Power of Visual Learning: Using Inspiration in the Curriculum
By Melda N. YILDIZ
Jan 20, 2003
Online handout is at http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/faculty/yildizm/ins
PowerPoint Presentation is
at http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/faculty/yildizm/ins/workshop.ppt
Learning to think. Learning to learn. These are the
essential skills for student success. Research in both educational theory and
cognitive psychology tells us that visual learning is among the very best
methods for teaching students of all ages how to think, and how to learn.
What is visual learning?
Visual learning techniques - graphical ways of working with ideas and
presenting information - teach students to clarify their thinking, and to
process, organize and prioritize new information. Visual diagrams reveal
patterns, interrelationships and interdependencies. They also stimulate
creative thinking.
Visual learning techniques help students:
Clarify thinking. Students see how ideas are connected and realize how
information can be grouped or organized. With visual learning, new concepts are
more thoroughly and easily understood.
Reinforce understanding. Students recreate, in their own words, what they've
learned. This helps them absorb and internalize new information, giving them
ownership of their ideas.
Integrate new knowledge. Diagrams updated throughout a lesson prompt students
to build upon prior knowledge and internalize new information. By reviewing
diagrams created previously, students see how facts and ideas fit together.
Identify misconceptions. Just as a concept map or web shows what students know,
misdirected links or wrong connections reveal what they don't understand.
Inspiration Handout
1. Open the program and view the tools on the main screen
a. Main Idea symbol starting point
b. Symbol palette (for different idea symbols and images)
c. Diagram toolbar (to quickly complete tasks)
d. Zoom buttons (to view all or part of the outline)
e. Draw toolbar (to move, change colors, etc)
2. To begin: enter your main idea
a. You can change the idea symbol anyway you want by clicking on another symbol in the Symbol Palette after you select the idea symbol you wish to change
3. Linking other ideas to the main idea (Sub-headings)
a. Use the Create tool for related sub-headings (the arrows help you arrange where you want them)
b. Type the next topic
c. Remember, you can change by selecting another symbol
d. RAPID FIRE TOOL: Click on the main idea symbol>click the Rapid Fire tool button>type the related idea>enter>continuing typing/entering until you have all the related ideas for that idea you want
4. Linking unconnected symbols
a. Click on the main idea>click the Link button>click on the related idea symbol
5. Changing the Links: you can add text to the link by clicking on the link>simply begin typing
a. Edit>Select Links>Link to change color/arrow head styles/etc.
6. Outline view: Click on the outline button (you can edit)
7. Adding notes to ideas: Click on the idea>click on Add Notes>type you notes (a red Ś will appear next to the idea to indicate there are notes)
8. Special effects:
a. You can change the colors of image by selecting the image symbol and using the multicolor paint tool
9. Templates: Open Templates (File menu) to view ready made activities for all subject areas
Inspiration WebSite:
Online Handouts
http://www.halfhollowhills.k12.ny.us/extras/handouts/inspnotes/insp.html
http://www.halfhollowhills.k12.ny.us/extras/inspireasset/index.htm
http://www.depts.alverno.edu/ac/Pages/inspiration.PDF
http://edtech.lisd.k12.mi.us/pd/materials/InspirationForAllHandout-MI.pdf
http://www.hawkeyecollege.edu/faculty/cpost/Inspiration%20packet.htm
Examples:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~glzabel/africa/africa_map.html
http://www.inspiration.com/vlearning/index.cfm?fuseaction=example
If you would like to learn more about
visual learning and graphical organizers, check out these titles.
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