I’m a visual teacher because I’m a visual learner

I’m a little obsessed with visualization because of its direct relationship with the effectiveness of knowledge. Let me explain.

I value well transmitted, well visualized information. Knowledge that is well visualized is always more effective in practice and friendlier to teach. I’m a visual teacher because I’m a visual learner. Sketches, diagrams, images, objects, interactive tools, maps: these are visualization tools that affect me the most. When used well they help me understand the inidivdiual as a unit with spatial relationships and dependencies. They help me transfer knowledge to others.

An overview of frequently used conceptual diagrams

How is knowledge created in the first place? The field of Information Management defines “knowledge creation” as the ongoing dialogue between individuals and groups within an organization. Sometimes this means studying rules and regs, processes and procedures, general documents, etc. But a lot of times this means getting knowledge out of heads of certain individuals so that it can be shared and valued across a multidisciplinary team.

So there are really two types of knowledge. Tacit knowledge cannot be transferred to another person as a result of it being written down or verbalized. It is therefore not easily shared. Explicit knowledge, on the other hand, can be articulated, codified, and stored in media. It can be easy shared with others. Manuals, documents, procedures, works of art, and product design are all examples of explicit knowledge. These are your points of reference, your exemplars of success, what students and colleagues are taught and what they will in time teach to others.

One could argue that most of human knowledge is explicit because most of it is taught. Indeed, human knowldge is mostly learned. (I blogged here about how the only intuitive interface is the nipple!) So it is clear why, from newborns to small teams to complex societies, knowledge is most effective when it is clearly articulated, logically codified and easily retrieveable. It is, in a word, well visualized.

“Beyond the mere transfer of facts, knowledge visualization aims to further transfer insights, experiences, attitudes, values, expectations, perspectives, opinions, and predictions.”

These are some of my favorite visualizations:

• News Map and Our Signal
• Websites as graphs
• Breathing Earth
• Digg Labs