The content of and rationale behind the Film in Communication'' course given at the School of Library Science, Simmons College is discussed. The course centers on the film as an art form, but consideration is also given to problems of collection building, programming, service and maintenance of film collections and equipment. (Author/KE)

Examines sources available for developing a theory of visual literacy and attempts to clarify the meaning of the term. Suggests that visual thinking, a concept supported by recent research on mental imagery, visualization, and dual coding, ought to be the emphasis for future theory development. (FL)

Presents a rhetoric of visuals in relationship to their accompanying text. Discusses prior research in graphics, outlines a syntax of graphics and their level of abstraction, describes tagmemic analysis of visuals, and discusses rhetorical integration of text and visuals. (SR)

In contemporary academic literature and in many national curricula, there is a widespread acceptance that critical thinking should be an important dimension of Education. Teachers and researchers recognize the importance of developing students critical thinking, but there are still great difficulties in defining and assessing critical-thinking…

This article explores a notion of "personalising learning" which puts the learner at the centre, supported by mobile technology and teacher mediation. It reports a small study in the Northern Territory of Australia, with indigenous students who were given mobile camera phones to capture aspects of their everyday lives and bring them into…

Definitions of literacy that focus solely on reading words provide too narrow a framework for many students with severe disabilities. Obtaining information from the environment may be accomplished in a variety of modes, such as visual literacy, which is the ability to discern meaning conveyed through images. A component of visual literacy is…

Recent appeal to the concept of design in composition studies benefits teaching writing in digital media. Yet the concept of design has not been developed enough to fully benefit composition instruction. This article develops an understanding of design as a matter of resolving wicked problems and makes a case for the advantages of this…

In a time when adolescents are continually inundated by provocative multimedia campaigns that coax them to buy more, think less, and do so in a passive environment that provides little to no opportunities for them to reflect on who they are in the world, the author of this article offers one way to engage adolescents and their teachers with a…

American Indian symbols are used extensively as logos, mascots, nicknames, and trademarks. These images identify postsecondary as well as secondary academic institutions, professional sports franchises, commercial products, and geographic locations. Over the past few decades, efforts have been directed at eliminating or at least reducing the use…

The year 2006 saw the implementation of a new curriculum for teaching English First Additional Language (FAL) in grades 10-12 in South African high schools. The curriculum includes the teaching and assessment of visual literacy--a challenge for teachers whose apartheid-era teacher education did not address visual literacy at all. The article is a…

Available from: National Institute of Adult Education (England and Wales), 35 Queen Anne St., London W1M OBL England. (BP)

The goals of this study were to identify the constructs of visual literacy, to determine the amount of agreement or disagreement which exists concerning the identified constructs, and to provide a measure of relative importance among the identified constructs. The Delphi technique was employed to elicit information and opinions from a panel of…

Designed as an introduction to the intelligent and active appreciation of films, this book provides an anecdotal discussion of current and past movies. Among the subjects discussed are the origins of the industry, the process of filmmaking, the role of the spectator, the development of various film genres, the debate over sex and violence, and the…

Learning through the use of symbols presupposes the ability to think visually, including the perception, structuring, processing, and transformation of visual images. Since children process high volumes of visual messages, especially via television, schools should restructure curricula to include objectives in visual literacy, specifically the…