BENEFITS

Before Going Visual

Engaging students in class discussion is an essential teaching skill. Yet all too often, discussions aren’t captured and ideas disappear. They get lost and students become confused. Links between these ideas are made but not visually.

Even if ideas are visually captured, you rarely see teachers taking discussions to the next level. They don’t step back and ask how the ideas can be better organised. There’s often an assumption that students can organise their ideas into coherent text and speech on their own. If only.

After Going Visual

Teachers can use Single Bubbles and Clusters to capture the ideas being discussed. And then draw links between the ideas before explaining the nature of the connections.

As a result they move beyond capturing ideas by using different visual tools to organise them in different ways and for different purposes. By organising the ideas with Affinity Diagrams, Model Maps, Flow Charts, Flow Bubbles, Double Bubbles and Matrices, real learning takes place. You see, it’s the organisation of ideas that is the learning.
    

Why Going Visual Works

There is now a clear focus on learning. And how to create it. Students can see the learning in front of them. They’re able to build and deepen their understanding. By seeing what’s being discussed, and freed up from having to hold it all in their heads, they’re more engaged.

Able students ask better questions and extend their learning while less able students understand more and stay on task.

Links

As you can see, these benefits have an impact on other areas of learning. Click the following to read about Collaborative Learning, Thinking Skills, Learn to Learn, Behaviour Management.