Educational contexts have been dominated by the mode of written language and the medium of the printed text. Students that are successful at manipulating printed text, meaning they are proficient readers and writers of traditional texts, tend to be successful in today's schools. Unfortunately, one's ability to sculpt, do photography, or design comic books does not generally translate into success in public schools. A focus on written language to the exclusion of visual images may be problematic given the multimodal nature of modern communication. (Serafini, Frank, Reading the Visual, 2014)
Yes, in most public schools, this is where we find ourselves today. This is the reality for teachers and students. Why should educators care about multimodal texts? Well, the times they are 'a changin'. Given the exponential rate of change of technology in today's world, as educators, it is hard to be prepared and to change with the times. However, if we don't do our level best to effect change, we fail as educators. Teachers have to be prepared with this onslaught of technology to incorporate the multimodal changes into the classroom and curriculum along with the assessment process. There's no going back. We are moving forward at breakneck speed. Consequently, I feel sometimes we are in the backdraft of the winds of change, and that is not an ideal place to be.
I have to admit that my definition of literacy has always been a traditional one as well, reading and writing. So, when I sound like I'm preaching and pointing a finger, there are three fingers pointing back at me. I know we need to change our definition of literacy. Our textbook suggests that literacy goes well beyond reading and writing into social competency. I guess that is where social and visual media needs to come in. I will get off my soapbox now. There's a mental image for my readers!
The website "Visual Literacy" below provided by Frank W. Baker is a wealth of information. At this site you can find Visual Literacy defined, readings, standards, lesson plans, texts, videos, journals, and "Is Seeing Believing" curriculum and related articles.
I think the images below relate to the ideas presented in this week's reading. We have to think about how our students process information and do the best job we can as educators to engage, explore, process and evaluate the information they are given.
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I always admire how concise and complete your responses to the readings are, so well done! I understand that in the blog world we need to make our responses short and sweet to keep our audiences with us. I feel I definitely get my point across, it just takes me a bit longer ;) With regard to the readings, I agree that we need to change with the times or they will leave us in the dust. I feel many teachers tend to resist technological progression for fear of the unknown, but we should be just as excited as our students at the prospect of developing new skills. Learning with them is so much fun, and they can see we aren't perfect, which helps some get motivated to collaborate and help us as we go. We aren't experts on everything, and students need to understand that too. Nice blogging! See you next time.
ReplyDeleteI really want to pull out something that you said best in your blog, "However, if we don't do our level best to effect change, we fail as educators." LaVar Burton from Reading Rainbow has changed his focus from TV base to get kids reading to Technology base to get kids reading. In the 80s kids were being bombard by tv images and our brains were definitely "rotting." Burton and his producers saw something different in tv. They saw it as a way to engage kids in a positive way, instead of complaining that time was wasted on the television. Now the focus has changed from tv to technology and Burton's focus has as well. I really find this fascinating because while teachers in general are resistant to jumping on the bandwagon, Burton is saying - lets embrace it and find a way to engage kids. Your quote really connected to that same idea.
ReplyDeleteIt was only 4 years ago that my definition of literacy began to change and it was actually Denise Lindstrom that helped me change my definition. It was like a whole new world had opened up and I saw so many ways to engage with kids utilizing technology they can connect with that I was blinded to in the past. I think you will continue to find her class eye opening to say the least.