Free Resources from the Net for EVERY Learner

Supporting Universal Access and Universal Design for Learning

January 20, 2008
by Paul Hamilton
1 Comment

Visual Dictionary (online resource)

Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff!

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners.

I’m following up my last post about an excellent online reference site with a post today about another great online reference. This one is especially valuable for individuals who are primarily visual learners. Amanda, at Thinking Past the Square, wrote a helpful review of Visual Dictionary last month. I’d like to add my observations, and ensure that this resource is archived here.

vicualdictionary.jpg

Visual Dictionary by Miriam Webster is exactly what its name says it is. While this is a terrific option for individuals who are primarily visual learners, there is growing evidence to suggest that this sort of alternative is also helpful for everyone. For learners with reading challenges, I was pleased to discover that CLiCk,Speak will read entries aloud when the site is open in Firefox. Visual Dictionary provides audio files that pronounce the terms it defines.

Information is organized under 15 major headings, each represented by a symbol–Astronomy, Plants and Gardening, Human Being, etc. Clicking on an image leads to more visual images to choose from. I’ve illustrated the progression with the five screenshots below that wind up at the entry for Saturn.

Main Heading

visual-dictionaryss01.jpg

Sub-Heading

visualdictionaryss02.jpg

Sub-Sub-Heading

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Detailed Options

visualdictionaryss04.jpg

Entry

visualdictionaryss06.jpg