The Benefits Of Visual Teaching
Here are four "facts" cited in recent scholarly research papers about the brain and education:
- Ninety per cent of learning is visual.
- The brain processes visual information 60,000 faster than text.
- Forty per cent of all nerve fibers connected to the brain are linked to the retina.
- Visual aids in the classroom improve learning by up to 400 per cent.
We might disagree with some of the figures. For instance,
one can question what visual aids were used to improve learning by 400%. What we can't question however is that the
most effective education takes place through the retina i.e. eyes. That means
that effective education is best delivered by visual means.
That also means that listening to language recordings sound
out words engages mostly the auditory senses. Consequently, a CD
recording or even a teacher speaking before a class lights up only a limited part of the student's brain.
At Teach The World Online,
we're finding that a properly developed lesson using Skype video can come close
to engaging the full visual capacity of the brain. When, for example, a
puppet can wake up and excite the students' interest, they will long remember
the day's lesson.
Watch the different reaction of these students listening to my lecture on health and the reaction to my puppet:
Why? Because the very nature of video calling is visual. From downloading film clips to creating exciting power point programs, so we can engage the visual area of our students' brains which in turn induces long term memory... and isn't that what we teachers are all trying to do?