Reading #2 Multimodal Literacy: An Introduction

1. How has the nature of literacy changed as a result of digital technologies?

 Literacy, no longer confined to communication through reading and writing of traditional printed text, has expanded and figuratively exploded, particularly within the past decade. For educators and students, it’s here—technology. I continually struggle with the tension between the restrictive culture of political mandates that value traditional approaches to literacy and how I continually work to develop a culture of possibilities that engage and build upon the new literacies that students bring with them to class daily. Today make literacy more relevant to students while creating space in the English language arts classroom both for teachers and students alike to explore, compose, and share a range of texts with larger audiences. Further, when we keep such questions in mind, we can create multidimensional curricula that reach more populations in ways that we could not otherwise. We know that when people are actively engaged with inquiry, have a desire to learn new things, and try out different digital, visual, musical, spatial, dramatic (and so on) tools and techniques, they have the potential to say and do things that we have never before imagined.Change in literacy

2. What are the benefits of multimodal reading and writing for students?

Research has shown the multifaceted ways in which languages (art, drama, music, movement, written/oral, math) can be studied in school. It has been substantiated  that students of all ages learn best when engaged .But to be successful the strategies need to be  socially constructed, personally relevant, creative composition and interpretation of texts that incorporate a variety of meaningful communicative modes or symbol systems. Working with multimodal literacies is an essentially interactive and flexible, dynamic and integrative, social and cultural practice that cannot be reduced to anything less.

3. What project described intrigued you the most?

I found two studies, in particular, demonstrated how the inclusion of drama in the reading

curriculum improved students’ comprehension and the teacher’s use of effective instructional practices to support reading (Rose etal., 2000; Wolf, 1998). Saying ‘Yes’ to Music: Integrating Opera into

a Literature Study,” Sharon Blecher and Gail Burton describe the integral role music plays in their first- and second-grade curricula. They demonstrate how music frames their school day, enhances children’s understanding of story, specifically fairy tales, and enables children to engage in authentic musical and literary inquiry .In this chapter, readers see how drama, visual arts, music, and the genre of fairy tales were integrated to help children broaden their thinking and extend the possibilities for learning in unique and phenomenal ways. Chapter 4, Esther Gray and Susan Thetard present their research investigating how Susan’s high school students express the complexities of the Holocaust through process drama  and writing in role. Gray and Thetard describe how they carefully designed  contexts to discourage students from oversimplifying the events or from resorting to mere tragedy narratives. Findings f rom the data illuminate the ethics and insights students gained about the Holocaust-era and about themselves as actors. This chapter raises important points related to critical literacy and identifies key considerations for teachers who plan to implement drama in their own literacy classrooms.

            Interestingly, when I was in 7^th grade , 1964, my English Lit. teacher had us act out our book reports. We did not just read, this made us more aware of what we were reading. But we read books paper and print, nothing on line. When my children were in kindergarten (1977) their teachers read their fairy tales to music and incorporated dance. My daughter loved it , my son hated it. Go figure. What I find interesting is today, it is made out to be a new way to engage students.

4. What challenge to integrating mulitmodal reading and writing into schools do you most identify with?

            There are many challenges that I can identify. Although I try to become multimodal savvy, I take the risk and try to move outside of my comfort zone. But many classes are led by , more talented than I, weavers of multimodal curricula or by teachers who collaborated with researchers or colleagues. But more significant is that, I teach what I know best, what I am most comfortable with, and what I enjoy. A teacher’s comfort level with his or her own artistic abilities or technological skills can be one of the biggest deterrents to implementing multimodal literacies instruction, which I strongly agree.  Because I am not from the techno generation, it is like going to a foreign country without knowing the language and trying to get around one word at a time. The students today are practically born with an iphone in their hand and I’m still trying to figure out the VCR. Actually I can set the time now.