e-Learning Ecologies MOOC’s Updates

Visual Learning

The visual learning style, often referred to as the spatial learning style, is a way of learning in which information is associated with images or graphics. This learning style requires that learners first see what they are expected to know.

I am a visual learner and so this learning strategy is something I do often in my classroom. The students of today are constantly immersing themselves in visuals. Think about emojis in a chat forum, instagram is a visual summary of your coming and goings and pintrest is a pegboard of visual inspiration. All these platforms catch the student of today's attention. Visual learning is an excellent example of multimodal learning. Visual learners need things in front of them to help solidify concepts in their brains. They can not do it simply by listening or studying. This forces them to combine multi forms of information into one image - usually a mind map or summary diagram.

This website is a great source of inspiration when selecting visual content for your classrooms and lessons.

According to ThoughtsCo, students with the visual learning style make up about 65 percent of your class. They will pay attention to your overhead slides, whiteboard, Smartboard, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, graphs, and charts. They will usually take good notes and will appear to be paying attention during class. If you use a lot of verbal directions without visual cues, visual learners may get confused, as they prefer to have something in writing to refer to.

Visual learners typically do well in a modern classroom setting.

The online environment is well suited for this type of learner because graphical representations of information can help them remember concepts and ideas. Graphical information includes charts, tables, graphs, and images.

Some strategies that teachers can use in their classrooms for this type of learning is summarised in the image below:

https://www.thoughtco.com/visual-learning-style-3212062

https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/8-strategies-to-make-learning-visual-in-your-classroom/

https://www.uis.edu/ion/resources/tutorials/instructional-design/learning-styles-and-the-online-environment/

 

 

  • Lee Leewis
  • Sarah Osborne
  • Teresa Bretón Orrala