Visual Literacy: Reflection #4

Media literacy is just as crucial to education as is reading and writing. Relying heavily on the right lobe of the brain, our perception of images, sounds, spatial, and emotional dimension helps our function and thrive in everyday life. Visual literacy is important in the 21^st century because movies, television, and computer games are ubiquitous. Directors, like George Lucas, envisioned and created new intergalactic worlds to share with others. Now he envisions a new way of learning; a new language of expression. He pictured students being taught the language of sound and images in all forms. Graphics, music, and cinema are just as powerful and in some ways more deeply intertwined with students of the 21^st century.

For me, I watch a lot of movies and play a lot of video games. It’s hard to realize just how much I’ve learned from watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy with hierarchies and fantasy creatures to playing Bioshock Infinite with the multi-universe theory. My 20% project represents exactly what I hope to do in the future; incorporate the virtual world to help teach.

Here is a painting that is hung on my wall in my apartment. This is a painting of one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite movies. He is from Lord of the Rings.

Something that wasn't really mentioned in the articles was art and storytelling in the form of comic books. Captain America was a military solider from the 1940's. This is a poster of the cover of one the comic books from the 1950's that is hung on my wall in my apartment as well. This cover actually ran in the 1950's as war propaganda as you can see Captain America punching Hitler in the face. 

It is a little difficult with having to make our own visual representation, but I think it forces me to think outside the box; and I think that being creative is a very important quality as a future teacher.