This term I’ve been playing with visual learning and metaphor as a way to anchor students’ understanding about a new Achievement Standard in English (1.2 - Demonstrate understanding of specific aspects of studied texts). After exploring and explaining a ‘boat and anchor’ metaphor in class with quick sketches on the whiteboard, I took the time to draw it up as a published whiteboard on Canva so that students could ‘connect the dots’ and revise the key requirements of the task more easily.

Breaking things down into pictures is a way to reduce cognitive load and is also a way for students to connect with their learning beyond written instructions. Using images to support learning is a way to offer both scaffolding as well as differentiated learning opportunities. Using pictures to support words (or visuals to work alongside verbals) aligns with Dual Coding Theory which you can read more about here. The main principle is that retention and memory is enhanced by offering pictures as well as words. Applying a UDL lens, pictographic representations are also useful supports for students with dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism and can make learning more ‘universally’ engaging.

Application of metaphor

The boat metaphor I used in this instance was a way to discuss the importance of tying an observation about aspects of a text to the author’s purpose, to the theme and to draw attention to the fact that the ‘treasure’ of this learning is exploring a personal response. This was a useful mataphor because it helped students to understand that naming a technique and giving an example of it is like pushing a boat out onto the water - it will float away if it is not anchored to anything. The examples need to be linked together (like a chain), the boat needs to be anchored to the author’s purpose (why is it there in the first place) - but also that the ‘real treasure’ is our own responses and thinking about the ideas or themes in the text.

I used the metaphor of a boat and anchor ‘chain’ as a way to explain that examples need to be linked together for their writing to be convincing. If students zoom into the chain, they can see that it is also likened to a venn diagram in order to show diagrammatically that the connection between aspects and how they work together is where the magic happens. By recreating the anchor metaphor in Canva, I was also able to add explainer post its at each section of the image for students to zoom in and out to - depending on how much support they needed. In this way the visual whiteboard works as a differentiated learning tool too.

VIsual learning is away to present complex information in a more memorable way. My interest has been in whether or not this way of presenting learning is ‘actually helpful’ or if it is a waste of time. As it turns out, verbal feedback from the students indicates that it ‘is really helpful’ and I have noticed that they are able to talk about ‘anchoring’ their ideas to the author’s purpose. It also has served as a way for students to know that the ‘treasure’ is the most important part and that they need to explore different ways of connecting to a text in order to have a justified personal response. From a numbers standpoint, when I look at ‘click through’ analytics or observe how many students are ‘in the board’ each lesson (and out of class time), this has been a quick indication that presenting learning visually is something that the students are keen to engage with.

Targeting asynchronous delivery

I ended up extending the whiteboard canvas in Canva to summarise the other key documents that are already loaded to the Learning Management System. Where information was new, I added a ‘NEW’ sticker and drew their attention to it in class and on the class stream (live feed) to ensure that students who had been away would not miss the notification. I also screenshot the board and reposted it to the stream to indicate ‘where’ on the map there might be updates to check out. The benefit of the visual map as a way to present learning is that the students can ‘explore’ all of the resources in one place and have a better understanding of how they fit together through the process of exploration (active learning) and they also don’t need a tab open for every document.

Addressing Challenges with Google Classroom

Google Classroom can be a frustrating conduit for learning..There is limited functionality as far as how resources can be presented to students. The list view has limited iconographic or colour-coding functionality and I am constantly guiding students how to find things even when there are clear titles because the headings alone are what distinguishes one resources from another. Students seem to waste so much time clicking in and out and around to find documents. By presenting hyperlinks to the key resources within the Canva whiteboard, I am able to streamline the ‘purpose’ of each doc with explainer notes. Similarly, students can ‘see’ what they are about to click on before they click into it.

A major benefit of visual learning is how complex information can be presented in a more memorable way. Finding a metaphor and using visual aid is a useful way to present multiple steps or share pieces of a bigger project. Using a whiteboard is also an engaging way for students to zoom in and review/pick a path and explore class materials as well as supporting information or explanatory notes without needing multiple tabs open to organise their exploration.

Visual learning and using visual aids can also make it easier for students to process and remember information. Additionally, the use of metaphor can also improve memory retention so that students can visually re-trace connections by remembering parts of an image. Further, presenting material visually and/or with metaphor is a more inclusive way to present information because it can so easily include iconographic supports.

Trials and Tweaks

If I were to use this particular canvas again, I might make it more linear rather than ‘scattered’ or I might potentially number sections or use more arrows to indicate flow and progressions. In this instance and as an initial experiment, this map was built alongside students and added to incrementally to build on synchronous and collaborative learning in class. As a tool, the students were already familiar with the boat/anchor metaphor so the board served them like a revision tool. If it were a stand-alone tool that I needed students to explore on their own, I might need to scaffold the pathways a bit more clearly.

Canva whiteboards are a fun way to present a lot of information in a visual way. An important note is that this visual learning/mapping tool is presented ‘as well as’ the list view within Google Classroom rather than ‘instead of’. It is also an optional way to explore materials and is not a ‘must’ for students who prefer more traditional delivery methodology.

Miro is another great whiteboard tool with a few more embed functions that Canva hasn’t got yet (although it needs a paid account). As a note, my Canva account is an education account and the hyperlinking of docs is a workaround to try to get some of the functionality of the Miro ‘embed PDF’ option that I like. (Just as an FYI). I have found that you can embed video and powerpoints/slideshows relatively easily within Canva too.

And that’s my picture.

What do you think? How might you use more visual learning tools or metaphors in the classroom?