The concept of visual literacy in elementary education

(in English) This thesis focuses on the concept of visual literacy in the context of primary education and examines whether new media, specifically web-based educational applications, can be a suitable tool for teaching visual culture. The main objective is to find out how children aged 9-14, who are currently oversaturated with visual media, approach images and how they are able to understand them. The theoretical part of the thesis is based on findings from the field of visual studies and defines the concept of visual literacy. It also conducts a literature review of approaches to teaching visual culture and maps current educational initiatives in the Czech Republic, abroad, and online. The research part of the thesis includes the design and implementation of a prototype web-based educational application focused on the development of visual literacy. The effectiveness of the proposed intervention is evaluated using mixed research methods based on a combination of inductive and deductive coding and content analysis. The results showed a diverse initial level of visual literacy. In general, children demonstrated a solid ability to interpret images intuitively, but only a limited ability to describe and rationalize their thoughts. The intervention through the educational web application proved to be...