Agenda

1. Interdisciplinary Skills for the 21st Century LearnerEDUCAUSE – May 6, 2008John Gibson,Oris Friesen, & Florence Martin Maricopa Community Colleges, Arizona

2. Agenda 2 • Project Origins • Introduction to DVL • DVL Modules • Instructional Design & Assessment • Excel Module Example • YOUR Ideas: DVL’s Potential Uses?

3. Project Origins 3 • 3-year, $600,000 National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Grant • Original Partnership between Brown University & Maricopa Community Colleges • Final Year – Focus on Dissemination • GOAL: Introduce Digital Visual Literacy modules into introductory community college courses: • Educate teachers • Use DVL modules in existing courses • Perform assessment • Disseminate results

4. What is DVL? 4 • DVL is a set of vital interdisciplinary skills that enable students and teachers to function in an increasingly digital and visual workplace • DVL builds on previous Visual Literacy efforts, but integrates new research material, as well • Examples: • Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Century (Robert E. Horn, 1999) • Visual Thinking (Rudolf Arnheim, 2004) • Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn (Lynell Burmark, 2002)

5. What InterdisciplinarySkills? 5 • The ability to… • Critically evaluate digital visual materials (2D and 3D, static and moving) • Make decisions using digital visual representations of data and ideas • Use computers to create effective visual communications • Across the curriculum!

6. Why? Images Are Everywhere! Graphical interfaces make easy computing possible Photorealistic CGI (computer generated images) for movies and simulations Large data sets can be visualized (weather, etc.) Visualization lets doctors look inside your body Industrial design depends on CAD (computer-aided design) Simulations affect most areas of science, from nanotechnology to biology and beyond 6

7. A Historic Trend 7 • Images used to be displayed in only a few places, such as churches, but are now ubiquitous • Television was introduced only 60 years ago • By HS graduation US children will have spent more time in front of the TV than in the classroom (AACAP)

8. Computer Technology Has Accelerated this Change 1900: Kodak’s “brownie” camera 1900s (early): first movie theaters 1980s bulky, low quality VCR a “wow” item 1984: ATT breakup 1990: color printers ~$10K 8 2006: Kodak sells no film cameras 2006: desktop movie making 2006 tiny iPOD has HD video 2006: cell phones have megapixel+ camera, video, even scanners 2006: given as bank “gifts” 19th century studio camera, with bellows for focusing Bell Howell Keychain Digital Camera

9. Skill Sets Are Changing 9 • You can’t believe everything you see • Role of design in business is widely recognized • Accelerating demand for graduates with visual, holistic thinking Daniel Pink’s agriculture to industrial age to knowledge work to age of conceptual thinking From “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future” by Daniel Pink, 2006

10. 10 Profound Implications… “If students aren’t taught the language of … images, shouldn’t they be considered as illiterate as if they left college without being able to read or write?” (George Lucas)Think about the “literacy” we teach…Convergence, 21st Century Skills, & “Complex Tacit Interactions”Is the 4th R a V?

11. An Integration of Disciplines! 11 • Academics • Sciences • Humanities • Business • Application areas (medicine, military, etc.) • Little conversation between practitioners in these fields DVL

12. Contributing Disciplines 12 • Visual Culture: Critical discussion of visual materials and history, including topics in art history, media culture, visual history, and philosophy. • Art and Design: Basic concepts in 2D, 3D, and time-based visual art and design • Vision Science: Basic concepts in neuroscience, perception, and cognitive science • Computer Graphics and Visualization (CS): Basic concepts in the science of computer graphics • Image Economy: The economic implications of creating, distributing, purchasing, exchanging visual (largely digital) materials

13. Best Delivered As “Modules” 13 • FREE!!! • Strengthens Textbooks • with supplementary materials • Complete Instructional Design • Small, flexible, & tested • Downloadable from website • You can adapt original files! • Can be used in any course • 12 modules a beginning…

14. Beginning Modules 14

15. Practical Visual Copyright 15 • Laws balancing financial gain and freedom of use • Protecting and licensing your images • How to find images and assess their copyright status • Resolving workplace Issues

16. BLOG Module How do we “read” images? Similarities with text. How is visual meaning created? Synergy between text and images in establishing an explanation or a line of argument. 16

17. Visual Dialog in E-commerce 17 • New business models and strategies inspired by digital visual communication… • Kodak Easy Share, flickr, etc. • Compare company product photos with user uploaded ones on Amazon You can now add a picture of a product to Amazon…

18. Graphics Literacy Module 18 • Overview of basic graphics terms, concepts, and tools • An introduction to basic skills using MS Paint • Designed to promote student awareness of the technology and talent involved in creating computer graphics

19. 3D Graphics Module 19 • What is 3D graphics? • How are businesses taking advantage?

20. MS Office Modules 20 Kay Gaisford – Mesa Community College

21. Word and PowerPoint 21 • Better visual design in Word and PowerPoint • Addresses basic design principles and vocabulary Better Design Through Contrast Repetition Alignment Proximity

22. Excel Charts and Graphs 22 • Excel can make your numbers look pretty. But is the result meaningful? • How to analyze and create… • Two Excel Charts Made From One Set of Data, but They Convey Very Different Messages • Pyramid shape makes top portion look smaller than the data it represents • 3-D effect make it difficult to accurately read the numbers

23. DVL Brochure (outside) 23

24. DVL Brochure (inside) 24

25. Development of the Instructor Guides 25

26. Instructor Guide Sample Pages 26 Presentation with Instructor Notes Instructor Guide Summary Grading Rubric

27. ADDIE Process in DVL 27 • Analysis • Design • Development • Implementation • Evaluation ADDIE Instructor Guide Summary Templates

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29. 29 Before & After Rating Scale:5 = very knowledgeable 4 = Knowledgeable about3 = Uncertain 2 = Somewhat knowledgeable 1 = not knowledgeable about

30. Charts are Computer Graphics Apply Graphic Design Principles - Contrast 30 • Contrast is the use of differences to create interest, excitement, show importance of different items. • Spot color contrasts with other colors. • Bold columns (color, width) contrast with white background.

31. Lying With ChartsLying with Poor Chart Choices Wedges at the front of a 3-D pie chart appear larger than in the back • Misleading charts may result in errors in decision-making • Charts are often designed in ways that hide what the datamight tell us, or that distract the readerfrom quickly discerning the meaning of the chart. Adapted from Charts and Graphs for Microsoft Excel 2007, Bill Jelen, Que Books, 2007. 31

32. Misleading ChartsUsing a Chart Type that Obscures the Truth • the Area chart to the right above shows that marketing costs are rising sharply. • The Stacked Area chart to the right obscures this trend • The clustered column chart shows each data point separately so that trends can be examined for all 4 expense areas. Adapted from Charts and Graphs for Microsoft Excel 2007, Bill Jelen, Que Books, 2007. 32

33. Chart Types – Column The best chart type is the one that gets your message across most effectively • Column charts are good for up to 12 data points. Otherwise, use bar or line chart. • Clustered column chart shows each data point separately (easy to interpret) • 100% Stacked Column chart compares the percentage each value contributes to a total across categories • Cylindars, Cones, and Pyramids are similar to column charts with more dramatic shapes (sometimes distort perception). • 3-D effects use more ink, more space,and distort perception 33

34. DVL Wiki 34 • DVL Wiki: http://dvl.mc.maricopa.edu

35. DVL – The 4th R is a V! 35 • New skills are needed to succeed in a digital visual workplace • DVL modules can help: • Strategically introduce this emerging field in your classes • Strengthen your current offerings • JOIN US!!!

36. 36 YOUR Ideas: DVL’s Potential Uses? Decision Theatre (Arizona State University) • How could you apply Digital Visual Literacy in your curriculum? • Do you have any thoughts about future DVL modules and new initiatives? • Interest so far: Universities, community colleges, high schools, middle schools, and new partnerships/grants

37. For More Information 37 Digital Visual Literacy Project Maricopa Community Colleges http://dvl.mc.maricopa.edu/ (480) 731-8124 dvl@domail.maricopa.edu This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Grant No. 0501965. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).