The answer depends on who you ask. With a quick internet search, I was able to discover a variety of definitions including,
Visual literacy includes such areas as facial expressions, body language, drawing,
painting, sculpture, hand signs, street signs, international symbols, layout of the pictures
and words in a textbook, the clarity of type fonts, computer images, pupils producing
still pictures, sequences, movies or video, user-friendly equipment design and critical
analysis of television advertisements. (Jenkin, 2008, p. 4)
Visual literacy - the ability to both read and write visual information; the ability to learn
visually; to think and solve problems in the visual domain - will, as the information
revolution evolves, become a requirement for success in business and in life. (Gray, 2008)
Based on the idea that visual images are a language, visual literacy can be defined as the
ability to understand and produce visual messages. ("The salon poolside", n.d.)
Regardless of how visual literacy is defined, it is becoming clear that the utilization of a variety of visual media in education has a positive impact on learning. Following a literature review on the use of visual strategies in education, Stokes (2001) concluded,
The literature suggests that using visual elements in teaching and learning yields positive
results. In order for visual enhancements to be used most effectively, teachers should
possess skills that include the language of imagery as well as techniques of teaching
visually. (Stokes, 2001)
For a quick look at a variety of visual strategies, follow this link to the "Periodic Table of Visualization Methods", Click each box to see an example of a different visualization strategy.
(Lengler & Eppler, 2007)
Visual strategies are especially important in the chemistry classroom where much of what is studied is unseen by the naked eye. Simulation and graphic software can enable students to visually represent, observe, and manipulate the behavior of otherwise invisible subatomic particles and molecules. Fortunately, there are many visualization tools available for teaching and learning chemistry. The following programs would be excellent additions to any chemistry classroom.
Chemsense
Chemsense is a free software program which enables students to create animations that represent their understanding of submicroscopic processes. Watch the following video to see the Chemsense animation tool in action.
Chemsense Animation
www.chemsense.com
Chemsense also has the ability to interface directly with lab probeware as seen in the following screen capture:
Chemsense Studio Client
www.chemsense.com
Chemthink
Chemthink is a free simulation, tutorial, and quiz program. The tutorials contain a simulation which can be manipulated by the student, as well as short questions about the simulation. Students can then take an online quiz over the material. Quiz results for individual students can be monitored by the teacher. Watch the following video to see a student working through a tutorial on gases.
Chemthink Gas Tutorial
www.chemthink.com
Virtual Chemistry Experiments
The Virtual Chemistry Experiments website enables students to collect and analyze lab data in a virtual environment. For example, in the following video, a student construct heating curves by applying different amounts of heat. In the experiment, blue indicates the substance is a solid, red indicates the substance is a liquid, and yellow indicates the substance is a gas.
Virtual Chemistry Experiments
www.chm.davidson.edu/vce/
From these examples, it is clear that the internet can be used as a resource for numerous multimedia visual learning tools; however, it can also be utilized as a tool for sharing and discussing information. Many online applications and software are designed to allow students to share their work with one another. For example, the Chemsense software, "supports the creation, sharing, viewing, and editing of a variety of representations, including text, images, graphs, drawings, and animations of chemical processes." (Chemsense Overview, n.d.) Therefore, because the number and variety of visual educational materials continues to rapidly expand and positively impact teaching and learning, it is critical that teachers and administrators are properly trained in the role of visual literacy in education.
References
Chemsense Animation [Video Screenshot]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2010, from
http://tappedin.org/chemsense-demo/ChemSenseStudio.mov
Chemsense overview. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2010, from
http://www.chemsense.org/computer/index.html
Chemsense Studio Client [Screenshot]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2010, from
http://www.chemsense.org/computer/studio.html
Chemthink Gas Tutorial [Video Screenshot]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2010, from
http://www.chemthink.com/chemthink.htm
Gray, D. (2008, May 22). Why powerpoint rules the business world [Web log message]. Retrieved
September 27, 2010, from http://www.davegrayinfo.com/2008/05/22/why-powerpoint-rules-
the-business-world/
Jenkin, R. (2008) Visual literacy, Teaching and Learning, 30 July/August, 4. Retrieved September 27,
2010, from http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/visual-literacy-3961
Lengler, R. & Eppler, M., Initials. (2007). Towards a periodic table of visualization methods for
management. Proceedings of the IASTED proceedings of the conference on graphics and
visualization in engineering, http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.pdf
Stokes, S. (2001). Visual literacy in teaching and learning: a literature perspective. Electronic Journal
for the Integration of Technology in Education, 1(1), Retrieved September 27, 2010, from
http://ejite.isu.edu/Volume1Number1 /Stokes.html
The salon poolside - visual literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2010, from
http://ribaulo.tripod.com/clubricci/poolside/
