Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education: The Instructional Dynamics of Picture Books and Primary Classrooms
I enjoyed reading the article, “Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education.” The concept of multimodal texts was new to me, and I learned many ideas as I read the article. Different than traditional children’s texts, today’s texts include multiple modes of representation including elements of print, pictures and designs. These new representational modes change the way both teachers and students interact with the texts. Texts may be written in different fonts or colors to express emotions or show movement; pictures my show multiple perspectives; texts include speech and thought bubbles, and illustrations may be very detailed. Students construct meaning from these multiple forms of representation.
I learned that when reading aloud, teachers can use multimodal texts to conduct classroom discussions during which children construct meaning together as a class. This gives them the ability to do it on their own later. With the new media age comes new multimodal literacies. Teachers need to adopt three additional roles to help their students navigate this multimodal world. Firstly, teachers need to be resource managers; they need to introduce multimodal resources to their students to help them acquire skills to make meaning of them. Secondly, they need to co-construct knowledge with their students as opposed to spoon-feeding it to them. Lastly, teachers should act as design consultants; they should provide feedback on texts students design on their own. Additionally, when constructing activities using multimodal texts, a teacher honors the cultural differences that are found in every classroom.
I enjoyed reading the article, “Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education.” The concept of multimodal texts was new to me, and I learned many ideas as I read the article. Different than traditional children’s texts, today’s texts include multiple modes of representation including elements of print, pictures and designs. These new representational modes change the way both teachers and students interact with the texts. Texts may be written in different fonts or colors to express emotions or show movement; pictures my show multiple perspectives; texts include speech and thought bubbles, and illustrations may be very detailed. Students construct meaning from these multiple forms of representation.
I learned that when reading aloud, teachers can use multimodal texts to conduct classroom discussions during which children construct meaning together as a class. This gives them the ability to do it on their own later. With the new media age comes new multimodal literacies. Teachers need to adopt three additional roles to help their students navigate this multimodal world. Firstly, teachers need to be resource managers; they need to introduce multimodal resources to their students to help them acquire skills to make meaning of them. Secondly, they need to co-construct knowledge with their students as opposed to spoon-feeding it to them. Lastly, teachers should act as design consultants; they should provide feedback on texts students design on their own. Additionally, when constructing activities using multimodal texts, a teacher honors the cultural differences that are found in every classroom.
Using the ADDIE Model to Design Second Life Activities for Online Users
Second life is a virtual world with millions of users globally. With the increased use of the Internet, many colleges are integretaing online campuses. However, according to studies, online students' motivation is signifcantly lower than face-to-face learners. Second life can be integrated in online curriculum in order to better engage learners. Firstly, instructors can design virtual field trips in order to enrich learning experiences. Additionally, students can create and personalize avators as they explore the virtual world, and in order to strengthen students' sense of social presence, they can use their avators to interact with others. Students can also meet with users from all over the world, promoting lots of collaboration.
I put the constructivist theory into practice in my own classroom and was very interested to read about how SL can be used in the constructivist classroom. In the constructivist model, the learner selects
and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions; the
focus is on knowledge construction, not recitation of knowledge. Knowledge is
constructed through one's personal experiences, previous knowledge, and
beliefs. With SL, instructors can design authentic tasks allowing learners to discover information, solve problems, collaborate, and construct meaning. I'd love to use SL in my own classroom.
Great reflections, Chaya! I love how you connected the article to your own constructivist- based classroom.
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