Multiliteracies in ELA Classrooms

First Weblog Entry – Word count: 445

Lesley S. J. Farmer’s article “I See, I Do: Persuasive Messages and Visual Literacy” emphasizes the importance of raising students’ awareness of how visual literacy and persuasive messages are created and structured for viewer consumption. Farmer argues that “while persuasive images surround students daily, young people often overlook the subliminal impact of those messages” (P. 33). They merely absorb every media outlet they encounter without thinking twice about what implications these visuals have. Advertisements, photos, and other types of visual sources are filled with elements that cater to our interests. Visual elements such as colours and shapes are used strategically to peak or maintain interests yet are so entrenched in our lives that we do not give them a second thought. By providing students with methods they can use to properly analyze the persuasive messages and other forms of visual literacies that they are being exposed to every day, students will gain more knowledge about the world around them. They will understand why certain visual codes change our perceptions and how we can use this knowledge to our advantage. Teachers can also provide students with information regarding how visual codes can be received differently depending on a persons’ background or previous knowledge. Messages within images can be complex and multi-faceted as different people can interpret images in vastly different ways.

It is also greatly important that students learn how to both create and deconstruct various kinds of visual literacies so they can more critically process whatever they encounter. Teachers can get students to use editing programs or other kinds of technology so that they more deeply explore visual literacies on a more personal level. Students will learn even more about how visual literacies and media affect them through creating their own images. To further the effectiveness of this practice, students can even break down the choices they make in the creation of their images and analyze how their peers respond to them. Farmer states that “digital tools … make it much easier to manipulate images in order to convince and persuade viewers” (P. 32). As technology advances, the ways that people can modify images and implement their messages increases dramatically. This can be both beneficial and detrimental to society. People can create more complex messages that challenge viewers to think more deeply about the content of the image and all social or cultural ideas behind it. However, people can also more easily hide negative subversive messages in images that trick people into subscribing to what they want. The best way to help students interact with visual literacies is to empower them with the knowledge to understand and break down the images constantly circling around them.

Question for the Seminar Lead Project:

What are the most important aspects teachers should be aware of when creating technology rich activities for students to explore visual images?

Work Cited

Farmer, Lesley S.J. (2007). I See, I Do: Persuasive Messages and Visual Literacy. Internet @ schools, 14(4), p. 30-33.