Engaging Visual Learners with Ink Factory
Updated: Nov 11, 2022
How to keep learners engaged and interested with visuals PLUS a printable weekly planner of visual learning activities!
Have you ever taken a quiz online to find out what “style of learner” you are? While it is debated whether people truly have one main learning style, it turns out that most of us learn better with visuals! Incorporating more visual cues using different methods from videos to charts to demonstrations can help your classroom thrive.
Why are visuals an important tool for learning?
Images and memory are strongly linked, and studies have shown that we remember pictures better than words. When people hear a story through words alone three days later they'll remember 10 percent of it. However, if pictures are used along with the story, people will remember 65 percent! Use of visuals alongside text can be a fantastic tool for helping students retain and retrieve what they've learned.
Visual representations are also useful for understanding abstract or vague ideas. Images or physical representations can function as metaphors for the abstract concept, giving a concrete shape for students to grasp and communicating the ideas more clearly. Drawing diagrams or using physical representations can help learners of all levels find a deeper understanding of complex concepts.
And last but not least, visuals keep things FUN! Incorporating images and diagrams can break up the monotony of a block of words on a slide or handout in order to keep your audience's attention.
Read on for tips and tricks on how to enhance learning in your classroom with visuals and a downloadable weekly planner with activities from Kikori Partner Ink Factory Studio!
How can you bring visual learning to the classroom?
1. Play video clips and show images
Using video clips and images throughout lessons will help keep students engaged with the material, and may help them remember the information more clearly!
2. Create opportunities for students to be creative in class
Encourage students to illustrate their notes or work on visual art projects as part of other tasks like brainstorming or storytelling.
3. Use handouts, diagrams, and other visuals
The time for plain handouts crammed with blocks of text is gone! Upgrade your handouts with visual breaks and interactive review sections.
4. Incorporate color
Color can add interest and also create a hierarchy of information to help important points stand out! Try using color in your presentations or recommending that students color code their notes. Certain colors can even have effects on students' moods and help increase attentiveness.
5. Give written instructions
Instead of just giving instructions verbally, write instructions clearly on the board or handouts that students can refer to. This will help students understand what is expected of them so they can follow through more confidently.
Let’s Get Visual! Activities for teachers and students that boost visual learning
We are delighted to introduce you to Ink Factory, an incredible organization that empowers organizations to communicate visually. Co-founders Dusty, Lindsay, and Ryan combined their diverse backgrounds to create Ink Factory in 2011. Since then, Ink Factory has helped a vast array of organizations (from Fortune 100 companies to non-profits) bring their ideas to life with the help of visual note-taking.
Now Kikori is partnering with Ink Factory Studio to dive deeper into the language of visuals and help you enhance your own visual note-taking skills and support your students in doing the same!
Each of the activities in the Visual Learning printable below are available within the Kikori App along with 450+ more experiential activities aligned with CASEL Social Emotional Learning standards!
Wondering how to find the activities in the app? If you're a premium member, you can find them all together in a super duper easy-to-use playlist! Just head over to the Playlists tab and click on "Visual Learning" by Ink Factory Studio. If you don't have playlists, you can find the activities under Ink Factory Studio's profile OR click on each activity's name on the downloadable PDF to be brought directly to it in the WebApp.
Sources:
“Learning Styles.” Teach, August 2020. https://teach.com/what/teachers-know/learning-styles/.
“Learning through Visuals.” Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, July 20, 2012. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/get-psyched/201207/learning-through-visuals.
“The Powerful Science behind Visual Note-Taking.” Ink Factory, July 23, 2020. https://inkfactorystudio.com/blog/powerful-science-behind-visual-notetaking/.
Western Governors University. “Visual Learning Style and Strategies for Teachers.” Western Governors University, August 19, 2020. https://www.wgu.edu/blog/visual-learning-style-strategies2007.html#close.
“8 Strategies to Make Learning Visual in Your Classroom.” TeachThought, July 2, 2020. https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/8-strategies-to-make-learning-visual-in-your-classroom/.
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