It ain't easy, sharing visualizations...

It is extremely difficult to describe a visualization. It is even more difficult for another person to comprehend the description fully, especially if the description is lacking appropriate detail. Since humans cannot show off an exact picture of whats going on in their minds, the pressure falls on words to communicate those ideas. This is especially relevant for children, who often have many creative and insightful ideas but lack the vocabulary to express them. This is where visualization tools can be of real assistance: giving children a way to express the vivid pictures that they have in their minds. Though expressive visualization is the one most commonly thought of pertaining to children (coloring, painting), interpretive tools could be of real benefit as students move up in grades and in content and need to find ways to clarify difficult-to-understand ideas.

There are tools available that will greatly help students with this process, and some are so obvious! Allowing children to convey their ideas through videos or through digital pictures will not only allow them to express what they are visualizing, but it will truly help build their confidence, as the chapter suggests. Also, students will learn a lot about editing and about producing a quality finished product.

The mapping and math sections were my favorite, because though I have always been interested in mapping and geography it never occurred to me extend this knowledge past google earth. I explored terraserver.com and it had a scrolling list on the left hand side of the page that listed landmarks, which was so neat. Students who aren't privileged enough to travel can explore any place that has an address through sites like this, expanding their horizons as well as giving them a visual reference point when these places are being discussed in class.

As far as the math section was concerned, It felt familiar because I are accustomed to seeing graphs as visual representations of data. I like that it noted it because though it is more familiar than some of the other visualization tools, like the ones that portray chemistry for example, it is still one of the most important forms of visual representation in the classroom that I can think of.