Every day that I step into my classroom I am showing students not only how to use technology in their everyday lives, but also how to make sense of the information that they are finding. This visual literacy is imperative in this day and age. Discerning not only what is "school appropriate" from the Internet, but also what is useful, usable, and from a reliable source can be difficult at the Jr. High level. They are so inundated with materials from just about every source imaginable, that it can become muddied, and they can end up using information that is not true or reliable, because they lack visual literacy.
The array below shows somethings to consider, or that might be helpful, in defining visual literacy, and this is something that every student using the Internet should have for reference.
This array can be broadened as well, to incorporate not just images, as it concentrates on here. Anything that is found on the Internet, an article, a video, an image, or even just a webpage all need to be interpreted and evaluated. Sources are important, and they need to be reliable...I keep telling my students that Google is not a reference, and Wikipedia is NOT reliable. Teaching them skills like this, even in Jr. High will be incredibly valuable to them for the rest of their educational career and beyond.
The Internet is what kids today are used to using, and they are acclimated to all different types of technology. It is great to be able to integrate what they are learning with how they learn. For example, take a look at this video from a Jr. High teacher using iPads and Apple TV in his classroom.
If we're teaching the way that kids learn, they're more likely to retain the information. That is the key for all learning, retention. That way, they are more likely to actually use that knowledge once they are out of school.
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