Weekly Reading #3

As you read this article consider the following questions and post your responses to them in a posting on your blog:

1.      What is the main argument presented in this article?

a.       A literate person must be able to read and write via paper-based and online texts, participate in and create virtual settings that use Web 2.0 tools, and critically analyze multimodal texts that integrate visual, musical, dramatic, digital, and new literacies.

2.      Why is it imperative that teachers and educational policy makers recognize the role multimodality plays in redefining literacy in the 21st century?

a.       Literacy has already moved forward into multimodal, multidimensional, and hyper linked texts. Teachers not only have to think about what students need to learn, but also, what literacies the students bring with them into the classroom and how they can be integrated into the course to engage, motivate, and captivate students’ learning.

3.      What is the fundamental philosophical orientation of educators who engage in multimodal literacy instruction?

a.       It is the teacher’s responsibility to provide his/her students with a wide range of opportunities that allow them to expand their ways of communicating what and how they know. No one particular mode of communication carries the entire message. Literacy is entangled and inseparable from the other modes, media, and language systems that make up the messages that are sent, red, and/or interpreted.

4.      What is the rational for engaging children in learning through the arts promoted by educational philosophers like Maine Green and Elliot Eisner?

a.       According to Eisner, the arts develop different forms of thinking, such as the ability to discern qualitative relationships, within and among texts, and knowing that whatever is expressed is only part of what is meant. He goes on to say that not everything knowable can be written. For example, tone and body language cannot be written but produce meaning.

b.      According to Green, students become more informed and critical thinkers/speakers, because they are active viewers and perceivers.

5.      Do you share this philosophical orientation? Why? Why not?

a.       I believe it is a great idea to incorporate literacies that students already know into the subject material in class. Also, I agree with Eisner and Green about the arts being a dynamic way of expression. I love the arts, and the way people express emotions and communicate with an audience through unwritten text is amazing. It’s these literacies that engage students. It’s what they know combined with what they have yet to learn.

6.      Name three benefits of multimodal reading and writing for students? Be specific and use quotes from the text to support your claims.

a.       Multimodal reading and writing reaches all learners within the classroom. It allows students to learn through their particular style and can help struggling students. “Multimodal literacies instruction enables more children to enter into academic thinking and literacy than uni-dimensional forms of literacy instruction” (Sanders & Albers).

b.      “If educators read such multimodal texts to uncover the child’s sedimented experiences, they may find connections between home, school, and other spaces and facilitate conversations that bridge home and school literacy practices” (Sanders & Albers). Any connections that a teacher can make between students and the curricula will engage and motivate the children to learn.

c.       “Through multimodal instruction that is engaging, challenging, and personally relevant for the students, rich learning and writing results” (Sanders & Albers). Students will want to write and talk about familiar literacies they interact with, such as past experiences or social media. Due to the fact that teachers won’t have to drag information from them, students will gain more practice with literacies and be able to communicate and share their products, as well as their knowledge and experiences.

7.      Give an example of how blogging supports the four aspects of multimodal theory proposed by Kress and Jewitt.

a.       Materiality

                                                              i.      Blogging uses various tools to communicate ideas and concepts via images, videos and texts.

b.      Framing

                                                              i.      The blogger controls the framing, such as the sidebar, image placement, and layout of the blog.

c.       Design

                                                              i.      The blogger controls the background, font, colors, and overall design of their blog. This gives them the capability of expression.

d.      Production

                                                              i.      In a blog, the text and the actual posts are what would be considered the production aspect of the multimodal theory. Moreover, the links and embedded images or videos included in the posts would also be included.

8.      What can teachers learn about their students from their image productions? Why is this important?

a.       Teachers can lean a lot about their students, such as their identity, or past experiences. Students will be able to express their various styles and teachers will better be able to see their student’s weaknesses and strengths in literacy.

9.      According to this article, why should teachers use technology in their teaching?

a.       Because it allows for greater participation, collaboration, and distribution of knowledge. Students can learn 21^st century literacies and become more interactive with the world and society through the use of technology that is available now.

10.  How does multimodal literacy relate to 21st century literacy?

a.       Multimodal literacy is the implementation in classrooms that will encourage 21^st century learning and literacy. They are a package deal. 21^st century learning encourages technological knowledge and usage, and multimodal literacy is using those 21^st century technological skills to create multimodal creations/products that can be communicated with others.

11.  What project described intrigued you the most?

a.       I would like to learn more about the “Silencing Stories” project. I like the idea of incorporating arts into the classroom. Personally, I love the arts, which is unique for a mathematics person. However, the arts, I feel, is the best way of expression, whether it’s verbal or not.

12.  What challenges to integrating multimodal reading and writing into schools do you most identify with?

a.       The cost. It’s hard to find computers/computer labs available every day for students. Also, supplies for projects can get expensive, especially with 25 students in each class for 6 periods a day.

13.  Why is multimodal literacy essential in preparing students for work, play and democratic participation in the 21st century?

a.       In the workplace especially, it is important to have multimodal literacy skills. Appearance and presentation is everything in corporate America. The better skilled our students are, the better chances they have in the job market. These skills will also allow them to be better critical consumers of information, which will make them better democratic participators. When students have better multimodal literacies this will improve their gaming, hobbies, and extracurricular activities because they will be able to better communicate their thoughts and knowledge to others.

14.  Find and embed an image in your blog posting that relates to multimodal literacy.

 

Google Image Search: "multimodal literacies"
http://rampantred.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/presentation11.jpg
 

 

Sanders, J., & Albers, P. (n.d.). Multimodal Literacies: An Introduction. Retrieved June 4, 2013, from NCTE: https://secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Books/Sample/32142Intro_x.pdf