Shuntia Wallace

University of West Georgia

MEDT 7490
Dr. DAlba
Final Reflections
Talk about perfect timing! This year, I will be returning to teaching visual arts on a high
school level- after a turbulent year of teaching elementary art for the first time in eleven (11)
years, at three (yes, 3) different elementary schools. At my first school, I taught art in a small
office space, with no sink; at my second school, I taught art outside in a trailer, with no sink; and
at my third school, I taught art from a cart! I rolled around, every forty-five minutes with paint,
clay, plenty of crayons (And as you may have guessed), with buckets of water. By now, you
probably understand why I am excited to return to teaching high school. However, having access
to running water is not the only reason I am celebrating my return to teaching high school. After
completing the Visual and Media Literacy course, I am thrilled to return to the classroom to
experiment with an abundance of tools, knowledge, and experiences about teaching visual
literacy and enhancing instruction/ student learning with visual and media literacy. In this paper,
I will describe concepts and skills I have mastered during this course, explain how this course
has influenced my teaching practices and reflect on the issues and challenges of teaching visual
literacy.

What I have Learned

Look Ma- no hands- Anonymous
Over the course of the semester, I have learned a variety of technical skills and
discovered new resources for using visual and media literacy in the classroom. For example, in
module one, I learned how to create a professional website. Building a website is a huge
accomplishment for me, as a teacher and an artist. Over the years, my clients have asked, Do
you have a website to sell your art? Usually, I would say, no then follow up with an excuse
for not having a website. The truth was, creating a website was intimidating, and I did not want
to face my fear of getting it wrong. Fortunately, fate intervened- one of the first assignments for
this class required me to create a website And to my surprise, I was capable of designing a
professional website even though, I was sure I could never create a website. I am proud of this
accomplishment, and I plan to create two additional websites: One for my students and one for
my artwork.
Building a website is not the only skill I acquired during my coursework, I also learned
how to create comics strips and graphic novels using stripcreator.com. I experienced the creative
force; that was set free by a series of photographs in module two. I learned the importance of
teaching visual literacy with Martin Scorsese. I explored the fundamentals of copyright laws
and the fair use act in module seven. And I experimented with using infographics and posters as
teaching tools for my classroom- to help my classroom walls teach along with me. However, my
favorite assignment was analyzing commercials for persuasion techniques; the commercial I
selected used pathos to persuade the audience.

Influence on Teaching Practices

Although these activities were fun and engaging, I found the theories and principles of
visual and media literacy to be intriguing. Concepts such as Paivios Dual Coding Theory and
Mayers Multimedia Principles have influenced my perspectives on teaching and caused me to
improve my teaching practices. I have found myself sitting in countless meetings with educators
frantically debating how to increase student achievement and motivation. Some of the educators
believed teachers should be more animated when teaching and lecture less. Other teachers
thought the students should take responsibility for their achievement and student motivation
should be intrinsic. Both of these beliefs are useless in the urban school setting, where I am
accustomed to teaching. However, I can see the link between teaching visual and media literacy
and increasing student achievement and motivation. If incorporated, dual coding (introducing
materials visually as well as auditory) alone, would increase content retention by students and
lead to increased academic achievement and student motivation. I have already created student
assignments and strategies for implementing the Dual Coding Theory. I have also redesigned
most of my presentations to align with Mayers Multimedia Principles. Before this course, I had
developed a pattern of teaching that was similar to what I saw other teachers doing in their
classrooms Here is an example of my teaching style: Start with an introductory lecture;
demonstrate the project; allow the students to work individually; lead the class critique; collect
and grade work. However, after exploring visual and media literacy, my teaching practice will
look something like this:

Introduction, consisting of student explanations and questions about photos

Discussion, brief research and presentation on pictures, by students via Prezi

Demonstration of the project via YouTube video (which I will create)

Students work independently

Class critique, led by students

Assignment submission

Grade assignments and provide meaningful feedback, using a rubric

The content and ideas I have explored while learning about visual and media literacy have
influenced my teaching practices in a significant way. This course has been the rocket fuel I
needed to transform into a better teacher, for the students I serve.

Issues about Visual and Media Literacy

We wanted flying cars. Instead, we got 140 characters. Peter Thiel
One issue discovered, while exploring visual and media literacy, is how out of touch most
educational practices are in relationship to our society and our students. The quote by Peter Thiel
accurately describes the gap between what the use of visual and media literacy (and technology)
could look like in the classroom versus reality. In most classrooms, we are not teaching visual
literacy and incorporating technology. Yes, we are using technology such as videos, iPads, and
computers- but we are mostly using them to complete traditional word processing tasks. Our
students are not using technology to create content- they are using technology only for research
purposes. We are not teaching students how to interpret visual images, and use visual images to
communicate their ideas; instead, we are assigning worksheets and using traditional teaching
strategies. We, teachers, are ignoring the visual world of Instagram, snap chat and Twitter, in
which our students are active participants. One of the reasons, we have not incorporated visual

and media literacy into our teaching practices is due to the lack of professional development in
this area. I have always noticed and desired to close the gap between where we are and where
we should be in education (with technology use), but until now, I did not know how; I could not
identify the missing link. Fortunately, the contents of this course have illuminated a path for
incorporating visual and media literacy into the classroom. First I plan to put the skills I have
learned into practice, in my classroom; then I plan to share this knowledge with my peers, who
are ready to try something new.
Overall, this course has been enlightening while engaging; I have acquired an abundance
of information and skills in a short amount of time. Time was the most challenging issue about
this course. This class was offered during the summer, and the content was compressed into a
few weeks, which increased the pace of the class. However, I enjoyed this class; I enjoyed the
assignments, discussions, and even the textbooks. I do not have any suggestions for improving
this course. In fact, I am thankful for the skills and knowledge I have gained, as a result of
completing this course. As I stated earlier, in the introduction, this course was offered to me at
the perfect time- as I prepare to transition back to teaching high school. I am thrilled and eager
to implement the skills I have learned into my teaching practices. The Visual and Media
Literacy coursework is the catalyst I need, right now, to start a new chapter in my career.