William Cope
Jayrome Nuñez
Jennifer Langkjaer
Petra Åslund
Barbara Cooper-GreenLiteracy Teaching and Learning MOOC’s Updates
Section 1d: The Impact of New Media on Literacies
We live in a time of profound change in the ways in which humans make meaning. Within just a few generations we have seen the rise of new, digital media which are at once deeply multimodal, socially interconnected, global and deeply varied. This is the reason why we need to expand traditional understandings of literacy with a Multiteracies perspective.
To explore these themes further, read the texts in the 'New Media, New Literacies' section of our supporting materials website.
Comment Below: As you consider the history of literacies across the whole span of human existence, what do you consider the main take-away lessons for the future? As others' comments come through, discuss with them by starting with @Name to identify specific people's comments.
Make an Update: Choose an area that interests you to make an update that will be shared with the others in your community. Be sure you make the most of Scholar's multimodal capabilities by embedding media and making web links. (Note: you will need to make this on the page of your community - not your personal profile page - for the others in your community to see your post. This will be possible if your community admin has set the community as 'unrestricted'.)
- Choose a first language to research. In your update, introduce the langauge to your peers and describe its distinctive features, OR:
- Select a moment in the history of writing to research, write it up and and describe its effects for your peers, OR:
- Identify a new or emerging media technology or environment, and describe its distinctive modes of expression for your peers in terms of the Multiliteracies concept of mulitmodality. Discuss the implications of this medium for human meaning-making.
Read and comment on others' updates as they come through into your activity stream.
It was insightful to reflect upon the changes in our interactions with literacy through the evolution of humankind. Just like the Australian Aboriginals, our way of learning in India was through the Gurukul system before we were colonized by the British. In the Gurukul system, too, our ancestors learned through symbols, storytelling, practising real-life skills by living in nature and learning through observations and interactions. This changed during industrialisation when the mass form of education set in during colonization and post-independence from the British. We became mere recipients and spectators of knowledge and traditional reading and writing literacy models. It was again insightful to reflect upon how we are going back to much of the same way of learning in the present times. This time, however, it is by living in a digital world and learning using digital tools. But in a way, we are going back to using symbols, sounds, images and movement in addition to reading and writing to learn. This has indeed changed the way we are learning and implementing our skills to read and write. The de-emphasis on the use of formal language, being more inclusive of and embracing the growing use of informal or blended-cultural languages in the 21st century may help us bridge the gap in communication with our young learners, as they are the producers and consumers of these blended languages. As educators, understanding this evolution in literacy is important for us to understand our learners and how they are learning to be more effective in the ways we can facilitate their learning.
As an educator, I'm thinking about the importance of understanding who our students are and how they engage with multiliteracies in their daily lives. We cannot continue to rely on pedagogies that maintain a divide between school and 'real life'. Quite the opposite, we need to find out what grabs our students' interest and imagination, and give them tools and agency to create. For example, in some schools children are using stop-motion animation to create their own narratives and bring them to life in ways that make sense to them. Children may use clay, play-do, legos or other materials to create with their hands, then manipulate the tools to create each frame, then learn how to edit, perhaps add captions, audio record their voices or add sound. However, not all children have access to this type of technology, which means that the inequities will continue to exist. Those who live in richer countries or communities will always have an advantage, and until access is universal, there is the risk of reproducing a 'consumption' model' for students with less access.
Patricia
As we live in a generation where technology is around us and continues to develop, the individual are also exposed to these new advancement. This technology help in many ways such we can read now various news articles, videos and texts just by searching on media. But, despite of this advantages brought by technology, there are some issues that continues to grow and the problem is that some people cant ready between the lines and sometimes they believe everything posted on online without looking for facts. And this is one of the problem that should be fixed. Which is why teaching literacies to students are important.
@Venus Naomi Dauran, I'm not sure how people learn to read between the lines. I think that schools should teach students how to develop the ability to think critically about anything they learn or experience. The other important factor to consider it the type of society one individual lives in, and whether they are allowed to access information or express their opinions freely. Some people may not have opportunities to develop their critical thinking skills.
We live in an era of rapid development of information technology. You can treat them differently, but the essence of this will not change - these are our modern realities. Today, an endless stream of information falls upon us daily and hourly, and if earlier only newspapers, magazines and television were its source, today it is difficult to imagine a person who would not use the global worldwide network.
And therefore the most important skill is the ability to understand, analyze and use any incoming information. Thus, the emphasis in education is shifting from the collection and memorization of information to mastering the skill of its correct application. This skill is necessary for a young person today for him to feel confident in society.
In our time, the concept of literacy is changing and expanding, but it still remains associated with the understanding of a wide variety of texts. Along with printed texts, a modern person can also read e-books, audio books are also very popular today, so students must learn to work with various texts: “paper”, electronic and sound.
@Shakhlo Kamalova, I agree that schools should teach their students how to analyze the information they access critically. The next step is to decide what to do with that information. However, I think that confidence has to do with other factors. We have been socialized into societal norms that we don't necessary question or challenge - we just accept things the way they are. And sometimes society itself creates a sense of self-doubt in an individual. Think about minoritized populations in different countries, and the inequities they experience. Would knowing a set of skills be enough to assert confidence?
I wish to share a comment after reading Vanessa Bueno's Update.
I find it so crazy how MySpace, Friendster, or Path have this duality when we hear of them. They both resonate with most of us and feel very current yet they have been outlived, as new media are emerging daily. Thank you for the share and discussion, Vanessa.@Vanessa Bueno
Writing has allowed for the development and maintenance of large and complex societies, the formalization of both academic and practical learning as well as the ability to exchange information on a global level.
With an increasing need to write more and faster, early Roman cursive evolved. This was a popular script between the 1st century BCE and the third century CE, mainly used in shop transactions and letters.
Literacy: Bazilian Portuguese Language
Brazilian Portuguese it is spoken for more than 211 million people in Brazil and in other countries around the world where Brazilian people live. This language has its origins based on two different places which are Portugal and Africa, and spread and had a development in Brazil during the period of slavery and colonization by Portugal in Brazilian lands. Brazilian Portuguese has many varieties by its original language spoken in Portugal because we mixed expressions, accents and meanings while we were being literate in Portuguese. So Brazilian people can say that they have a new and rich language based on history process, cultural aspects and more, which collaborated to the amazing and also difficult language that we have nowadays.
Once the immigrants arrived in Brazil, they started to teach the new language using simple vocabulary like clothes, food, accessories, descriptions, etc. And also with the wish to teach about God and the catholic religion, the language had its spread among the country. Today we have a fantastic and special language to call proudly our “mother tongue”.
Atlas are one of the most significant cultural achievements for developing literacy skills. They are called this way after a Greek mythological figure called Atlas. The same way he is holding up the Earth, an atlas is to display a vast amount of knowledge about the world we live in.
An atlas is undoubtedly a useful didactic resource for learners, in order that they know about the world they live in. Whether you love or hate Geography and History, an atlas is the perfect way to synthesize knowledge about matters that in one way or another matters to all of us.
If educators facilitate more properly the acquisition of knowledge through an atlas, by relating the information found in an atlas with daily life situations, for sure learners will not hate Geography and History classes.
However, in what particular ways could an atlas provide literacy skills? According to Dr. Aaron Willis (2020), there are six different methods (which are indeed key components of an atlas) to develop literacy skills on learners through an atlas:
1. Images: By displaying images, learners could formulate questions about what they see.
2. Charts: Quantitative data is visually displayed to be interpreted.
3. Graphs: The displayed informations depends not only on numbers but on graphic scales to represent them. Both charts and graphs can display an author's point of view that is to be interpreted.
4. Timelines: Key historical events are displayed in a chronological order and questions arise between historical events' gaps.
5. Maps: There are several types of maps, each one with a particular purpose that is to be known before using them.
6. Short texts: Their conventional focus on literacy let learners to relate what the text asks for with their own experiences.
https://www.papertrell.com/apps/preview/The-Handy-Geography-Answer-Book/Handy%20Answer%20book/Why-is-a-book-of-maps-called-an-atlas/001137012/content/SC/52caff1982fad14abfa5c2e0_default.html
https://blog.socialstudies.com/six-essential-literacy-skills-that-only-an-atlas-can-provide
The French language is known as the most internationally significant Romance language in the world. French was the official language of more than 25 countries. The Francien dialect was basically a north-central dialect with some northern features. Before that, other dialects, especially Norman (which developed in Britain as Anglo-Norman, widely used until the 14th century) and northern dialects (such as Picard), had more prestige, especially in the literary sphere (see Anglo-Norman literature).
French phonology is characterized by great changes in the sounds of words as compared with their Latin parent forms as well as cognates in the other Romance languages. For French language learners, there are noticeable distinctive features that this language possesses.
Phonetically distinctive French sounds are the nasal vowels and the uvular r. Three accents over vowels are employed: the acute (´) over e, the grave (`) over a and e, and the circumflex (ˆ) over a, e, i, o, and u. An accent may serve to indicate the pronunciation of a vowel, distinguish homonyms, or mark the discarding of the letter s from a word. A cedilla placed below the letter c (ç) signals that the c is to be pronounced as s.
Although intellectuals turn toward France for cultural inspiration, the pronunciation and usage of standard French are sometimes derided by French Canadians; this may be because their English compatriots are taught Parisian French at school. The French-speaking population of Canada is growing relatively fast, and more than four-fifths of the population of Quebec province use French on a daily basis.
Don't be fooled by how a French word is spelled using Romance letters since it isn't a reliable source in an attempt to pronounce a French word. The French language has many silent letters which include the final consonants s and x. Modern dialects are classified mainly on a geographic basis, and most survive only in rural areas.
Literacy is of cause consideration of existence of youtube, Tik-Tok, pintrest, desmos, books magazines, blogs, newspapers, websites, network, and of cause understanding of source for all of these devices work, paper, ink, book, computer, tv, play station … ect. One can identify that as one gives a new human or existing human ability to be literate, one needs to explain things like record keeping, data, symbols, meaning, and implication, and facts, then develop ethics, and appreciation, compassion and need to connect with other human.
@Yuliya Skripchenko, I think you bring up a great point in your post - the importance of responsibility. Not only does one need to learn how to use a tool, but also one has to understand the implications of one's own decisions. How might my use of a tool impact others? What is my purpose for using it? And then, what do we do if we don't agree with the ways a specific tool is used because it clashes with our own values? So much to think about!