Please read Needed: New Literacies for New Times through Teacher Professional Development on New Literacies.
Please post your response to the reading. What ideas resonate with you? Are their theoretical or pragmatic ideas which you think need explanation, emphasis or clarification? Be sure to include an overview of what you read as well. In terms of length I would assume that your post would be a couple of long paragraphs.
I will be using your posts to lead the discussion we have next Tuesday. While not required, feel free to respond other posts if you feel the spirit to do so.
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9 comments:
Matthew Gasquez
LAI 536
I had a class with Dr. Miller and she asked me a question that has stuck with me ever since. She asked, “Is text messaging a new form of literacy?” At first I laughed it off and thought to myself, well absolutely not. Then the more I thought about it, the more I began to wonder. I suppose to answer that question you first have to answer the obvious question, what is literacy? In the hypermedia driven world we exist in and learn in today can we ever really answer that question correctly? For what literacy means today, right now at this present moment, could change tomorrow with the onset or invention of some new technological advance that rocks and morphs our present idea of literacy. Dr. Miller wrote that these new literacies “…have extended not just the material basis for literacy but its social processes and cultural contexts.” I think that ‘the digital divide and disconnect’ is very apparent in today’s educational system because there is a big debate over the question that Dr. Miller raises in her article, “…what counts as literacy and evidence of learning?” After taking class with Dr. Miller and a few other professors here at UB I have had the pleasure of seeing how much these new multimodal literacy practices can change the learning process of our students (and ourselves). Dr. Miller states that these new literacies will “unlock the power and potential of technology” in our classrooms and I completely agree. I have read many books throughout my undergraduate and graduate career but honestly I do not remember most of them and I do not remember the reasons for reading them. But every book or article that I read that had a digital or other form of multimodal learning associated with it, still sticks out in my mind and I know I will never forget them or their importance and relevance.
I grew up in rural North Carolina where I believe the principal of my school was even lucky that he had a computer so there was no way the students were going to have access to them and I never thought anything was wrong with that. And because I didn’t know any different I didn’t know what I was missing out on. I think that besides being technologically anorexic my school also had resistance from many teachers. I do remember that there was a one day seminar that the teachers from my school attended about using technology in the classroom but, as Dr. Miller points out, these one day tutorial calsses do not, and will not, work, “…effective integration aimed at changes in teaching and learning (not just access to technologies) occurs over the course of several years. Teachers need time and support…”. The integration, no better yet, the acceptance of new literacies is something that I am hopeful will one day reach my rural home town in North Carolina where teachers and schools will allow “youth culture and day-to-day literacies from home into the classroom as an accepted part of the process of inquiry.”
I believe the importance of this article is that times are shifting and with this shift comes the need for new literacies. Technology is rapidly evolving and so must we. Students of today are far more knowledgable when it comes to new technologies. There is a fear that moving away from traditional print-based literature will deteriorate the critical thinking skills of students. I believe there should be a healthy mix between the two. We cannot ignore the fact that technology exists and certainly should not ignore the fact that students today are fluent in the language of technologies. It would be a great dis-service to students to deprive them of this. It can be difficult to view video games or text messaging as forms of literacy, however, using these tools demand a specific knowledge and skill level. Students are still reading; they are just not reading traditional text based literature.
We as educators should be using technology as a tool to develop students and allow them to express their ideas. We must prepare these students for real world applications of technology and their ability to communicate using a variety of methods. If we force them to read solely out of text books, they will not be developing skills in other types of literacies. Shouldn't the goal of education be to give students the most well rounded education possible? If we are to give them this, we must introduce them to mutliple literacies and multi-modal methods of communicating ideas. Students SHOULD know how to text message, read into video games, blog, research via internet, communicate ideas through video etc., but they should also be familiar with analyzing print based texts and reading into them for clues and ideas. I am 100% for introducing as much multi-modality into the classroom as possible, however, I also believe that these modalities should be used as a suppliment to other texts, not to replace them.
Erika Albright
LAI 536
I just finished up LAI552 with Dr. Thompson, and this class is a nice extension to much of the work and discussions we had there. Dr. Miller's article, Dr. Thompson's lessons, and now this classes' continuation of these important discussions I was so clueless about terms like multimodality, new kinds of text, new literacy practices, hypertextuality,etc... before this class. I have come to realize that the educational experience that I had can certainly not be the educational experience I pass on to my kids.
So I am petrified that I will fall into the category that Dr. Miller talks about of being an "outsider" and that my students will be "more competent in [New Literacy]" than me (3). I might have to get over this, however, because I know technology is instilled in them, in their blood. What I can do is begin to "transform [my role], knowledge and beliefs...on what counts as literacy" (3). I also want to be up-to-date with technology and hope this class will wet my pallet and push me for further learning and investigation. Not only do I need training in how technology works, but i agree that i need to know how to "effectively integrate [it] into" my teaching (4).
Digital Video is one way to extend my knowledge on a different text form, and I hope to be able to utilize it effectively in my classroom.
"...facility with interpreting and designing new multimodal literacies will increasingly be required by human beings to communicate, work, and thrive in the digital, global world of the 21st century" (Miller)
Since entering the UB LAI program this past year, I have been exposed to many forms of literature that I previously have not been introduced to as "text." Like Matt, my first class with Dr. Miller was one which enlightened me to the idea that all forms of text, whether in print or digital, are forms of literature. I recall my first multimodal project in which we were asked to create some form of summary of the class that was not the traditional research paper. Though we were allowed to use Word documents to support our conclusions, we were encouraged to use other forms of literature to emphasize our points. This is where I was first referenced to the idea that sound, visual, and artistic interpretations could be used in the classroom to address our diverse populations of learners. Furthermore, I feel that this use of the digital world we now live in is something that will help us to transgress classroom as we once knew it, to a place in which our students are engaged in an environment of which they live.
After viewing several example videos (or literacies) in this classroom environment, I can see how we, as teachers, are able to "unlock 'the power and potential of technology' in [our] classrooms" (Miller) through the use of digital video. I am excited and engaged already, in experiencing firsthand, the many ways that we are able to harness the potential of our students in a way that they can personally visualize their own learning experiences.
When reading the article I thought back to my experiences student teaching and when I was a long term sub. One of the districts was financially capable of providing some new technological innovations and for a project I assigned, the students made a movie similar to what we're doing now. I hadn't even touched a Mac, let alone create a movie using editing software on a Mac. I hadn't even had exposure to a Mac until I came to UB. In another instance, I was fiddling with the projector trying to get it from the computer to the screen and one of the students said, "Miss Maskell, just the (whatever) button." Somehow, they knew what I was trying to do from their seat without even seeing the apparatus. I was only 4 years older than them and they had been born with this gene, this inherent knowledge of how to use this invention. I definitely felt the "digital divide and disconnect" in these situations. I always prided myself in being young and hip and knowing what the kids were into, that I almost felt ashamed to not know how to do some of these things they were already doing.
I would agree with the article that in order for teachers to make the "cultural jump," we need ongoing support over time. It's like trying to learn anything. You can't have one 2 hour tutorial and know everything without practice with the program, notes, scaffolding, etc. Also, we need to learn which multimodalities are best suited for particular situations and their expressions. For instance, last semester I read this article about cognitive science and that the modalility needs to be best matched with the content, not necessarily with the student's most comfortable modality. In that sense, we shouldn't use technology like dv or youtube compilations or zines or the like because that's what the students are most comfortable and the most skilled at using. In other words, we shouldn't use technology just for the sake of using it. Sometimes I think even in the writing of these articles there's this push and pull to use technology because it's available, because it's fun and interesting and will keep the students engaged and motivated. I guess I sometimes just wonder how much of it is truly is a necessity and how much of it is just showing off what we can do or the resources we have available to us when the same effect could be achieved using a more traditional mode.
One thing I wished the article addressed a bit more is the digital divide and disconnect in varying districts. Although more than a handful of districts are trying to incorporate technology in the classroom, sometimes financial constraints cannot be beat. There's not only going to be a disconnect for the teachers but for the students as well. Eventually it seems it will be assumed that students will come to college with a set of skills for using various forms of technology and some may have very limited exposure until they attend college. And this isn't a particular skill set that one can feign expertise with. One can read some cliffnotes and pretend to have read any number of books and can sound relatively knowledgable, but one can't perform on a computer or a camera when one can't even figure out how to turn it on. Although this perspective isn't the focus of the article, I don't think it's something that should be overlooked, either.
Alicia Morath
I am glad to see that more development is going into teacher education in the area of technology. Being the oldest of 6 children, and also having being born in the post "1981 era", I know what my technology knowledge is and am able to observe that of my younger siblings. My brothers are in middle and high school and use the computer and their cell phones for most of their communication, whether it be social or academic. Also, I've witnessed the slow disolve of creativity and interest in most school related topics. Children in school today do come from a different background and need teachers whom are able to meet their needs. Isn't that what teachers are always supposed to be doing? I think if more educators incorporated multimodal strategies, than you may grab the attention and open the minds of many more students. I believe this is our key to regaining creativity in our students.
While I believe students still need "print text", as not to lose the value of this format, I believe that students also need digital media, whether that be online articles, blogs, videos, etc. as there is value to these formats also. I think that as long as the outcome is the same and students are able to read and comprehend, why is there so much resistance to using other modalities to reach this? I think we are also beginning to reach that cusp of early technolgically inclined generation becoming professionals and will begin to bridge that gap of digital comfort. What my fear is, that this is only my second class incorporating technology into the classroom and I only have one remaining class in my graduate program. Two classes are not enough to give me a solid foundation. What are our future teachers learning and will they fall back on teaching in styles that they were taught in? Style that worked for them as students?
I related part of this article, which discussed incorporating multimodal practices such as performative, visual, aural etc. to kindergarten. All students learn in various ways as mentioned above, however especially in kindergarten, we teach using movement, dramatic play, music, etc. Research determined that these approaches enable children to create a deeper understanding of learning. Why so would this not be true in an appropriate manner to intermediate and secondary students?
A few paragraphs into the Miller article, she discusses the transformation of what counts as knowing and that it is not possible to know everything, but to know how to find, gather, use...knowledge. If I am understanding this correctly, this is not a transformation of knowing how to gather knowledge, but rather the means in which people are doing so. When I was in school, we mainly learned how to use a card catalog, encyclopedias and in high school learned to search using the internet. I think today most searches are digital and the transformation has been from paper to technology. Am I correct in my interpretation?
I am curious to read and hear other responses as I feel children are eager and urging us as teachers to cross over to that digital, multimodal approach.
The Miller article is my reason for taking a digital media class. As I was born way before 1981, I don’t fall into the “Millenial Generation.” This generation of students have been exposed to new literacies that include mobile phones, computers etc. their whole lifetime. If schools don’t adopt multi-modality into their curriculum, they will find students bored and uninterested. Bored students act out and cause behavior problems in the classroom. I have to admit that I didn’t want to take this class because it took me way out of my comfort zone and, quite frankly, would pose a real challenge for me. I understand now that taking classes in multi-modality is crucial to an educator. It is a knowledge that should become part of staff development. I know there are many educators that, like me, were born before 1981. The difference is they have been teaching for 20+ years and haven’t been exposed to multimodal literacies or they don’t want to venture out of their comfort zone. I feel lucky that I’m up-to-date on the new literacies that play such a big part of my student’s lives.
Diane DeMarco
The Miller article is my reason for taking a digital media class. As I was born way before 1981, I don’t fall into the “Millenial Generation.” This generation of students have been exposed to new literacies that include mobile phones, computers etc. their whole lifetime. If schools don’t adopt multi-modality into their curriculum, they will find students bored and uninterested. Bored students act out and cause behavior problems in the classroom. I have to admit that I didn’t want to take this class because it took me way out of my comfort zone and, quite frankly, would pose a real challenge for me. I understand now that taking classes in multi-modality is crucial to an educator. It is a knowledge that should become part of staff development. I know there are many educators that, like me, were born before 1981. The difference is they have been teaching for 20+ years and haven’t been exposed to multimodal literacies or they don’t want to venture out of their comfort zone. I feel lucky that I’m up-to-date on the new literacies that play such a big part of my student’s lives.
Sarah Rooney
LAI 536
I just finished taking Adolescent Literary with Dr. Boyd last semester where we focused on the ever-changing definition of literacy. We read Kress and Gee, as referenced in the Miller article,among others who challenge the conventional print text/ book forms of literacy. While taking Dr. Miller several semesters ago, we read and met Patrick Finn, one of the teachers/researchers referenced in her paper who charges educators with the responsibility of educating students in their own self-interest. Although neither of those two classes expressedly got into the DV realm, I can now see how all of those readings have paralleled one another to enrich my definition of "multimodality" and "literacy." Miller's article takes a common-sense approach to serving in our students best interests through good teaching. The best teacher will not be able to deliver his or her message, no matter how powerful, if students aren't engaged. Taking multimodality and new literacies into account can act as a vehicle in crossing the "digital divide" between student and teacher. We ask our students every day to open their minds to us so that we can inspire, teach, and challenge them with our curriculum. What sort of educator would we be if we didn't take our own advice in stepping out of our comfort zone to learn and integrate new technology into our classrooms? As a relatively young teacher myself, I am already feeling "out of it" when my students talk about making i-movies over the weekend about skateboarding, or creating some fantastic website or blog to showcase personal interests or talents. I feel that it is our responsibility to stay current and aware of the changes around us. Even within my own school district I see some younger teachers who, like myself, were born before 1981, and who might consider themselves technologically advanced because we can do a powerpoint presentation, but who are apprehensive or downright resistant to multimodality. Case in point, my district is offering teachers SmartBoards and the training to have them in our classrooms this summer. Only 16 people from the high school and middle school took advantage of it, fearing that if they got one, they'd have to use it! It's this attitude that frustrates and confounds me. I'm hoping to become more savvy about this topic so I don't ever fall into that rut.
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