This is one of my favourite education videos of all time! I love how Ken Robinson challenges the accepted norms in our education system.
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“Teachers need to develop ways in which the students can demonstrate how they can design and carry out, in a reflective manner, new practices embedded in their own goals and values. They should be able to show that they can implement understandings acquired through overt instruction and critical framing in practices that help them simultaneously to apply and revise what they have learned.” Twenty-first century society has witnessed improved access to the Internet and the invention of various mobile and digital communication-based technology; these advancements have transformed communication and created “new textual landscapes” (Clary et al, 2013, p. 49). The written word is no longer enough in an age of multimedia where students are authoring in a variety of spaces, through a variety of modes (Clary et al, 2013). Furthermore, it must be recognized that “children combine multimodal symbolic systems, such as talking, drawing, singing, and role playing, long before their communicative interests can be served by the written linguistic forms of their culture” (Mills, 2011, p. 57).
With the dawn of technology, today’s students are processing information in different ways than their predecessors (Clary et al, 2013). This shift affords many benefits for literacy education. Technology can be utilized to include modes that have been disregarded by the traditional curriculum such as visual, verbal, auditory, gestural, spatial, and kinaesthetic modes; these modes have been discounted as aspects of literacy by formal, writing-based literacy education. Technology is creating a shift in educational pedagogy as it allows for higher order thinking, creativity, personalization, and learner autonomy to be united according to the various modes chosen by the author to employ (Clary et al, 2013). Lotherington and Jenson (2011) acknowledge that engaging with literacy within the collaborative and multimodal categories generated by digital technologies allows students to participate in dynamic and multidimensional literacy exchanges. Some of the possible communications students may become involved with during this process include: “ social interaction, haptic activation, physical coordination, visual design, modal complexity (e.g., multiple language engagement, musical accompaniment, and animation), dynamic, collaborative text construction, and alphabetic literacy” (Lotherington & Jenson, 2011, p. 227-228). Digital communication is inherently multimodal. This form of communication is continuously engaging “multipurpose, multifunctional technologies that involve layers of complexity and application” (Lotherington & Jenson, 2011, p. 241). Technology is an approach for fostering multimodal literacy that can, in turn, be recognized as a manner of creating transformative learning opportunities in twenty-first century classrooms. These tools provide context and opportunities for collaboration that move beyond the constraints of the classroom, extending towards larger society (Burnett, Dickinson, Myers, Merchant, 2006). By utilizing tools in the classroom that allow for students to explore a variety of modes in many ways, an educational experience is fostered that allows for development of the whole child. Learning through the various modes afforded by technology ensures learning is not only personally, but also socially meaningful for the child; this perpetuates the values of transformative learning. One issue that stands in the way of technology being utilized to foster multimodal, transformative learning is teacher training and attitudes. Many studies have found that teachers find it challenging to step outside of their own comfort zones and experiences to extend children’s funds of knowledge (Wolfe & Flewitt, 2010). However, if children are to realize their full potentials as members of a digital society, they need to be provided with opportunities to experience creating multimodal literacies (Wolfe & Flewitt, 2010). Teachers must be provided with opportunities to experience multimodal, transformative learning for themselves and also receive the guidance and curriculum training necessary to implement it. If teachers can move beyond their own experiences and recognize that education of the past is no longer education of the present, then the educational experiences of twenty-first century learners will be greatly improved. "Single authorship is now an option, not a model in writing...the physical classroom extends beyond its brick walls, connected digitally to resources and learning partners". Multimodality is understood throughout the literature as the processing of multiple modes occurring concurrently with one another (Clary, Kigotho, Barros-Torning, 2013). Some of the modes that can occur simultaneously within multimodal activities include text, image, sound, gesture, modes focused on spatial or tactile activities etc. Multimodality has been termed as a “domain of inquiry” within which modes can be joined to communicate meaning in a rich, dynamic manner (Lotherington & Jenson, 2011, p. 230). The combination of various sign systems within multimodal activities provides opportunity for expression outside print creation (Binder, 2014). Multimodal learning requires that there is choice for the expression of meaning; choice allows for expression of literacy understanding in multiple ways (Binder, 2014).
Larson (2006) argues against literacy as “an autonomous set of neutral skills devoid of context” (p. 324). Rather, literacy practices are both multiple and complex. Literacy is used to express everyday needs, participate in social or cultural practices, and to document ideas for audiences in ways determined by the resources available at the time/place and the communicative systems accessible (Wolfe & Flewitt, 2010). To become literate one must learn proficiency in the modes of literacy used historically and presently, as well as those that are expected to become important (Wolfe & Flewitt, 2010). To make meaning within modern society, one must have the ability to create and deconstruct multimodal literacies. Permeating society are written messages that cannot be detached from the other modes they are associated with such as images, sounds, and numbers (Sandvik, Smordal, Osterud, 2012). Larson (2006) warns that if schools continue to focus on literacy as separate skills, “ignoring the multiple literacies young children use in their everyday lives”, the institution will become irrelevant (p. 325). The theory of multimodality is linked to the rise of digital technology but is not synonymous with it (Clary et al, 2013). However, the rise of digital technologies allow various modes to be configured, circulated, and recycled in a variety of ways which expands the multimodal potentials (Lotherington & Jenson, 2011). Multimodality is being expanded by digital technologies, which results in changes to ideas surrounding curriculum and accepted pedagogy in education (Lotherington & Jenson, 2011). Educators who promote digital technology in the classroom have recognized that literacy must be conceptualized within the broader social perspective, which recognizes and thrives within multimodalities (Lotherington & Jenson, 2011). Multimodalities support agency for children throughout the literacy process. Within multimodal literacy the child is not limited to developing a single ability decided for them, rather than by them. When children are empowered they are more likely to “reveal how they think, view, and situate themselves in the world” (Binder, 2011, p. 340). Allowing the child to choose how they represent their thoughts appreciates these views and attaches value to them; multiple modalities provide children with the tools necessary to do this. Multimodality and Literacy in School Classrooms - An Overview of Arguments by Jewitt (2008): Andrea Tochelli (2013), Prezi --- https://prezi.com/e_hml7s3fiyn/multimodality-and-literacy-in-school-classrooms-jewitt-2008/ Clary, D., Kigotho, M., & Barros-Torning, M. (2013). Harnessing mobile technologies to enrich adolescents' multimodal literacy practices in middle years classrooms. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, 21(3), 49-60. Larson, J. (2006). Multiple literacies, curriculum, and instruction in early childhood and elementary school. Theory into Practice, 45(4), 319-329. doi:10.1207/ s15430421tip4504_5 Lotherington, H., & Jenson, J. (2011). Teaching multimodal and digital literacy in L2 settings: New literacies, new basics, new pedagogies. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 226-246. doi:10.1017/S0267190511000110 Sandvik, M., Smordal, O., & Osterud, S. (2012). Exploring IPads in practitioners' repertoires for language learning and literacy practices in kindergarten. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 7, 204-220. Wolfe, S., & Flewitt, R. (2010). New technologies, new multimodal literacy practices and young children's metacognitive development. Cambridge Journal of Education, 40(4), 387-399. doi:10.1080/0305764X.2010.526589 Image Credit: http://visual.ly/classroom-design-affects-student-learning Consider the physical layout: Drawing on a point that Kellough & Kellough (2008) mention, in order to create a positive classroom atmosphere that supports various learning styles it is important to keep the classroom arrangement flexible (pg. 116). This way, whenever students need to, they can rearrange the classroom to most successfully support their learning. Movement and flexibility in the classroom is also important for students who process information better when they do not have to remain seated, in the same way, for every task.
Create a positive ambiance: It is so important to make each student feel as though they are welcome in a classroom and feel valued and appreciated by their teacher and peers. When you think of your own experiences with hostile environments, is this an environment where you have experienced success in learning? Of course not! Just as adults cannot learn in hostile environments, neither can our students! In my experience, when an environment is not focused on positivity students often do not feel comfortable to verbalize their thoughts, or explain to the teacher when something is affecting their ability to learn. It is important to “admonish behaviour, not persons” (Kellough & Kellough, pg. 117). Sometimes behaviour is a result of a student having difficulty learning. In this case, it is important that the teacher does not punish the student as a person; the student may feel attacked for not being able to concentrate. Rather, we should take preventative measures against negative behaviour by creating an environment that honours all learning styles and capacities. Get to know your students as people: When we know our students as the individuals that they are, we are better able to tailor our lessons towards their unique learning capacities and styles. This does not just come from observing students in the classroom and having conferences with them about their learning, but genuinely showing an interest, and making time to talk to them outside of the classroom about things other than school (Kellough & Kellough, pg. 119). When you show an interest in student’s lives outside of the classroom they will be more willing to open up to you about their learning within the classroom. Concentrating your attention on desirable student behaviours: To me, this has been easier to do in a primary/junior environment than in the intermediate classrooms that I have worked in. I find that as an occasional teacher in an intermediate environment I am more likely to focus on the negative behaviours as there are more of them; I am nervous that one instance could lead to me loosing control of the class as a whole. I tend to forget that intermediate students also respond better to positive reinforcement. It just has to be verbalized differently than in the primary/junior environment so it does not seem childish. Adolescents do not want to be addressed as they were in the primary/junior grades whether this be for positive or negative comments; they feel as though they are adults now and want to be treated this way. This is an important tip for anyone who is new to the intermediate environment! Source: Kellough, R.D., Kellough, N.G. (2008). Teaching Young Adolescents: Methods and Resources for Middle Grades Teaching. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. |
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