You have done quite a bit of reading, blogging, writing, and
discussing aspects related to digital and multimodal literacies. We looked at New
Literacies and new literacies, and the important skills and social
practices that are a part of both. You practiced with Web 2.0 tools and
tried out ideas in your own practice. I'm quite impressed at what you
all did and the willingness you had to try out different tools and
social practices. Finally, we read about and you are writing multimodal
works. I'm really looking forward to your eBook chapters.
I'd like you
to reflect about your learning over
the course of the semester and respond to these questions:
1. What
are the three most important (to you) ideas that you learned about
New/new Literacies/literacies and digital and multimodal literacies this semester? Why are they important to
you? How will they inform your practice as a reading specialist or as a practitioner in your present position?
2. Revisit the goals that you set for yourself at the beginning of the semester. How have you met them?
Respond to each other as well after you do this.
I have enjoyed working with you both this semester, and appreciate your flexibility and input on the book. I hope you both will work with me next semester (even though you are graduated) on putting together the eBook.
3 Important Things:
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important things I have learned this semester about digital and multimodal literacies are how important it is to connect students’ outside-of-school digital lives to the curriculum they learn at school. Students already have online identities and digital footprints they are creating on their own. We can help them develop the new literacies skills, dispositions, and knowledge to make learning at school meaningful and useful to them in the future. In my position as a reading specialist, I am very lucky to have the freedom to tie my instruction to students’ interests, thus increasing motivation and engagement. I will continue to transform my curriculum to meet the needs of my 21st century students.
Another important thing I have learned is about so many different apps and websites that can be used. I know the H&C book ended up being more about technology integration, but I liked how it provided lots of resources. BABR also had tons of links to various websites to try. This is important to because I am not always good about researching different apps and websites, so having some resources divided into topics will help me actually refer back to them when I am looking for a specific website/app.
The last important thing I learned this semester is to not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try new things in regards to teaching nl/NL. I can talk myself out of trying something new because things could go wrong, especially because there is no way for me to know a program/app/website inside and out before utilizing it in my classroom. Through the readings and implementing my activity plan, I had the courage to try using Canva with my students and Digital Compass. Even though I didn’t know how to do every single thing, they kids picked it up and we both learned along the way. In the future, I will remember the benefits outweigh the anxiety/stress when teaching digital literacies.
Goal Update:
I don’t remember my exact goals from the beginning of the semester. I think one of my mine had to do with becoming more comfortable with creating audio and video with my students. I don’t know how comfortable I am with doing it myself, but I have implemented it into my instruction with my Enrichment students. Today, they were working on storyboards to create an Adobe Spark Video about a Native American tribe. To show them what a final product looked like, I created my own video with narration in the background. It definitely pushed me to do something I had not previously done, but I think my students will benefit. I believe another one had to do with becoming more comfortable with Twitter. By having to tweet every week, I have learned to navigate Twitter more easily. I attended a conference last week, I saw how important creating your own PLN is and one way to easily do it is through Twitter. I now have a few hashtags I follow to improve my professional knowledge.
Jenny,
DeleteI love that you discussed the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone and pushing yourself to use different and new programs. I, too, find myself straying away from digital apps, because they are foreign to me and will require time and effort to learn the new features. In addition, it also requires time to teach the students how to navigate through the program effectively. However, as you also stated, since technology continues to advance and new programs are developed, it is important for us teachers to understand these new digital devices and programs to teach to our students. It is vital that they understand these new nl/NL skills, because they will be required to understand them eventually, whether in higher grade levels or in their future careers. If our students are unable to have experience in these skills at an early stage, they will lack the confidence to be successful within their future experiences with digital devices and multimodal texts.
That's wonderful that you and your students were able to create multimodal texts together throughout the semester! Making videos can be daunting, because of the footage, audio, music, and other features that can be included. However, it can be such a great teaching tool that provides our students with text, multimedia, and other features to better explain a topic.
The first most important idea that I learned from the course is that it is important for teachers to provide students with time in the classroom to engage and interact with technology and digital devices. It is important for students to gain new literacy skills as they will need these skills as they get older and advance through higher grade levels as well as in their future workforce. By providing students with opportunities to practice and master these skills, they will gain confidence and perform and exceed in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteAnother important idea that I learned is that the definition of being literate in the 21st century holds a completely new meaning from before. As technology continues to advance, people are required to be able to do more than just reading printed text. To function and navigate using electronic devices, students must learn how to read images, icons, hyperlinks, and more. Students are also required to understand how to save and download files onto the computer, adjust the volume, create documents, and much more. Practicing these skills in the classroom and explicitly teaching the students how to use electronic devices correctly will help them become literate in the classroom and in the community.
The last important idea is how artfully multimodal texts and the use of digital devices can be incorporated into the classroom curriculum. It is important we don't just substitute the digital devices, but teachers should incorporate them to enhance and extend the lessons. The integration of technology should include the practice of the six social practices and the 5C's. By doing so, the lessons will be much more meaningful and resonate with the students.
GOAL:
I'm not certain about the goals that I initially stated at the beginning of the class, however, I am sure that I hoped to gain a better understanding of how to use multimodal texts in the classroom in a purposeful and engaging way. I have achieved this goal through implementing the activity plan into my classroom. As I designed a unit that incorporated the use of a social media platform and encouraged my students to collaborate in the classroom, they showed high levels of engagement and motivation. They also practiced new literacy, reading, and writing skills as they completed the tasks within the lessons.
Theresa,
DeleteI totally agree with your major takeaways. I liked how you mentioned the "artful" use of technology to teach 21st century literacy skills. You are right-literacy today is much different than it was even when we were in high school. As teachers, we must be sure our students are equipped with the 5 Cs and 6 Social Practices to become productive members of society. For this to occur, teachers must give students time to practice, explore, and learn how to use various types of technology IN CLASS. We must connect their outside of school learning with the curriculum we are teaching in the classroom.
I have no doubt you have met your goal. I know your kindergarten students have learned so much as they have incorporated multiple modes into their SeeSaw journals. I can't wait to hear all about how the project went!