Multimedia and Multiliteracies in the Primary School (Part 1)

Informal Blog Task

 

From visiting a local Primary School, It has been possible to put the use of digital literacies and multimodal texts into context. The morning involved a detailed talk on the use of ICT to support literacy learning and a tour of the schools facilities. From this, it was possible to gain an insight into the use of video, audio and image to support learning in an alternative way that can support all learners. The way in which the school use multimodal texts to support literacy, highlighted how they make learning inclusive. This was exemplified by the EAL learners in the school that could access the curriculum in an easier way. This was useful to see as a student teacher as Flynn (2008) states that, EAL children at times can become quiet or silent and so should still be encouraged to carry out social activities that are accessible to them. The teacher carrying out the talk stated that the use of ICT to support story writing was an easier and more engaging task for the all children to do rather than being asked to write a story traditionally. This was very thought provoking and led me to reconsider how I can use ICT to support story writing in a more ‘up to date’ and inclusive way.

 

In terms of challenges and questions that arose for me today, I felt that the children’s excellent knowledge of how to use certain apps and techniques for creating media (such as green screen), at such a young age was surprising and will pose a challenge for me. This is due to my own subject knowledge, however I learnt a great deal from the demonstration given today and so believe that with some practise I would be able to teach children how to create multimodal texts. This should be achievable in the challenge set for us.

 

It was previously questioned in my blog post from week 7, that time can be an implication for the use of digital literacy within the classroom, ‘Allen et al. (2007) stated the issue of time when using ICT to support literacy can be an implication for teacher, as children would need more support initially’. It has been possible for me to further my thinking on this, as it was demonstrated today that time constraints can be worked around. The school demonstrated how the children engage with ICT to support literacy skills over the school day. An example of this was the radio station studio that encourages speaking and listening, this is used at lunch times as well as through the school day, so that the constraint of time is not an issue. It was also made clear that, although using ICT can be time consuming, it is worthwhile for the child to engage with as they gain a great deal out of it. As well as this, through making ICT cross curricular, a considerable amount of learning is taking place at once.

 

 

Allen, J., Potter, J.,  Sharp, J., &  Turvey, K., (2007). Primary ICT: knowledge, understanding and practice. Exeter: Learning Matter Ltd.

 

Flynn, N. (2008) ‘Living in two worlds: the language and literacy development of young bilinguals’ in Marsh, J., & Hallet, E. (Eds.). (2008). Desirable literacies: Approaches to language and literacy in the early years. London: SAGE.