Teaching and learning the language of visual media

Abstract

Proliferation of new technologies are changing the nature of the media and are creating a new cultural and educational environment, a lot more dependent on the media than ever before. Surrounded by all kinds of information, verbal, oral, visual, multimedia and mobile, we are more and more confronted with visuals of different types, including pictures, photography, films, TV, video games, podcasts, advertising, and social media. Visually saturated media demand for specific competences and social practices aimed at better understanding, critical thinking and practicing visual logic of meaning production. While conceptualizing the need for visual literacy in contemporary media environment, the paper reviews different approaches in visual media education and reflects on the use of Decoding method in learning to communicate through images.