People learn in many different ways, whether through reading, orally, or emotionally. For each of us there is a learning method that works better than the others. However, one of the most effective methods for the vast majority is visual learning. From the first months of life, children are subjected to a large amount of visual stimuli. At first they communicate through gestures that they imitate, they are guided by colors, they learn to differentiate objects thanks to drawings and images… In short, having visual aids when educating the little ones can facilitate their cognitive development and the ability to digest information.
Visual aids are all those images, photographs, drawings, pictograms, videos, etc., that are used to facilitate the presentation of information and that favor the understanding of knowledge. In summary, they are all those tools that help transform verbal or written information into visual information.
Visual aids are used in all aspects of our lives and are often universal. For example, traffic signs, symbols on clothing labels, icons on television controls… For children they are a great ally when it comes to communicating, especially for the little ones who have not yet developed speech or for those who have language difficulties.
Some of the benefits of using visual learning are:
Visual learning is faster. It has been proven that the human brain is visual. According to Dr. Ana García-Abad: “90% of the information processed by the brain is visual. Hence, we are able to remember 80% of images, and only 20% of texts, or 10% of sounds. In addition, our brain processes images 60,000 times faster than texts.»
Images cause a greater interest in the students. Thanks to visual aids, more abstract concepts such as emotions can be taught, helping students develop their emotional intelligence. Also, using images or videos in the classroom is a great way to show them the world around them. They can be used to raise awareness about what is happening in the world or about problems such as climate change or poverty because reading or listening is not the same as seeing, since the images provoke feelings, sensations or memories.
Another benefit of visual aids is that complex concepts can be learned more easily through them. For example, timelines can be made to organize historical events or cards and pictograms can be used for children to take their first steps in learning math.
Finally, it should be noted that the use of visual aids can be more than an ally when teaching subjects such as mathematics or language: it has also been shown that it is easier to learn a new language if images are combined with text.
At Smile and Learn we combine images with text to facilitate learning and comprehension in children. For example, our platform is very visual and customizable, as well as on our YouTube channel the explanations are accompanied by numerous audiovisual resources such as illustrations, diagrams or animations. If you haven’t tried our educational platform yet, you can do so for free by filling out this form.
