From my understanding, Visual Learning Tools are tools that are used to teach specific topics using images both still and in motion. For this post, I will refer to Visual Learning Tools as VLT. Some VLT's include graphic organizers, concept maps, mind maps, webs, and idea maps, have help students to write and learn more effectively (Solomon, pg 2509). Researchers, have found that VLT's help students to be more engaged in the provided material and are able to retain more information when there is a visual included with the lesson. One of my favorite tools that can be used as a VLT's is Pinterest. Pinterest is both a web and mobile application used to find information from the internet using images, gifs, and sometime videos.
Robert Miller (2013) explains that VLT can be used for differentiation. Classrooms may continue to be taught the way they were before VLT's were introduced, but now allow students to learn at their own pace. He mentions a teacher that provides videos for students to have access to whenever they needed it. These videos help students who may not have understood the lesson of that day or may just want to review a lesson that was taught.
With Visual Learning Tools on the rise, many web 2.0 tools has been useful with our 21st century learners. Another resource that can be used to find images in Flickr. Flickr is a photo sharing site and they work hand in hand with creative commons. Images from Flickr can be used for presentations, blogs, and videos. With the copyright provided from creative commons, it is safe to say that images used from Flickr are free to use. It is still up to the blogger to make sure permission is provided before making an image public for viewing.
Check out some of the items I've listed and I hope you can find some use in this post.
Hobgood B. & Ormsby L. (2013). Inclusion in the 21st Century classroom: Differentiating with technology. Reaching every Learner: Differentiating instruction in theory and practice.
Schrum L. & Solomon G. (2014). Web 2.0 Tools: How-to for Educators. Retrieved from Kindle.