Using Images to Teach Critical Thinking Skills: Visual Literacy and Digital Photography

Learn how to teach visual literacy through photography―an easy way for you to combine student interest with resources at hand to enhance a key learning skill.

Research indicates that 75 to 90 percent of classroom learning occurs through the visual system, making visual literacy a key component of information literacy and of critical thinking―a requirement throughout the Common Core standards. It's no surprise then that visual literacy is increasingly recognized as a competency that should be part of every student's skill set. Fortunately, this critical skill can be incorporated into existing curriculum, and this book shows you how to do just that.

Written for K–12 classroom teachers and librarians, this all-you-need-to-know volume discusses the importance of visual literacy in education and examines how it helps address current learning standards. The book shows you how to use photography and digital images to cultivate critical thinking, inquiry, and information literacy; provides examples of the use of photographic images in the classroom and in "real life"; and addresses how students can be ethical practitioners in a digital world. In addition, the book includes sample lessons you can easily implement, regardless of your level of technical and photographic expertise. A resource list of photo editing, curation, and museum sites is included.