1. Copy
and paste a quote from the reading that causes you to have a strong reaction
(agreement, disagreement, confusion...) and explain your reaction.
“Egyptians used visual images and hieroglyphs to
adorn their temples and burial sites. Artists from around the world have
included titles and written descriptions with their visual artworks. Monks
created illuminated texts by adding colorful designs and historiated initials,
oversized letters at the beginnings of paragraphs, to medieval codices using
gold, silver, and other precious metals.”
After reading this statement, I began to realize
that multimodal texts, whether they were called multimodal texts or not have
been around for a significant number of years. This made me realize that
although the multimodal texts were more simplistic due to a lack of technology,
it still shows their relevance and importance in society. I never thought of
these forms of text as multimodal until the book amplified their relevance and significance.
2.
Why should educators care about multimodal texts?
Educators need to care about multimodal texts for an
array of reason. Texts are only going to become more complex as time continues
on. Therefore, educators need to teach students how to navigate multimodal
texts as well as create multimodal texts. Schools are not giving every student
an equal opportunity to be successful. The only students that have the
opportunity to be successful are the students that are proficient readers and
writers of traditional texts.
3.
How is your definition of literacy different or similar to the
definition of literacy presented in the book? Or how did the reading change or
expand your definition of literacy?
The book defines literacy as a social practice and a
cognitive skill that causes individuals to use reading and writing to construct
meaning from the printed text in ways that meet the requirements of a
particular social context. I completely agree with this definition due to the
fact that literacy is not just being able to read and write. Literacy is the
ability to use different types of representation to make sense of content
material for a specific purpose. Literacy depends now on the social context of
the material as well today.
4.
How can visual literacy support the development of the kinds of reading and
writing we want children to learn through schooling?
Visual literacy can support the development of the
kinds of reading and writing we want children to learn through schooling due to
the fact that we want children to have the ability to decode, interpret,
create, question, challenge, and evaluate texts and visual literacy supports
all of these factors. Also, visual literacy causes students to examine the
social impact of those images and discuss the purpose of the images. Thus, visual literacy supports all the forms
of reading and writing that we want our children to develop throughout their
schooling careers.
5.
Find an online resource that addresses issues of visual literacy in education
link to it or embed it your blog posting and provide a brief explanation of how
it relates to this week's reading.
Resources:
Image-http://learningthruthinking.com/2012/03/29/visual-literacy-link/Serafini, F. (2014). Reading the visual: an introduction to teaching multimodal literacy. New York: Teachers College.
As educators we have to understand that times are changing and we need to keep up with them. Students no longer learn the way they used to. Everyone has a category in which they fit in (visual learner, kinetic learner etc.) we have to address all of these needs in order to give our students the best education as possible. I loved when you talked about Egyptians using visual text. Through their pictures, they told stories without words, but still got their point across. I find it so interesting to see how "the way we read and write" keeps evolving and there are always new ways to help better our students.
ReplyDeleteKeri – It is amazing when we realize just how long multimodal texts (or ensembles) have existed and just how long that it has taken educators to capitalize on that instructional concept. As you note, it demonstrates the relevance and significance that such texts have to our society as a whole as well as the yet-untapped potential that these instructional methods have to greatly enhance our students’ learning experience.
ReplyDeleteI think that it’s important to highlight the idea that texts are going to continue to evolve over time and become more and more complex. Our duty as educators is to guide our students with regard to what exactly to do with the barrage of information that comes their way on a daily basis. In addition, teaching our students to create these multimodal texts provides an avenue for our students’ work to be better understood as well.
Keri,
ReplyDeleteI really like the image you used to summarize the chapters and what it means to be visually literate. I thought the image shows what it means instead of just explains. I also liked your literacy video. Too often I think of common core as being ways to explain situation and not thinking in different forms. I liked that your link showed how common core prinicples can be used with teaching students with the new standards. It will be interesting to see how well received the new standards will be in terms of visual literacies.
I had a similar reaction to the passage about hieroglyphics as multimodal texts. For me, it really helped to legitimize this movement toward visual literacy, and the understanding of literacy as it fits into cultural contexts. I am not sure why, but having the historical connection helps me see the value of these trends toward the future.
ReplyDelete