is part of copyright law. In general, the person who took a photograph owns its copyright and should be adequately referenced.
  • Two-dimensional – visuals are two-dimensional and show only one view of the object or scene. Using multiple views or software that provides a three-dimensional perspective to images can compensate for this limitations
  • Too many word on one visual -Some people put to many words on one visual. Limit the number of words.
  • Digital visuals – require adequate pixalation to display in  enlargements to adequately view
  • Require large monitor, digital projector, laptop computer and screen on which to project. Scanners are often required when using visual aids to make into a digital format.   (Smaldino 2018)

6. Special Features/Creative ideas: 

  • Visuals for visually impaired learners. A traditional approach is to convert image descriptions in text to Braille. Descriptions in more detail and increasing verbalization and descriptions of the text and images to increase the probability of visually impaired students’ comprehension and retention. This is also better for all students.
  • Visuals for struggling learners. Students who are developing new mathematical concepts may find the addition of visuals to be very helpful. The ability to connect the components of a subject, such as mathematics, with visuals helps students make their own mental images and thus helps them understand the concepts being taught.
  • Visuals for gifted learners. Putting ideas into visual form is a great way to challenge students who are ready to move beyond more traditional formats in demonstrating their learning. Asking students to prepare visuals in the form of drawings, charts, or graphics may allow them the flexibility to express their knowledge in unique and interesting ways.

7. UDL/ Accessibility requirements:

To reduce barriers to learning, it is important to ensure that key information is equally perceptible to all learners by:

  • Providing the same information through different modalities (through vision, hearing, and through touch- in tactile, 3D image.
  • Alternate text- The appropriate description or “Alt text” is required for every photo or image, chart, graphic organizer, spreadsheet, that is a in a picture image format. This may need a full written verbal description in a linear format for those with visual impairments or blindness.
  • Provide information in a format that will allow for adjustability by the user with appropriate pixel image resolution to allow for enlargement,  verbally described in sounds that can be amplified. Such multiple representations not only ensure that information is accessible to learners with particular sensory and perceptual disabilities, but also easier to access and comprehend for many others.  (CAST 2018)

8. Technology Resources/websites:

9. Examples of still visuals:

Infographics 

Overhead Transparencies

Mnemonics

10. References:

CAST (2018).  Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved from http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Malcolm, S. (1988). Static visual aids-a different kind of technical writing. Canadian Journal for Studies in Discourse and Writing; Redactologie, 7(1-2), 55-60  https://doi.org/10.31468/cjsdwr.261

Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., & Mims, C. (2018). Instructional technology and media for learning (12th ed, pp178-186). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.