Victoria Corning Multimodality Essay Computers & Study of English Fall 2013

The digital generation has caused a shift in standard classroom learning, raising the question: will teachers become replaceable by technology? The answer to this problem lies within current and future educators. If there is no change in teaching strategies and incorporation of technology then the classroom will be ineffective and replaced by digital learning. However, if teachers can familiarize themselves with technological learning strategies and incorporate them into the classroom for real world learning, the face-to-face classroom will remain a necessary learning environment. Exploring Multimodality and Literacy in School Classrooms by Carey Jewitt and Beliefs about Technology and the Preparation of English Teachers: Beginning the Conversation published by Contemporary Issues in Technology and English Language Arts Teacher Education reveals techniques that will adjust classroom learning for the digital generation through multimodality, literacy, and the ever-broad term of technology, while not abandoning the pen and pencil way. Firstly, what is multimodality? By definition it is multiple forms of information such as physical, virtual, digital, etc. An example of this is presented by Carey Jewitt, he states, children consume and appropriate Pokemon and Yugio characters across television, film, and game cards, making and remaking features in their own cards and activities(Jewitt 243). There are thousands of more examples in which games, information, characters, and many more things are presented in multiple forms. This changes how teachers present material in the classroom vastly. It is no longer effective for students to learn through only flat two-dimensional books or papers, when there is access to image, video, games, interactive websites, and three-dimensional objects, also known as multimedia. Does that mean that books and paper need to be left behind?

Absolutely not, students should be exposed to all learning techniques in order to discover which best works with their learning abilities. A way that multimodality can be used is through multimedia and differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is a set of diverse techniques to present information to the classroom for students with a variety of learning abilities. For example, when presenting a lesson, instead of only verbal lecture, provide an interactive Power Point, web page, or video. Give the students a hard copy for them to reference and even a visual representation of the learning objective in the classroom so students may reference that as well. There are three steps in differentiated instruction according to Differentiating Instruction: Meeting Students Where They Are an article by Jennifer Willoughby published on Teaching Today. Firstly getting to know students to better understand the level in which they are individually learning. Then studying lesson plans and curriculum to decide where differentiated instruction will fit. Brainstorm ideas and several forms of multimodality to present. Finally, assess the effectiveness of differentiated instruction by determining if the objective has been met and if the varied instruction has improved student learning. Always have a back-up plan or alternative if the instruction seems ineffective, and whenever using technology (Willoughby1). The difficulty with incorporation of technology and multimodality in the classroom is that teachers may discuss and agree with its necessity but putting it into action is easier said than done. As said in Beliefs, Many teacher educators do not have access to newer technologies(Swenson 1). Budget cuts do not allow for spending on brand new technology for the classroom and when teachers are granted access they must first learn the best techniques before teaching them. Classroom transitions into

technology programs such as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) are brilliant in theory but in execution, while 41% of Americans age 12 and up own a smart phone, there are still many children who do not even have home internet (Horizon 11). Money is a key factor in the challenges of adapting into a technological learning environment. With all of the technology that surrounds our educational community, how is literacy incorporated? Literacy has been known as the ability to read, write, and be numerate(Swenson 1). However, with the ability to communicate world wide with the touch of a button thanks to the invention of the internet, literacy has never been a more vital tool. It is transferring into not literacy but literacies. The world is not only communicating by the written word but with the visual, oral, and interactive multimedia (Swenson 1). Our goal as educators is to close the gap between the digital native students that are fluent in technological literacy and the digital immigrant teachers whom could be left behind. Jewitt discusses the term multiliteracies which was introduced by the New London Group due to the new demands of employers in the working world (Jewitt 245). This type of communication is important in the workforce because employees need to be able to reach out not only through the written word but also through the digital landscape of visuals, videos, hypertext, interactive websites, and other multimedia (Jewitt 245). Through the incorporation of multimedia in the classroom, students will learn multiple ways of finding information, presenting material, recontextualizing, and communicating. However, Jewitt discusses how reading text online alters its effect on the audience. Students are not only previewed to text and minor images but also hyperlinks that will bring them to new webpages, as well as advertisements, and connections to other

similar articles and webpages (Jewitt 259). Things brings up the value of internet text over written text? Does this change the view of an author? When speaking of the author and reader relationship Jewitt states that the internet, challenges and breaks down some of the traditional distinctions between reader and writer(Jewitt 260), as an example of blogs and online forums. It also opens the door for collaborative writing, writing suggestions, recreating (high form of learning!), and appropriating from the works of others. Author, Marjorie Siegel discusses multimodality in her article Rereading the Signs: Multimodal Transformations in the Field of Literacy Education. She states, This movement has signaled a change in the literacy landscape that puts images, gestures, music, movement, animation, and other representational modes on equal footing with language(Siegel 1). She goes on to discuss the changes that arise in the classroom with the availability of this technology and how it changes literacy and relates to an art form. The word sign appears often in her article, which relates to words and symbols. When the word cat is heard we hear its sound and reference it with a well-known picture of the animal. Multimodality assists in developing new perspectives on the word such as cat. As stated, The emphasis placed on crossing sign systems was meant to help learners recast their knowing and gain new perspectives on the texts they were reading and writing(Siegel 8). Overall, technology has changed the educating world as we know it, this is not a new concept. The use of multimodality in the classroom can assist teachers in presenting subject material in a way that is interactive and engaging with students. An effort needs to be made in understanding the new forms of literacy that are presented to us to prepare

students for the working world, where employers will expect verbal and virtual communication skills. Online text does change the way work is presented, there are visuals surrounding the reader at all times and the text and images must be relating and compelling to keep the attention of an audience. With this information, educators must also be flexible and understanding that technology is ever changing and as it develops the school system must develop with it. What will the world look like in 2050? Lets not be scared but instead be prepared.

Works Cited:

Jewitt, Carey. Multimodality and Literacy in School Classrooms. Review of Research in Education. American Educational Research Association. SAGE. 2008. 241264. Print.

Willoughby, Jennifer. Are,

"Differentiating Instruction: Meeting Students Where They

Teaching Today, Glencoe Online." Differentiating Instruction: Meeting Students Where They Are, Teaching Today, Glencoe Online. Web. 19 Sept. 2013.

Siegel, Marjorie. Rereading the Signs: Multimodal Transformations in the Field of Literacy Education. Language Arts: Review of Research. Sept. 2006. 1-13. PDF.

"Sparking Innovation, Learning and Creativity." NMC Horizon Report 2013 Higher Education Edition. Web. 19 Sept. 2013.

Swenson, J., Rozema, R., Young, C. A., McGrail, E., & Whitin, P. (2005). Beliefs about technology and the preparation of English teachers: Beginning the conversation.Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 5(3/4).