Dear colleagues and friends,
 
We thank you Julie for the opportunity to discuss ideas and  research on 
using pictures in education; especially health  education.  We (Ceci and Len) are 
honored to share this task with Dr. Peter  Houts.
 
Our thanks also go to those who took the time to write about  problems, 
questions and concerns on using more pictures with instructions.   And for those 
who have already offered helpful suggestions and information  sources, we thank 
you.
 
A brief preamble:
 
There may be three parts to a health care  instruction:  1) the words (spoken 
or written), 2) picture captions, and 3)  pictures and demos.  These apply to 
verbal and print instructions, to web  sites, and partly to video.  During 
this week, we'll discuss pictures and  also their integration into the 
communication as a "package".
 
To carry the preamble a bit further, let's consider the  particular 
characteristics of  the reading habits of poor readers  which can affect the learning 
potential from visuals. There are  four we can consider:  1) their eyes wander 
about the page without  finding the central focus of the visual; 2) skip over 
principal features; 3)  eyes may focus on a detail such as the color of nail 
polish on a finger using a  syringe or an A frame house in the background; 4) 
slow to interpret perceptual  information and interpret the visual literally.  
(our book 1996, p..  93)
 
We plan to address each of the issues you raised last  week.  We have some 
specifics about how to "think visually" as well as  addressing some of the 
characteristics described above.  This is such an  exciting topic and we are 
delighted to be a part of sharing concerns and  experiences. 
 
The comments and questions seemed to fall into 3 groups:  1)Resources and 
availability of visuals, 2) Competing with the market place, 3)  Thinking 
visually; lack of personal artistic ability.  We and Peter will  address these during 
the week.  We encourage and welcome your feedback  during the process.
 
Our responses to comments:
 
A key concern is the availability of free or  non-copyright, appropriate 
pictures.  (Appropriate for topics, genders,  age, culture, etc.)
 
OUR COMMENTS:  Several respondents last week already  offered suggestions for 
sources for visuals, and nearly all government agencies  have pictures 
included in instructions that can be used without cost.   These can be obtained by 
websites, from brochures and videos, and by contacting  the agency.  But these 
do take time to ferret out.
 
Suppose you are assigned to write a summary two page  instruction, to give to 
asthma patients at your medical center, on key points  of how and when to use 
their inhaler. The schedule allows you a week  during your "free" time. This 
topic fairly cries out for the messages  to include pictures.   We suggest 
that if you can't find suitable  visuals that you buy them, and according to your 
specification. (Later this week  we will offer a spec sheet format to help 
you define and buy the visuals  you want.   We believe that Dr. Houts will offer 
comments on how to  buy pictures, their potentially very low cost, and short 
turn around time to get  them.)
 
We'll elaborate on this in the coming days.
 
best wishes,
 
Ceci and Len Doak

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