Week 3 Journal Post

            This week I read about multimodal pedagogies and remixing.  For this blog post, I’m going to discuss multimodal pedagogies.  According to Vasudevan, Dejaynes, and Schmier (2013), multimodal composing, “refers to more than bringing together separate modes of expression, such as sound or image, in the production of a text” (p. 24).  In addition to the juxtaposition of modes of expression, multimodal composing also includes the various tools required to merge those modes, as well as the physical spaces in which the composing occurs (pp. 24-25).

            My favorite example of multimodal composing appears in the description of Mr. Cardenas’ New Media Journalism classroom (Vasudevan, Dejaynes, & Schmier 2013, p. 26).  The class reconstructs the learning environment and turns it into a workspace consisting of a conference table and thirty-five Emac computers.  Working as reporters, the students utilize various forms of media (cameras, audio recording, .pdf files, podcasts) in order to bring their learning experiences into their own realities.  This environment allows the students to engage in and create community: “Rosy was one such student whose podcast documented the exceptional artwork of a student at the school” (p. 27).  It also allows the students to engage in forms of social action: “The space allowed her [a student] to critique the circumstances in her school, and design a multimodal text, which articulated what she saw as a grave injustice [referring to a lack of experienced teachers” (p. 28).

            From my experience with urban youth, many students still view the classroom as a boring space disconnected from their own worlds.  I do believe that utilizing media in the classroom, and reconstructing the space itself, are two ways to alter this perception.  The students described in this journalism class were genuinely engaged in learning, and were developing skills that will certainly be applicable to the 21^st century.

            The reading inspired me to rethink a project I’ll be implementing in my classroom.  This year I’m teaching a course for incoming students that allows them to engage with the mission of our school.  One aspect of the course involves having them investigate aspects of a culture that they identify with.  I’ve decided to have them create a cultural blog that utilizes multimodal composing and teaches some basic literacy skills (creating the blog, creating links, inserting images).  I’m looking forward to this, and I always try to incorporate technology (right now the students are editing personal narratives in Google docs), however, I know I will face serious obstacles in implementing the project.  Wi-Fi has been inconsistent throughout the school year, and my laptop cart has yet to have its software updated.  I also casually explained to a few students what we would be doing next, and many had no clue what a blog was.  Thus, I’ll face two realities that I know many teachers in urban settings can relate to: inconsistent—if not lack of—technology, and extremely low levels of digital literacy.  However, if the school Wi-Fi is down, it may be the perfect opportunity to have students get into their phones and bring their own technology across school borders. 

Works Cited

Vasudevan, L., Dejaynes, T., & Schmier, S. (2013). Multimodal Pedagogies: Playing, Teaching and Learning with Adolescents’ Digital Literacies. In Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (Eds.) A New Literacies Reader. (pp. 23-37). New York, NY: Peter Lang.

Week 2 Journal Post

            I had fun reading Rich’s article and writing this essay.  I start my essay by evaluating the traditional definition of literacy—“the ability to read and write,” and updating it to, “the ability to read and write in both digital and non-digital environments.”  I arrive at this definition by concluding that the major function of literacy is to provide individuals with the tools they need to be autonomous and fulfilled members of society.  Considering this, I propose the argument that one cannot survive in the modern Western world without digital skills, thus a digital component must be added to the standard definition of literacy.

            I also argue in my essay that that new media (and all technology in general) should not be debated in good / bad format, but rather analyzed in terms of its advantages and disadvantages for society.  Using Rich’s article I look at the positive and negative attributes of new media and how it affects learners.  As Rich indicates, there are certainly both good and bad qualities of new media.  One favorite benefit of new media that I discuss is the discourse it allows for on a global scale (students interacting with students from other parts of the world).  One negative consequence of new media that I address is the vast amounts of false historical, scientific, and logical information available to students, and how they have difficulty determining content validity. 

            I conclude the essay by arguing that new media is neither a curse, nor a cure, and should be considered as a tool that we must teach our students how to use, rather than be used by.  I write that we should apply as much weight to digital media as we do (or should) to reading, physical exercise, the arts, nature, social interaction, and sustained introspection.  I also argue that we should include our students in the very debate that Rich engages us in, because their opinions on this topic matter, and if we include them in this conversation, they be more likely to develop the critical awareness they need to navigate new media.

Week One Journal Post

When I read the following quote,

"The distinctive contribution of the approach to literacy as social practice lies in the ways in which it involves careful and sensitive attention to what people do with texts, how they make sense of them and use them to further their own purposes in their own learning lives.” (Gillen and Barton, 2010, p. 9)

I immediately focus on the word “social” and think of my responsibility as an educator to equip my students with the skills necessary to become active participants in their local and global communities.  For the past five years, I’ve dedicated my professional life to teaching ELA to marginalized students in Brooklyn, NY, and my specific goal for those students has been to equip them with the literacy skills necessary to actively engage in and alter the social disparities that affect their daily lives.  There is no denying that for one to actively engage in society in the twenty-first century requires a myriad of competencies within the digital realm, and thus literacy for me has extended far beyond a student’s ability to read and write.

            According to Gillen and Barton, “digital literacies are firstly about critical thinking” (p. 24).  I agree, and believe that education in general is firstly about critical thinking.  I think that in order for students to engage in society they must think critically about it.  For me, this begins with a critical analysis of digital media itself.  For example, many of my students use social media, but few have engaged in critical thought about how it can be used to achieve negative (advertising to promote needless consumerism ) or positive (creating awareness around issues of social justice) results.

            Durrant and Green (2000) write, “preferably, ‘doing school’ is always linked to and in the service of ‘real-life’ and ‘life-like’ social practices” (p. 13).  I agree and again feel that it is impossible to deny a ‘real-life’ that does not involve digital literacies.  As the three articles I read all imply, digital literacies are important, but they all still rely heavily on an individual’s ability to read and write Standard Academic English.  For example, all of us in this course must know how to navigate blogs, modules, document attachments, etc., but if we posted grammatically incorrect sentences, or responded to each other with emoticons or “texting language,” we would fail the course.  This necessity to master traditional literacies and digital literacies adds to the disparity that exists within our current society, and adds to the already existing challenge that marginalized populations face in “keeping up” with the dominant culture.  If there is a belief that all youth are engaged in advanced digital literacies, then it is a false one.  For example, my niece is in fourth grade and is creating and editing her own films.  Conversely, while she’s producing short films, I’m teaching eighteen year old students how to attach files to their emails.

            I think digital literacies are crucial for educators in the twenty-first century and mastery of them is crucial for a student’s ability to participate in and challenge society.  Just as there is a disparity in our society regarding adolescent’s traditional literacies, I’ve observed that there is also one regarding digital literacies, and therefore look forward to learning strategies in this course that I can utilize to provide my students with the opportunities they need for success.

  

Works Cited

Durrant, C. & Green, B. (2000). Literacy and the new technologies in school education: Meeting the l(IT)eracy challenge? Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. Retrieved from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/literacy+and+the+new+technologies+in+school+education%3a+meeting+the...-a063132991

Gillen, J., & Barton, D. (2010) Digital literacies: A research briefing by the Technology Enhanced Learning phase of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme. Technology Enhanced Learning. Retrieved from http://www.tlrp.org/docs/DigitalLiteracies.pdf

Hi Everyone,

My name is Shawn Waterman, I teach ELA at a transfer high school in Brooklyn, NY, and this is my final semester in the M. Ed program at Empire State College.  I look forward to working with all of you.