Niel McLean Multimodal literacies

The developing context Book generation Drilled by rote Passive Learn with peers Learn at school Coerced to learn Learning year based on agrarian year No access to technology Screen generation Learn by involvement Active Learn with peers Learn at school and home Persuaded to learn Learning year equals agrarian year Confronted by technology Wrap around technology generation Choose what and how to learn Responsible Learn with other learners Learn where appropriate Elect to learn No learning year Empowered by technology

Five technological capabilities Awareness Recognise the new technologies, their products and applications. User Use the new technological tools to support learning, work and life. Maker Apply the new technologies to produce new ‘products’ and services. Evaluator Make critical judgments about the new technologies, their products and their impacts. Holistic Recognise the impact of the new technologies on how we think. Prof. David Layton

So what are we talking about? Print literacy Functional literacy Context, codes and conventions

So what are we talking about? Print literacy Visual literacy ‘Graphicacy’ Media literacy Information literacy Multiple literacies Multimodal literacy Multimodal Literacy is a term first coined by Carey Jewitt and Gunther Kress to encompass all the different ways in which meaning can be created and communicated in the world today (Jewitt and Kress 2003).

Not just ‘reading’… Learner as ‘consumer’ - where educational content is ‘delivered’ to the learner. Gareth Mills QCA

Learner as ‘producer’ - where the learner is provided with the tools to engage. ICT is not simply a ‘conduit for content’ but a powerful tool for thinking. … but also ‘writing’ Multimodal activities involve the learners in the ‘discourse’, ‘design’, ‘production’ and ‘distribution’ of knowledge. Computers provide interactive tools that support learners in creating meaning in classroom rather than just absorbing information.

A model Action Observation Reflection Testing Modelling Experiences, existing models, ….

Meta-cognition.. Action Experiences, existing models, …. Thinking about what (and how) you are doing. Thinking about what (and how) you are learning.

The teacher’s role… Action Experiences, existing models, …... to make this explicit.

A bit of a distraction? Students who use computers when learning to write are not only more engaged and motivated in their writing, but they produce written work that is of greater length and high quality. (Goldberg et al.) A media-literacy curriculum can lead students to higher reading comprehension scores, writing longer paragraphs and identifying more features of purpose and audience in reading selections. (Hobbs and Frost) On-line discussions of literature foster greater student engagement than traditional discussions, and student participants are able to use transcripts to develop metacognitive capacities. (Carico, Logan, and Labbo) Use of the internet for several years can augment student autonomy, enhance motivation, improve the quality of group work, and decrease adversarial qualities in teacher- student relationships. (Schofield and Davidson)

Enabling ‘critical thought appropriate to relevant key stage’: Digital literacy is embedded in school strategy. Learners are active critics of information. Digital literacy is embedded in school planning. Learners are active users of a range of information sources using ICT. Greater educational success when… Source: ICT Test Beds project

Curriculum maturity is a significant predictor: Learning is monitored Planning and preparation Innovative, critical workforce and embedded ICT Assessment Vision, policy and action Source: ICT Test Beds project Greater educational success when…

What does this mean for: –curriculum –pedagogy –CPD –school organisation? So…

Thank you.