1. Copy and paste a
quote from each of the chapters that causes you to have a strong reaction and
explain your reaction.
Chapter 3-“Visual images, like words in a text, have meaning
because students bring meaning and experiences to them. We cannot interpret
aspects of our environment that we have not perceived, and what is perceived
can change based on what we already know and have experienced. We see through
the frameworks and filters produced by our culture and by our personal
history.”
This quote allowed me to understand that images draw on
prior knowledge and experiences that students have had. Also, prior experiences
can change how a student feels in regards to a certain theory. Our history and
culture produce how we feel and think about certain issues. Using multimodal
texts can help to stimulate prior experiences to help students understand
content material.
Chapter 4- "What is important to understand about design is that students do not simply draw from an existing pool of stable, conventionalized designs but rather from available modes and resources based on their needs and interests. For example, in place of the traditional five-paragraph essay, students may select a PowerPoint to represent their research finding, illustrate their chemistry homework, or go online to post a video focusing on their interpretations of an assigned novel."
This quote reinforces the concept of how teachers need to keep their students actively engaged in the classroom and classroom learning can go far beyond reading a piece of text and answering questions. By allowing students to create authentic projects, the students will learn far more content material due to their engagement.
Chapter 5- "The various elements of visual composition have a cultural bias, meaning that they seem to offer meaning potentials only when associated with a specific socio-cultural context, in this instance contemporary Western culture.
This is a reminder that some students will associate with certain symbols and pictures differently due to their prior cultural background. As teachers, we need to remember this when presenting images and symbols to students. Not every individual will get the same meaning from the same image.
2. Find an image, symbol, or motif and upload it to your
blog.
3. Conduct a content analysis.
·
What do you see? In this image, I see a family, trees, grass, body of water, rocks, and a picnic table What is the image about? I believe that this image is about spending quality time together as a family by having a picnic.
·
Are there people in the image? What are they
doing? How are they presented? Yes there are people in the image and they are having a picnic. I believe that they are presented as happy and spending quality time together. However, you cannot see their faces directly.
·
Could the image be looked at different ways?
Explain how the image might be interpreted from two different socio-cultural
perspectives. Which perspective is dominant? Yes, I'm sure the image could be viewed and interpreted in different ways. For instance, adults can view it as being a great day with the family where as children may see it as forced time with their parents. Age could change the perception of the image. Higher income families may see it as a way to spend time together; where as lower income families feel like they don't have the time to vacation and relax due to always working.
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How effective is the image as a visual message?- I feel that this is a very effective image as a visual message. It shows socialization through younger individuals and adults as well as peaceful day to enjoy one another's company.
4. Conduct a visual analysis.
·
How is the image composed? What is in the
background? What is in the foreground? The family of individuals is in the foreground and the mountains, water, and grass are in the background.
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What are the most important visual elements in
the image? How can you tell? I feel that the most important visual elements of the image are the people sitting at the picnic table. The reason why is your eye is drawn to them and they stand out in the middle of the image.
·
How is color used? Color is used to make the individuals on the concrete stand out. The concrete allows them to stand out in regards to the grass surroundings. Color is used to capture the attention of the viewer.
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Can the image be looked at different ways? Yes, the image of course could be viewed differently by individuals. Adults and children look at this type of image differently based upon their prior experiences.
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What meanings are conveyed by design choices? I feel that this is a conventional design due to the fact that the image is based on values, interests, and past histories.
The image you chose is also visually split into the rule of thirds. The foreground housing the people as you pointed out, the middle ground where the water leads our eye movement through to the background of sky, tree and horizon line. The image has a lot of shadows, which to me indicates an overcast day or perhaps a "timeless" piece where clothes are hard to distinguish and not much is in the image to lead you to a certain era/decade. I like what you gleaned from the image. Everyone would have different interpretations. I think of a boy spending the day with his grandparents on a picnic. The preservation of family relationships and traditions. I love it!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about activating prior knowledge with images. The biggest challenge I find is that my students have such limited experiences (my high school is very rural). I also love the use of authentic authentic projects. Our school received a grant for Project Based Learning and the kids take a block of science/math and then English/Social Studies and the rest of their day is split into periods. It is called the Innovation Zone and the students do a lot of hands-on learning and presentations. If one was to interview the 200+ Freshman, I would bet money that only 25 students love it (I also know this to be true as it was offered as a 10th grade class and only 24 kids signed up). It takes a lot of time and energy to plan multimodal text lessons and I find that younger teachers are integrating technology daily while older teachers (not all because I am 41) use it sparsely!
ReplyDeleteKeri,
ReplyDeleteI liked your quote from chapter 4. It does illustrate that teachers need to be flexible with instruction and with how students show their learning. I also agree with your comment that teachers need to make sure students are actively engaged. There are varying levels of engagement and those that are truly involved with the learning activity will have a greater impact on that student's learning. In addition, I liked your content analysis of your picture. It does look like a friendly family picnic but it can be viewed differently according to each individuals experiences. This part also relates to your quote from chapter 3. Images can be so powerful and meaningful to some but not to others. For instance, your image for the analysis could be conveyed as a delightful picnic with family or it could be the setting of a memory where all was calm and then something happened. Good job with the analysis!