Colloquium on visual literacy

Education professor stresses importance of visual literacy in PK-12 classrooms

News contact: Laura Hancock | University Advancement
541-962-3585 | lhancock@eou.edu

March 4, 2015

LA GRANDE, Ore. (EOU) – Teresa Farrell, Ed.D., assistant professor of education, is the guest presenter for the next colloquium at EOU Thursday, March 12.

Her discussion of “Visual Literacy in Pre-Service Teacher Preparation” begins at 4 p.m. in Ackerman Hall, Room 210. A reception will follow. Tune in to the colloquium online at https://new.livestream.com/eou/events/3747597.

Visual literacy is a field that has been active since 1969, although little has been done in the U.S. to purposefully integrate its instruction into the PK-12 classroom. With the advent of 21st Century Skills, Common Core State Standards and Smarter Balanced assessments, visual literacy abilities are becoming of primary importance to PK-12 students and teacher preparation for all subject areas.

Farrell will provide background to the field of visual literacy including history, theory base, definitions, work done in Australia, and her current work measuring visual literacy ability in pre-service teachers. She will also present visual literacy instruction in the context of a communication theory approach; issues of social justice (power and authorship), critical thinking and civic literacy (consumerism); and the requirements of Common Core State Standards, ISTE Standards, ACRL Standards 21st Century Skills and InTASC Standards.

A list of related resources provided by Pierce Library is available for more in-depth information on this topic. Visit http://library.eou.edu/colloquium. For more information call 541-962-3316.