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VT's FREE Newsletter for Educators - Insight, Inspiration and Ideas that work!
VISUALLiteracy - 60,000 times faster than TEXT
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Hello everyone
The importance of images and visual media in contemporary culture is changing what it means to be literate in the 21st century.
Today's society is highly visual, and visual imagery is no longer supplemental to other forms of information.
Social media like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube etc all rely heavily on the visual.
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Our students need to be visually literate, both critical consumer of and a competent contributor. Check out the the Visual Literacy Videos and ideas below from George Lucas & Martin Scorsese.
MATHSPOWER - 50% off half yearly sale on now
The response to Maths Power has been fabulous. Lots of you have taken up some of the special offers available, with great results. Take the opportunity to check out the FREE online Maths trial and let meknow know what you think
 MADE for Australian studentsDESIGNED BY Australian teachers
Thank you for your support & contribution! Become a supporter. Spread the Word about VT, email this newsletter to someone you think might love it.
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SAVE ONE STARFISH
A young man is walking along the ocean and sees a beach on which thousands and thousands of starfish have washed ashore...... Read the rest at VT
Books are easy to find and easy to buy. A paperback these days only costs six or seven dollars. You can borrow that from your kids!
Jim Rohn
As long as algebra is taught in school, there will be prayer in school.
Cokie Roberts
I am always doing things I can't do, that's how I get to do them.
Pablo Picasso
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacherThe superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
William Arthur Ward
Our earth is degenerate in these latter days; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching.
Assyrian clay tablet 2800 B.C.
If I were asked to enumerate ten educational stupidities the giving of grades would head the list... If I can't give a child a better reason for studying than a grade on a report card, I ought to lock my desk and go home and stay there.
Dorothy De Zouche
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at oncehappen at once
Albert Einstein
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
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VISUALLiteracy
90% of all the information that we take in from the world we take in visually.
We actually read non-text
60,000 times faster than
we can read text.
A lot of time is spent on written comprehension. Not so much on visual
and audio visual comprehension.
However student exposure to visual and audio-visual mediums far outstrips written content consumption.
It can be manipulative, emotive, it can use techniques, characters and storylines similar to written content but with powerful visual aspects that should be understood by students of the future.
SEE HOW IT'S DONE
What's going on in this picture?
What do you see that makes you say that?
What more can we find?
Visual thinking Strategies Video - Visual Thinking Strategies is a curriculum developed by Abigail Housen and Philip Yenawine, designed to foster critical thinking skills through interaction with visual art. Great Video watch the kids in action.
HEAR WHAT THE EXPERTS HAVE TO SAY
George Lucas Teaching Visual Literacy & Communications
A great video - dealing with the importance of visual literacy and suggesting the renaming of English or Language Arts to Communication. Watch the Video
Martin Scorsese on the Importance of Visual Literacy
"I think you really need to know how ideas and emotions are expressed through a visual form.
And it still has the same vocabulary, and it still has the same grammar...... And the grammar is panning left and right, tracking in or out, you know, booming up and down, intercutting a certain way, use of a close-up as opposed to a medium shot. Was is a medium shot? What is a long shot? ........... the different kinds of lighting, and how you use all these elements to make an emotional and psychological point to an audience, and I think we have to begin to teach our younger people how to use this very powerful tool, because we know film, the image, can be so strong, not only for good, .... but also for bad use.
..what you’re doing is training the eye and the heart of the student to look at a film in a different way by asking questions and pointing to different ideas, different concepts, suggestions. You’re training them to think about a story that’s told to you in visual terms in a different way and to take it seriously. ....so much in today’s society is done visually and even subliminally for young people that it could be dangerous, and one has to know it’s a very, very powerful tool." Watch the Video
"Our language abilities do not define the limits of our cognition" Elliot W. Eisner
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Over the past two and a half years, Instagram has become a community where you can capture and share the world’s moments simply and beautifully. Some moments, however, need more than a static image to come to life. Until now these stories have been missing from Instagram. You can now use Video on Instagram.
NOW, you will also have filter effects in your pocket!
Many of the filter effects are drawn from the Luster library of grades/presets from
What else is exciting is that they've included a pretty amazing video stabilizer in the app!
Update or try Instagram the FREE app and enjoy.
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INCREDIBOX
Incredibox is a great little website with a little flash based application where you can mix and match different Effects, Beats, Melodies, Chorus and Voices to create unique music OR if you don’t find yourself all that creative there’s a shuffle mode! AND IT'S FREE
The application allows everyone to express their musicality through a fun and easy to use interface, and to record and share original compositions to friends!
AND EVEN MORE AMAZING
The Incredible Polo, is an all-vocals, one-man band in the style of Bobby McFerrin, they struck upon an innovative approach to promote their new release: a web app that lets you remix its song by dragging and dropping melodies, effects, beats, voices and choruses onto a bunch of animated versions of the artist doing his thing. This is INCREDIBOX
In reward for "defeating" each level, you get to hear a new part of the song as an animated video plays.
As a demonstration of "outside the box" thinking about how to promote a song, INCREDIBOX is amazing. And it's gone viral, which is, of course, the point of something like this.
Take a look at the Video about INCREDIBOX
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Salman Khan - The man who wants to teach the world
Salman Khan's online tutorials are already watched by millions, including Bill Gates's children. His aim is to create the first free, world-class virtual school.
It is a growing library of over 4,200 FREE videos where you can learn anything.
I love these informative videos and interactives. Also its fabulous to see the comments on them - students can also make comments on these videos and a dialogue often begins that enhances learning. It's good to see other people's thoughts and idea.
Once you login the websites keeps track of student performance and graphs the progress, Brilliant.
Take a look at:-
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STORIFY - enables you to collect media from across the web, using text and images, publish the story and share it across the web.
VISUAL.LY - Infographics and data visualisations This site offers some amazing visual graphics on a number of topics. Often including statistical data. I rather liked the 50 years of Visionary SCi-Fi Computer Interfaces These are inspiring representations of ideas, facts, data and concepts that should inspire students. The site offers a paid service for developing visual content, but the samples are well worht looking at for FREE.
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I do answer all emails so send them along with your questions ideas and great sites.
Hi Cathy, I think the website below is marvellous and I thank Julie for putting it together. I will be using it with my students and will pass the word at my school. http://www.mathworksheetsland.com All the best Trish Ghirardello
Thanks Trish, lot's of folk were impressed by the Maths sheets, lots of click thrus and lots of positive feedback
Hi Cathy,
In response to Maria's question on Possum Magic. If she has access to SMART Notebook software she may be interested in this link where she can download a file with some lesson templates and ideas.
https://www.seeshareshape.com.au/share/lessons_search.aspx?find=possum%20magic
Regards,
Julie Thomas
Thanks for this Julie
Hello!
My name is Fran and I am a retired History teacher. My granddaughter is working on a project for summer school on the Middle Ages and Medieval Times and asked me to help her with it!
This weekend, we were researching together (her Mom doesn\'t like her using the Internet by herself) and we were excited to find your page, http://virtualteacher.com.au/ancient.html It has been very useful to us, thank you for making such a great resource.
We also found the article \'Fantasy Castles of the Middle Ages and Medieval Times\', http://www.drakensang.com/medieval-castles, which would go perfectly on your page! I thought you might want to include it, if it\'s not too much trouble. It might also help my granddaughter get a few extra brownie points with the teacher, to show she is going above and beyond on this project.
Anyway, thanks again for the great site, and I hope you like the article and decide to include it!
Have a wonderful day,
Fran Jay
Hi Fran
Thanks for the email. I will include it in the next newsletter. I hope you daughter gets some Brownie points - if not from her teacher then from me.
ciao
Cathy Brown(I often give out Brownie points)
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Let me know what you think of the Visual Comprehension ideas? Next newsletter I will take a look at School Administration Software - so if you have had some great experiences with this type of software please send in your thoughts and ideas. 
Please send in any other great ideas or websites, whiteboard sites or fabulous things you are doing.
Join the VT conversation on twitter.
ciao
Cathy
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The opinions expressed here are purely those of the editor, Cathy Brown. All other small print clauses apply. Such as: Use at your own risk. Nothing in life is guaranteed. If it doesn't work for you send an email or tweet me.
Editor: Cathy Brown cathy@virtualteacher.com.au
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