Using visual learning in a virtual classroom is not as complicated as you think. This approach in learning will allow you to use images, infographics, videos and other visual elements that will help improve the effectivity of the courses being offered in the online classroom.
The question is, what is the best way that you can implement visual learning in the course? Well, that depends on the goals that you have set. It also depends on the content that you need to teach the learners. These are factors that will affect how you can represent them visually throughout the course. There are contents that need a mixture of image, videos and audio. There are those that you can represent well through images alone. Think about these factors before you make a choice.
To help you decide, here are tips that you can follow to implement visual learning in the virtual classroom.
- Through idea maps. This can be used as a form of recap for the lesson. You can use images, key words, phrases, and other graphics to illustrate the important items in the course. Of course, there is another way for you to use idea maps that will make the course even more effective. You can use it as an activity at the end of the course. Encourage the participants to create a summary of what they have learned through their own idea or word maps. This will help practice their ability to pick out the key elements in the course. That is what visual thinking is all about. It is choosing key words and phrases that you will illustrate. These key words and phrases should be enough to explain the whole concept to the learners. By allowing the learners to create idea maps, you encourage them to use their own understanding of the lesson. They can use images and graphics that will help explain what they just learned. This will not only practice visual thinking, it will also allow you to see if they understood what they just learned.
- Through infographics. If you want to discuss statistics, trends, and other seemingly boring data, an infographic is the best way to do it. This is a great tool used, not just by the elearning industry, but also by companies and marketing campaigns. You use a combination of images and graphics to present boring statistics. This makes it easier for learners to remember the data that they need to learn because the data is broken down into visual components – which is most of the time, entertaining.
- Through digital storytelling. Another way for you to implement visual thinking in the virtual classroom is to create digital stories for them to follow. This type of storytelling uses graphics, animations, and online music. Regardless of how sophisticated the method of storytelling is, it can still be visually stimulating for the learner.
- Through an interactive timeline. Finally, you can use an interactive timeline to help make your virtual classroom more engaging. This is helpful when you are discussing dates and historical facts. Making a clickable timeline will help keep the data memorable and at the same time, will make the course more interesting. By clicking on the event, the learners can view the specific event that happened on that particular date.
These are only some of the things that you can do in the virtual classroom to help implement visual thinking. Remember to take into consideration the lesson that will be taught. As you can see, some of the tips discussed are effective when used for a specific type of lesson.
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