Visual learners are the ones who understand best when they see the information. However, they might need help understanding spoken instructions, but they grab better information with diagrams, graphs, and flowcharts. Are you occasionally distracted during live lectures but extra watchful when watching a video? If yes, you may also be a visual learner. Well, we have some amazing and brilliant strategies for visual learners which helps them understand new concepts by seeing pictures and images.
Visual learners are mostly attracted to the size, shape, and color, along with the visual contrasts in objects. When attending a lecture, visual learners can maximize their learning process by focusing on the visual elements available to them. With the growing need for strategies for visual learners, teachers may need help presenting their learning methods in an educational and engaging visual format.
In this blog, you will learn the strategies for visual learners, which is also helpful for teachers looking for different ways to teach their students effectively and effectively.
What is Visual Learning?
Table of Contents
Graphs, charts, maps, and diagrams are used in visual learning, which is a way to learn. Moreover, a person who learns best by seeing things is called a visual learner. Also, learners can organize information and talk to others more effectively using pictures, colors, and maps. Additionally, visual learners can work independently and use their strengths, like figuring out how to solve problems.
It is assumed that 65% of people learn best by seeing (Sousa, 2011). Moreover, this number could be even higher because many students need to learn how to figure out how they learn best. Besides, teachers and students often think that hearing and talking are the best ways for everyone to learn. Many students learn better when they are taught both visually and audibly. This is called “blended learning.”
5 Benefits of Visual Learning to students
In today’s world, visual media is crucial to everyday existence. About 65% of the people in the world learn best by observing. Numerous studies have shown the usefulness of visual learning. It sounds better than hearing. When compared to text, visual information helps people learn faster. Here, we’ll discuss why visual learning is a good way to learn.
Benefits of the Visual Learning Portal
Here are some lists of how visual learning can help:
#1: Virtual learning is a better tool for learning
Videos have a big effect on the brain because they make it easier to remember information for a longer time. It can get the picture faster than it can get the text. Visual learning is more helpful for self-study than reading from a book. Sometimes, you don’t need a teacher to teach you something. You can learn from a video. It makes it easier for you to learn.
#2: The process of learning is easier with virtual learning
It lets you talk to teachers and makes it easier for you to learn. You can learn hard things more easily. The complex topic can be understood by looking at the visual information, which helps people learn more. It has easy-to-find graphs, images, and charts, as well as other things.
#3: Emotional stimulators are a benefit of online learning
When visual images and feelings are linked in the brain, this is called memory. That’s why images and other visual content help us remember things for a long time.
#4: Virtual learning helps you remember things for a longer time
Visual learning helps you remember what you’ve learned for a longer time. People say that long-term memory directly processes videos and images. Visual learning helps people remember things by 29–42%. It helps you learn better by letting you process information mostly through pictures. For example, if you have an exam in a month and are studying a topic that is explained with pictures, diagrams, and other visuals. You will be able to remember the whole idea even after a long time has passed because the images will have stuck in your mind.
#5 Benefit of Virtual Learning: Accessibility
The National Center for Biotechnology Information says that today’s learners can only pay attention for 8 seconds. This means that it’s easier to get them interested in a concept if you make it interesting with pictures or videos. So, since students have less time to pay attention, how they are taught can be changed to suit their interests and help them understand better.
Advantageous strategies For Visual Learners
So far, we’ve talked about how using visual learning strategies in the classroom can help students learn. Now, let’s look at how students can use it in their own lives.
1. Vocabulary Record Books
Students can keep a vocabulary journal or notebook where they write down new words, how they are used, and how they are defined. Students can also draw pictures to show what each term means.
2. Using colors
Make notes on a chart with different colors. For example, label one column “Main Idea” and use it for headings. Label another column, “Definition,” and use it for terms that need to be explained. Label another column, “Questions,” and use it for ideas that need more explanation from the teacher or other sources.
3. Make a plan
Before starting a project or assignment, make a plan that lists your goals, the steps you need to take, and the resources you will need.
4. Using Markers instead of Pencils
When writing or drawing diagrams, use markers instead of pencils. You will be able to read what they wrote better than if they had used a pencil.
5. Geographical Organization
Set up information in a structural way. Information that is organized by its location is put into different groups. You can use this method to organize information in a notebook, a textbook, or an exam. For example, you could draw arrows between pieces of information that go together or put notes in the text that tell you where each topic will be on an exam
6. Slideshows and videos
Look at short videos and slideshows. A video slideshow maker is a tool that allows users to create and edit slideshows easily and efficiently. You might like these more than presentations on paper because you can often draw while listening without missing important information.
Explore More!
10 Best and Effective Study Tips For Visual Learners
The benefit of Visual Learning to Teachers
Even though the idea of “learning styles” has been disproven, there are still many ways to teach, learn, and process information. And visual learning has been shown to help students get interested in and remember information.
Here are the strategies for visual learning for Students so that they can benefit from visual learning in such ways:
- Visualize complex or abstract ideas
- Pay more attention and remember more of what you read.
- Better organize your information.
The brain can understand pictures 60,000 times faster than words, and pictures can help students learn up to 400% better. With this in mind, teachers should use visuals to improve their lessons and make their curriculum more interesting and effective.
This can be done with video presentations, graphic organizers, diagrams, concept maps, and interactive visual learning through teamwork and creativity.
5 Effective Strategies for visual learning to teach with pictures and videos
Visual learning is important, but not all teaching methods are good. Poorly designed visuals, generic graphics or stock images, and low-quality images can all hurt learning and take students’ attention away from the main point.
Follow the tips below to get started.
1. Use virtual whiteboards to share and work together
Visuals can make your talk more interesting and help students understand what you’re trying to say. Helping your students work together and do hands-on activities with the learning materials can help them remember what they’ve learned and encourage them to use their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
2. Tell students to use pictures to show what they’ve learned.
Visuals can help teachers get their points across, but they should remember the students. Learning by teaching has been shown to be a good way to teach.
Encourage your students to show what they’ve learned by discussing it and making a visual presentation.
Visual presentations can include:
- Powerpoint slides
- Diagrams
- Graphs
- Concept maps
- Visuals with notes
Visualizing data and ideas can help students not only remember the information better but also show how well they understand difficult topics as they organize ideas into clear pictures.
3. Use digital media to explain complicated ideas
Digital media, like videos, are a great way to teach in classrooms with lots of pictures. Sharing high-quality, interesting content that speaks to your audience is the key.
In other words, a video of a normal 30-minute lecture will only help your students if you give the lecture yourself. But if you use dynamic video or other digital media like LMS platform in your lessons, you can break up the routine and get students interested in what they see.
Tip: To make the lesson more interesting for your students, use interesting images and pop culture. The visual lesson will be more effective if you can relate current events or pop culture to the ideas you’re trying to teach.
4. Use concept maps to help you think critically
Concept maps are a great way to connect ideas and show how different data points and information are related. However, it can be used in the classroom to get students to think critically and help them make connections between ideas and complicated topics.
Additionally, it helps students show cause and effect, requirements, and connections between ideas with the help of shapes, lines, and arrows. Also, it teaches students to think logically, break down big ideas, and put information into a bigger picture.
5. Share graphic organizers before, during, and after lessons.
Graphic organizers are visual guides teachers can use to help students organize their ideas, clarify or simplify complex ideas, help with problem-solving and making decisions, and help students plan research or brainstorm together.
Graphic organizers are a great way to improve your teaching at every step. They can have pictures of things like
- Venn diagrams
- Concept maps
- Think tanks (or mind maps)
- KWL graphs
- T-charts
Use graphic organizers before, during, and after lessons to help students learn better, practice different learning skills, and reinforce concepts so they will remember and understand them for a long time.
Related Link!
The 7 Most Useful Tech Tools for Keeping Students Involved In Class
Characteristics or Traits of a visual learner
If your child has difficulty reading or won’t be paying attention for long periods, they may be a visual learner. Many children who have trouble paying attention are also visual learners. A person who learns by seeing remembers what they see.
- A visual learner is more likely to: write down the information they want to remember.
- People learn best when information is shown in charts, graphs, diagrams, maps, videos, and demonstrations.
- People can quickly see patterns because they can see information as pictures.
- When taking notes or making lists use different colors.
4 Best Strengths of a Visual Learner
Visual learners prefer to learn mostly through seeing things. Visual learners can learn in other ways, but they take in information best when it is shown to them visually. This way of learning has its good points.
1. Participating actively
For many students, being able to see the information is what makes them active participants in the learning process. Students who have trouble learning through hearing or touching may find it hard to pay attention in lectures or group discussions.
People learn best by seeing the need to see the information to process and understand it. Visual learners can take part in class and learn at their own pace with the help of tools like charts, graphs, diagrams, and pictures.
2. Learning more than one subject
Most teachers use various methods to teach different subjects in the classroom. When teachers only use one way to teach, like a lecture or a discussion, they leave out a lot of students who could do better in that setting.
Teachers should think about using visual aids so that every student can learn what is being taught.
3. Increased memory
Visual learning is a great way to learn because it is easy to remember new information if you link it to something you already know or “see” in your mind. When you can picture something, like an idea or concept, it’s easier to remember because you can link it to a “face.”
4. Competent motor abilities
Students who learn best by seeing things may need help to follow lectures and discussions. They may have trouble putting their thoughts into words, but they can better show what they mean when they write or draw pictures. They are also great spellers.
Helpful Parents Strategies for Visual Learners
Parents are always looking for different and fun ways to teach their kids. There are many different ways for parents to help their kids learn visually. These can be things like pictures and graphics, as well as games and activities that help kids make their pictures. For instance, resources like ABCmouse offer plenty of subject-focused games that appeal to visual learners. Parents can utilize such platforms, resulting in a more interactive and engaging learning experience for their children.
On the other hand, how parents use visual aids can make a big difference. Instead of using visual aids to teach, parents should help their kids make them and use them in learning activities. Kids are more likely to remember what they learned while making the materials if they help. Moreover, these tips also help your kids to get better grades on their tests and final exams.
Tips for parents on how to use visual learning for their kids:
- Make graphs, charts, and maps to explain new ideas (i.e., mapping out how to make scrambled eggs).
- Share tales based on what they have learned in class using storyboards or comic strips.
- Show the students timelines or flowcharts so they can see how things happened (i.e., use a timeline to show what happened during the Civil War).
- Use arrows or other visuals to show how different ideas are related to each other (i.e., show how temperature affects plant growth).
Wrap-Up (strategies for visual learners)
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you’re a visual learner, an auditory learner, or somewhere in between. Your learning style should never hold you back. Use what you’re good at to improve your learning in general. You’ll find that visual learners have a lot of strengths that can be used to their advantage.
The truth is that we all learn differently, which means we all have different learning goals. If nothing else, remember that you are the only one who can set your own learning goals, so your end goal should always be a personal one. You may take a few steps back and forth along the way, but in the end, you’ll be able to learn quickly and well. Whatever your motivation for studying, whether it’s to do well on a test or to learn more about the subject, your studies will be guided by your ultimate objective.
FAQs (strategies for visual learners)
How would you describe a visual learning style?
As an example of visual learning, you could watch a how-to video instead of listening to an expert explaining the entire process.
Which professions best suit visual learners?
Here are some jobs for people who learn best by seeing:
1. Graphic Designer
2. Teacher
3. Painter
4. Photographer
5. Engineer
6. Copy editor