Modes of Sound

Whistling of the cooker, spattering of water, Clapping, Strumming the guitar wires- That’s the way, the topic of Sound was introduced to Elementary school. There was visual, gestural, tactile, auditory sounds and spoken language. Students learnt that we were talking of vibrations and we were learning Sound. Sound could be a symbol like a music note, a volume symbol and so on. We are talking of multi-modal learning that makes experience of learning far more deeper and useful that can be applied in life.

With rapidly evolving facets in approach to learning, the conventional view of literacy and literacy education may no longer satisfy students’ needs in working and social lives, especially beyond classroom settings. Therefore, expanded territories of literacy have been proposed to better support teachers’ and students’ literacy education and practices. Multiliteracies is a term coined in the mid-1990s by the New London Group that encompassed future need.

MultiLiteracy - The New Literacy

Multiliteracies pedagogy allows teachers to reflect upon the learning styles of their students in an effort to venture towards a variety of learning opportunities.

Multimodes

Multimodality is the application of multiple literacies within one medium. The term multiple literacies refers to our ability to interpret the many formats, sources, or media through which we obtain information. The four competencies that comprise multiple literacies are visual literacy, textual literacy, digital literacy, and technological literacy.

The New age literacy which is so much more fulfilling. Multimodal teaching and learning also enables learner to be more natural in shifting modes. And be open to as many modes. Digital Manufacturing allows us to produce alphabetical literacy, Sounds, Images to communist or teach. Each mode gives a certain sensation that involves fundamental cognitive process and has associated sensory memory. So the idea then with learning, is that powerful learning involves these shifts in mode between one mode and another.

And the more our educational processes support that switching, the better

Dance is taught through Skype, American hears Spanish song on the radio, Korean reads data presented in Chinese. People are learning. Digitally, it is highly possible to enable multi-modal experience both in teaching and in learning. Eg,: Digital tools allow Video essay, that can have bar charts, dynamic data-sets, audio clipping, feed back recording, Learning through all senses and sensed by digital technology!

Anaesthesia to Synesthesia- from numb state we need to come to a state of multiple awareness. Synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway, Multimodal approach in  new Multiliteracy age with the support of technology will certainly make outcome of learning very useful, cintextual, applicable and enjoyable.

Reference- Cites:

Expanded Territories of “Literacy”: New Literacies and Multiliteracies Yuan Sang Department of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University; Journal of Education Practice, Volume 8, 2018

The New London School, Information Habitat wiki, Michigan State University Archived July 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^ Jump up to: a b Cope, Bill; Kalantzis, Mary (2009). ""Multiliteracies": New Literacies, New Learning". Pedagogies: An International Journal. 4 (3): 164–195.
de Broucker T (April 2013). "Synaesthesia, an augmented sensory world: phenomenology and literature review". Rev. Neurol. (Paris) (Review) (in French). 169 (4): 328–34. doi:10.1016/j.neurol.2012.09.016. PMID 23434143.
https://ecu.au.libguides.com/video-essay/home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn1NKAsLDCc
Photo Credit- Teaching in 21st century by Sonja Dellafose
Photo credit- https://medium.com/literate-schools/literacy-in-an-innovative-world-2368a09acd27

New Literacies and Multi-literacies by Yuang Sang