MEDIA, LANGUAGE AND MULTILITERACIES/MULTIMEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

As a trainee teacher of Primary English, I see the increased use of technology to be a positive step within an ever expanding technological society. Children are developing in a world in which technology and multimedia is proving the most popular form of entertainment, communication and learning. Therefore I feel that it is importance that it should be developed upon further within the classroom to reflect the culture of today’s society. Young children are immersed in practices relating to popular culture, media and new technologies from birth and these technologies have formed a part of who they are, and the generation they represent. Brooks,G. Hughes,J. Ritchie, L. Roberts, S. Wright, K (2005) states that parents and other family members scaffold children’s learning, either implicitly or explicitly from birth, and children engage in family social and cultural practices which develop their understanding of the role of media and technology in society. 

Dean (2010) states that virtually every four-year old enters the classroom with a secure knowledge of moving picture and that the majority of children have seen and used a  range of technology such as a phones, ipads, laptops or cameras by the time they start school. I believe that such exposures to technology can open up an array of valuable skills and exciting learning opportunities, which enable children to expand and develop confidently in the classroom. Used as an effective tool to access educational material, technology can provide children with a broad spectrum of information in which to make curriculum learning accessible for all. Dean (2010) states that increasing numbers of teachers are surprised and delighted by children’s responses to literacy teaching that takes there full range of textual experiences into account. I therefore believe that by incorporating the experiences, knowledge and interests that children carry around media and technology, the development of learning can be one which incorporates inspiring learning contexts, with creative focuses, to engage and enthuse learning.


My own experience of multimedia in the classroom demonstrated the valuable opportunities that technology opens up for children, to support and inform the teaching of Literacy. I found that using animation to support children’s creative writing to be very successful, to extend and develop further skills such as; talk, writing and thought. I feel that the use of this form of multimedia technology helped to stimulate the children’s thinking and enabled them to explore their own imaginations, whilst begin exposure to a new interpretation of literacy. Used specifically as a stimulus for thinking, the clip opened up further opportunities for discussion and posed an accessible learning experience for all learners.  


Personally, I feel the biggest challenge facing me within this module is my inability in which to successfully use software and new technology, in order to inform my teaching and to extend children’s development.  Although apprehensive about these challenges, I also look forward to building upon my understanding of these new forms of literacy and the influences that they pose to children’s learning today. 



Dean, G. ‘Rethinking Literacy’ in Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms London:Sage

Marsh, J. Brooks,G. Hughes,J. Ritchie, L. Roberts, S. Wright, K (2005) Digital beginnings: Young children’s use of popular culture, media and new Technologies University of Sheffield (Section 2.10 p.46; Sections 3.2 & 3.3 p48/49)