As we have recognized that there are multiple learning styles which better suit some students, some are text oriented, others are visual, kinesthetic, auditory, or a combination of two or more, developers of educational materials have adapted and made use of new media and technology.
In 1989, there was a call for new curriculum in social studies, which was uniquely suited to bringing visual information to educational programs by introducing map reading skills, charts and graphs for analyzing data, primary source visuals from the period ephemera, and paintings, sculpture, architecture, objects of daily use, and other evidence of material culture that is the archive from which historians draw their information about past and present cultures.
[5] Teaching visual literacy in the classroom means many things from film, dance, and mime through the use of diagrams, maps and graphs to children's picture books.
[6] The visual texts studied were limited to those used in information books, e-books, and websites, such as diagrams, maps, storyboards, flowcharts, time lines, webs, trees and tables.
Scholars like George argue for shifting writing pedagogy from analysis to design so students can create visual texts such as websites, brochures, and other multimedia.
Scientific virtual models and figures, digital mapping, and other computer-based visual programs are all tools available as resources for higher education in schools.
Lee and Khadka discuss the role of multimedia curricula in improving the ability of students to navigate complex multimodal environments and visual and digital texts.
[12] Frisicaro-Pawlowski and Monge emphasize the value of collaborative instruction by partnering with librarians and FYC (first-year composition) instructors to teach visual literacy in the course.
This would help students improve their critical thinking skills, develop interdisciplinary collaboration, and help prepare for “navigating the multimodal landscape of communication in the digital age.”[14]