Technology in Arts & Humanities

Linking EdTech + Design Through Visualization

EdTech practice in relation to ETEC 532 links up with the design process of visualization. Where in the previous step of “envisioning implies a glimpse into the nature of an idea” (Moggridge & Atkinson, 2007, p. 734),  visualization allows for a representation or a sort of proof of concept to be formed for what’s possible in the future. In short, visualization helps to communicate potential scenarios or realities for the application of education technology and design.

Reflection

When dealing with the potential of EdTech for arts education, our class was divided into small groups tasked with the completion of a group Collaborative Inquiry Project (CIP). My team came together with a mutual interest in how photography can be used as a multimodal educational tool and not just an art form. In choosing the topic of visual literacy, we were able to practice our visual communication skills, while also realizing potential applications for photography in post-secondary education.

The resultant multi-media website artifact (in the next tab) serves as evidence of this exploration. It demonstrates the power of visualization as a cognitive tool and contains several posts that speak to other potentials. While we recognized that visualization “does not replace linguistic discourse” (Worsnop, 2004), we learned that it does increase its understanding and effectiveness.

Overall this inquiry process brought forth the development of a personal stance regarding visual literacy in education; that as we increasingly use multimodal technological tools to communicate, it becomes important to attend to all modes and facets of communication and representation. Visual literacy is thus a key competency to enhance learning, understanding and engagement (Eilam, 2012).

Artifact

The Collaborative Inquiry Project is figured below and contains an annotated bibliography, a literature review, and several posts pertaining to the application of technology for photography and visual literacy in post-secondary contexts. As we were working with photography,  visual literacy and visual culture we thought it was important to stretch our visual communication skills as well as our written communication skills.

[Sorry, this interactive resource has been retired]

References

Moggridge, B., & Atkinson, B. (2007). Designing interactions (Vol. 17). Cambridge: MIT press.

Eilam, B. (2012). Teaching, Learning, and Visual Literacy: The Dual Role of Visual Representation. Cambridge University Press.

Worsnop, C. M. (2004). Media Literacy Through Critical Thinking. NW Center for Excellence in Media Literacy, 57-59. Retrieved here.