Envisioning
Graphics and visualization for learning
Check out the Graphic Learning Gallery, an exhibit we mounted at Learning 2006.
An Excerpt from Informal Learning
Humans are sight-mammals. We learn twice as well from images+words as from words alone. Visual language engages both hemispheres of the brain. Pictures translate across cultures, education levels, and age groups. Yet the majority of the content of corporate learning is text. Schools spend years on verbal literacy and but hours on visual literacy. It’s high time for us to open our eyes to the possibilities.
Visual literacy accelerates learning because the richness of the whole picture can be taken in at a glance. Visual metaphors unleash new ideas and spark innovation. Visuals accelerate the learning process. Visuals make meetings more productive, efficient, and memorable. Having a sharper eye increases the depth of one’s perception and enjoyment of life.
Envisioning results in insight, the capacity to gain a clear, deep and sometimes sudden understanding of a complicated problem or situation. Envisioning means:
1. Seeing from a fresh perspective.
2. Looking at relationships and non-linear sequences.
3. Imagining and prototyping new ideas.
4. Focusing and documenting the flow of group discussion.
5. Shortening the time it takes learners to say, "Now I see."
6. What visionaries do.
Graphics can improve informal learning throughout an organization. Graphics work wonders when you need to:
• Bring deeper understanding to complex subject matter
• Share results of dynamic meetings with others
• Help senior team “see the big picture” and focus attention
• Improve the decision-making process
• Integrate a new initiative throughout an organization
• Speed adoption of major change
• Help everyone picture their role in organizational transformation
Worth a long look
Dave Gray's incredible Visual Thinking School
Graphic Learning Gallery at Learning 2006
Interesting blogs
Dave Gray, Communication Nation
Jay Cross, Informal Learning Blog
The Center for Graphic Facilitation
Sites
Brian Narelle, Narelle Creative
Michael Erickson's Visual Practitioner Site
Nigel Holmes, Explanation Graphics
A Periodic Table of Visual Explanatary Graphics
Tools
Gliffy, an online drawing tool
Articles
Sight Mammals by Jay Cross
See What I Mean by Jay Cross
Visual Learning by Eileen Clegg
More than Just Eye Candy, by Ruth Clark Part 1 and Part 2
Periodicals
Books
Mapping Inner Space: Learning and Teaching Visual Mapping by Nancy Margulies
Visual Thinking: Tools for Mapping Your Ideas by Nancy Margulies
Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business by Jamie Nast
The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped Potential by Tony Buzan
Selling To the VP of No by Dave Gray
The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte
Envisioning Information by Edward R. Tufte
Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative by Edward R. Tufte
Beautiful Evidence by Edward R. Tufte
Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Centuryby Bob Horn
Best Practices for Facilitation by David Sibbet
Typography: Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works, Second Edition by Ed Spiekermann
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form by Scott McCloud
Design: Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2nd Edition) by Steve Krug
Graphics books I have enjoyed, some a bit esoteric.
Art & Physics, Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light by Leonard Shlain
Alphabets as testosterone: The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain
Map making: You Are Here by Katherine Harmon
Emtion maps: The Atlas of Experience by Louse van Swaaij & Jean Krare (Scale: Unimaginable)
The trade-offs of design: Appearance & Reality: A Visual Handbook for Artists, Designers, and Makers by Stephen Hogbin
How other see: Visualizations: The Nature Book of Art and Science by Martin Kemp
Amazing journals: Drawing From Life: The Journal as Art by Jennifer New
An instructional idea book: Open Here: The Art of Instructional Design by Paul Mijksenaar and Piet Westendorp