Blog # 5 What do Graphic Design & Page Layout have to do with contemporary literacy & learning?

This is a great topic. In this day and age of computers and technology the ability for students and teachers to be able to graphically design a web page or a newsletter or even a Word document is a very essential skill they must master. We are now a society that no longer spends time reading the written word. As the old saying goes - A picture is worth a thousand words, you can express more in one page using graphics, fonts, colors, and more than you could describe in several pages of words. From the literacy standpoint, being able to draw a thought or concept together to have the user get the point is a skill that can be mastered using good page layout or design methods and concepts. I have noticed that in my classroom I have many more visual learners than all the other types of learners. These students will pick up on a concept if it is properly depicted. The fewer words and more pictures usually means these students will grasp the concept more easily than if they have to read several pages of text (text used to explain what the pictures, diagrams, or graphs are showing ). However, I have noticed that you cannot just throw a bunch of diagrams and pictures on paper and have the concept get through to all students. This is where the page layout and graphic design skills come into play. The information you need to get across still needs to be organized into a page layout that is aesthetically appealing to the reader and makes the topic easily discernible. Graphic design is very important in that you can overwhelm a reader with too many pictures or diagrams, poor color selections, and by making a very busy or overworked design.
Most students I talk with have had classes in the use of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint presentation software packages by the time they enter their freshman year of high school. With the Internet all around them and computers everywhere they are exposed to the max with tools that they can use to make use of graphic design and page layout techniques. These tools are the beginning for a lot of students to take off and use their imaginations and creativity.
In summary, I feel that page layout and graphic design are as important today in literacy and learning as mastering the English language and grammar were to my generation.