Visuals and images
Color | Photos | Spatial layout | Charts and Graphs | Banners |
Many of us define ourselves as visual learners and prefer to see something mapped or represented through an image. Even for those who learn better through other senses, visuals are powerful communicators that make learning more effective. There are many tools readily available on campus that can make visuals and images available to students on the Web or in the classroom.
User-friendly and sophisticated tools such as Adobe Photoshop allow you to create just about any type of visual you wish. Visuals can be scanned from photos, drawn or derived through modification of existing images.
If you would like to develop visual components for your course, please contact the Instructional Technology group at itg@emerson.edu. We will work with you to design and create images and visuals to post to your course Web site or for class presentation with consideration of the following.
color
Color is a compelling tool that helps engage and motivate your audience, create a mood, emphasize relations between concepts or objects, symbolize, and code distinct items within an image. Contrast, tone and particular colors quickly convey information that can take paragraphs of text or multiple verbal explanations.
A useful resource on color theory is offered by MundiDesign Studios. Have a look at the drag and drop tool to help choose a color set for a visual presentation. http://mundidesign.com
photos
Scanning printed photos or using digital photos provides a great starting point for a creative image. Putting your own photo or your class photo on your course Web site also contributes to community and can enhance the class dynamic.
Here is a resource that offers pictures. These are in the public domain and can be a good place to start when creating your own images. http://pics.tech4learning.com/
spatial layout
When using more than one image or complementing images with text on a Web page or class presentation, the spatial layout can make the delivery easier and more clear. Proximity on page, contrast, and selective repetition of stylistic elements affect the interpretation and understanding of the material being presented. A screen shot of a course Web site follows that demonstrates attention to spatial layout. Notice the placement of the image, the quote and the links.
charts and graphs
Charts and graphs, useful for presenting detailed information visually, can be easily made from a choice of templates offered in PowerPoint. Options include bar graphs, organizational charts, pie charts and histograms. The use of tables can make categories, lists and specific details more easily decipherable at a glance.
banners
Banners for course Web sites can be used to engage students and represent the course content, helping to make the media more transparent, immersing the student in the course subject more immediately. Text images and photos can be integrated to create a course banner such as the one below, developed for CS646, Online Research.
