n m c : events: NMC Series of Online Conferences

What our attendees are saying about NMC's Online Conferences: ______________________________

"Wow! Where do I begin? Loved the topics — loved the speakers — loved the presentations — loved the environment!."
Director of Academic Computing

“Fascinating presentations! I loved the variety of means available to pursue the discussions they catalyzed - in the Happy Hour conversations, discussion forums, private meetings etc. The technical support and personal welcome extended from the organizers was absolutely fantastic.”
Web Designer

“I appreciate the opportunity to learn what others are doing in such a flexible format. I would not have been able to attend this conference if it were not online. Being able to pop in and out of activities as time permitted during my normal workload was great. The presentations have been stellar! .”
Faculty Support Specialist

"This was my first NMC Online Conference and it far exceeded my expectations. I have never experienced this level of creativity, quality, innovation and passion at any higher education conference. Thank you!"
Instructional Technologist

"First, no superlative is quite good enough to tell you how valuable this experience was on numerous levels! Content, process, new media, communication, community — I'm amazed at how much energy and information I got from this meeting. As a F2F-aholic, I did not expect that."
Assistant Vice Provost

Conference Sponsors: ______________________________

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NMC Series of Online Conferences

NMC Online Conference on Visual Literacy
April 5-6, 2005 -- via the Internet

About the Conference

The Online Conference on Visual Literacy explored the ways emerging ideas, constructs, tools, and theories are fueling new interest in visual communication. The program included sessions within the following tracks:

• Exploring the Visual/Digital Literacy Landscape
• Successful Projects & Real-Life Examples
• Visual/Digital Literacy Trends and Issues

The NMC Series of Online Conferences is a new form of meetings based on social computing concepts and delivered entirely online through a collaboration with NMC partners iCohere, LearningTimes and Macromedia. The unique environment allows the NMC to explore emerging topics with participants attending from their home or office as their schedules permit, yet still interacting and participating in significant ways.

So What is Visual Literacy?

All of us understand, almost on a visceral level, the power and immediacy of imagery. Art, film, photography, drawing — all have the potential to transcend traditional language and evoke an emotional response. These media, and images in general are powerful communication tools. The ability to understand this power, to recognize it, to manipulate it and to put it to use involves a set of skills referred to as visual literacy. Visually literate individuals have an imaginative ability to see the messages communicated with images, and to understand them, as well as to create, modify, and use visual cues and images. Visual literacy implies an understanding and sense of design.

Digital tools, ever more capable, are playing an increasingly important role in advancing visual literacy, but visual literacy is not limited to its digital expressions. It is also a concept that is not yet fully formed, and related areas like visual/graphic representation, visual communication, semiotics, and iconography overlap with it in compelling and interesting ways.

In the context of notions like the “Digital Native” and the increasing need for communication forms that translate well across borders, visual literacy is reemerging in a new light. Its potential to improve understanding is just beginning to be explored. For colleges and universities, visual literacy is offering new insights to designers, fueling new applications for learning, and spawning discussions of more effective uses of new media forms.

Conference Format

Designed to include a variety of live and asynchronous events, the event was conducted entirely online using the conferencing environment provided by NMC distinguished partner iCohere. A variety of other technologies will be used to bring live events to attendees.

As with all NMC Online Conferences, attendees enjoyed a wide range of features commonly associated with traditional face-to-face conferences, including interactive sessions from engaging presenters, “hallway” conversations, exhibitions, chats with exhibitors, chances to ask presenters questions, and more.

The conference featured a range of 30-minute online breakout sessions, each with a "live/interactive" component, a "presentation-on-demand" component, and a vibrant threaded discussion expanded on and illuminated the topic. Attendees found, and also helped to build a rich knowledge web that remained accessible online for 60 days after the event.

Technical Requirements

The conference was designed to be very easy to access. Minimum technical requirements are an Internet connection (at least 56K recommended), a current web browser, and Macromedia’s free Flash plug-in.

Windows users have the options of either Internet Explorer version 5 or later, Netscape Navigator version 6.2 or later, or Firefox. Mac users can use Safari, Netscape Navigator 6.2 or later, or Mozilla.

Selected Presentations

The following selected presentations have been made available with the generous consent of their authors.

Keynotes
Future Literacy, Future Identities: The Role of Visual Literacy
Anne Bamford
University of Technology, Sydney

The Gates: A Visual Literacy Case Study
John Weber
The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery

Sessions
History & Anthropology: The Life and Death of Visual Literacy
Jared Bendis and Mace Mentch
Case Western Reserve University

Tracks in the Snow: Patterns, Maps, and Visual Literacy
Ruben R. Puentedura
Hippasus