Blog 7: Reflection of our experience at Shirley Warren Primary School

The morning we spent in Shirley Warren helped me to develop an understanding of the opportunities to use media in the classroom purposefully.  One thing which stood out for me was the notion of including media in a cross curricular fashion rather than adding to the curriculum.  I think that teachers often feel that there isn't enough time for digital technology, but if you use it to record work and create animations and films based around existing topics, it becomes much more manageable.  Tom spoke about teacher's lack of confidence due to children's existing bank of skills using technology, which reminded me of when we discussed 'digital immigrants'.  Viewing the children's work just emphasised how important it is to build this confidence as you can see the impact it is having on the children through their productions.  I was surprised by the amount of equipment the school had.  When we were shown how easy this technology is to use, the possibilities for using it became more and more vast and imaginative.  I am really eager to use this with the children on our next visit, realising the potential academic and social benefits that media can provide in the classroom.

Blog 7: Reflection on trip to Shirley Warren Primary School

Today's trip to Shirley warren was beneficial and put what we have been learning into context. It was good to see the range of resources some schools have available to them and have a teacher with a high level of enthusiasm and passion about multimedia in the classroom, explain software and the benefits of its use in the classroom. One of the things that surprised me in school was how simple and child friendly the software programmes are. Although we were only shown three software programmes, I am looking forward to using them with the children in coming weeks to both practice and implement the skills I have learnt. I hope that by carrying out this project it will secure my knowledge of media and allow me to use it more confidently and willingly within the classroom.

Blog 6: Katrina Horn

Should children learn about advertising in school and if so, what do teachers need to understand about the way in which children engage with advertising?

Advertisements are a constant in the everyday lives of children, and not just in technological terms. They are on television, billboards, supermarkets and even in written texts such as newspapers and children’s magazines (Gunter, Oates and Blades, 2005)There are negative issues that surround advertising and children such as children not understanding the concept and the power that adverts. However, according to Banaji ( p. 64) children can have ‘sophisticated understanding of different types of advertising.However, where literacy is concerned advertising, I feel maybe advertisements can to be used as a motivational tool for persuasive writing, if understood properly.Being able to make an advert on an I pad gave me inspiration other that just writing. By being able to construct the advert with peers and the enjoyment that we had as agroup, I will certainly use with children when I am next in the school environment and will be constructed within a shared/ guided writing session. Another plus side is that this form of literacy will be able to be used for children who have different styles of learning (VAK) (Rampantred’s weblog 2013)

Banaji, S. (2010)’Analysing Advertisements in Classroom’ in Bazelgette, C. (Ed)Teaching nedia in Primay Schools London: Sage

Gunter, B. Oates, C. Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to children on TV New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates pp. 1-13

(Rampantred’s weblog) (2013-ongoing) [online] http;//www.rampantred.wordpress.com/multimodal-literacy/    (accessed 24.02.2013)

 

Blog 6: Should children learn about advertising in school and if so, what do teachers need to understand about the way in which children engage with advertising?

Despite being surrounded by a variety of advertising formats, children spend a considerable amount of time viewing them on television (Gunter, Oates and Blades, 2005). Some of these are arguably inappropriate, encouraging children to 'pester' their parents on shopping trips for things they don't need, as well as giving an 'unachievable stereotype' of the people and their lifestyles (Gunter et al, 2005). This can have an effect on children's perceptions of themselves, particularly as they are considered to be vulnerable and unaware of advertising intentions (Gunter et al,2005). Furthermore, Banaji (2010) suggests that whilst revealing these intentions may educate children, it 'does not guarantee that children have an understanding of the complex, profit-based factors involved', for instance the use of celebrities (p.63). An implication of this is that when teaching children about advertising, teachers should be aware of what children already understand and what could be misleading, for instance, the celebrity is paid for the advert and therefore 'may not be providing an objective recommendation' (Gunter et al, 2005:p8). I feel that it is important to teach children about the intentions of advertisers so they can make their own informed opinion about products. Also pressure on parents to provide their children with the latest toy or game is evident as parents shopping with their child appear to spend more than they would alone (Banaji, 2010), arguably encouraging materialism.

Banaji, S. (2010) 'Analysing Advertisements in the Classroom' in Bazalgette, C. (Ed.) Teaching Media in Primary Schools London: Sage

Gunter, B., Oates, C., and Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to Children on TV. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Blog 6: Children and Advertising

Should children learn about advertising in school and if so, what do teachers need to understand about the way in which children engage with advertising?

Research has found that contemporary children are growing up watching some form of electronic media daily (Cooke 2002) thus being exposed to advertising due to it increasingly being accessed by children via television and other media (Gunter, Oates & Blades 2005). Livingstone and Helsper (2006) found that ‘there is evidence that children of all ages are affected by advertising’ (Banaji 2010: 63) and that children are ‘more vulnerable […] to the effects of media ' (Banaji 2010: 63). Advertising to children is surrounded by controversy, with it often being suggested that children ‘need protecting from the effects of advertising in general or from the advertising of particular product’ (Gunter et al 2005: 2) however, Himmelweit et al. (1958), believes that advertising empowers children as consumers in a changing (increasingly globalised) economy (Himmelweit et al. 1958 as cited in craft 2012).

As a trainee teacher, the controversy’s need to be considered for use of adverts in the 21^st century classroom. I feel that adverts although can be seen as harmful or impose a negative influence on children, they can serve a useful purpose within the literacy context. They allow children to explore their personal preferences and develop items of interest to them however, Gunter et al 2005) argue that this can lead to ‘pester power’, meaning that they persist asking parents for inappropriate or expensive items. IN the classroom adverts can be used as a valuable resource as a tool for writing with a particular focus on persuasive texts. Adverts are seen as an invasive medium that effectively influence consumers in their own home (Gunter et al 2005), but do children know or understand the full impact of what they are viewing. Blackburn (2008) suggests that it is important for pupils to interpret what they see thus needing a repertoire of knowledge surrounding advertising vocabulary, intentions and purpose.

Word count: 306

Bibliography

                                                                                                               

Banaji, S. (2010) ‘Analysing Advertisements in the Classroom’ in Bazelgette, C. (Ed) Teaching Media in Primary Schools. London: SAGE

Blackburn, B. (2008) ‘Literacy from A to Z’ New York: Eye on Education

Craft, A. (2012) ‘Childhood in a digital age: creative challenges for educational futures’ in London Review of Education, 10 (2), pp. 173-190.

Gunter, B., Oates, C. & Blades, M. (2005) ‘Advertising to Children on TV’ New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp1 – 13

Livingstone, S. & Helsper, E. (2006) ‘Does advertising literacy mediate the effacts of advertising on children? A critical examination of two linked research literatures in relation to obesity and food choice’, in Journal of Communication, 56 (3) pp.560-584

Blog 6: Advertising to Children

How far do you think advertising influences children’s perceptions of themselves?

According to Banaji (2010), children are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of the media. As advertising intersects with children’s emotions, desires, fantasies, aspirations and identities (Kenway and Bullen; 2001), children of all ages are affected (Livingstone and Helsper; 2006). Living in the 21^st century provides opportunities for businesses to not just advertise their products on television, but also on the radio, internet, posters, billboards etc. This amount of exposure means that it is hard for anyone to avoid advertising.

Gunter, Oates and Blades (2005) state that children today are exposed to a large number of television adverts trying to persuade them to choose unhealthy snacks, with little emphasis on the alternative option of healthy food. Lewis and Hill (1998) found that half of adverts aimed at children in the UK concerned unhealthy food. According to Gunter et al (2005), this heavy focus on advertising junk food could be one of the reasons childhood obesity is rising. The use of celebrity within branding on products can also have an effect on children. Gunter et al (2005) suggest that children today, particularly girls, are ‘getting older younger’ and this is due to images they see on television and in magazines of ‘the perfect model’. This has a negative impact as it encourages children to critique how they look when they should be enjoying the innocence of childhood.

Gunter et al (2005) suggest that a less controversial example of advertising is toys as they are more age appropriate. However, according to Nairn (2011), if advertisers give children a false sense of desire for a toy and in the end their parents do not get it for them, they could face being ‘brand bullied’ or left out for not having the latest product. Nairn goes on to state how one of the major motivations for children today when buying products is to not ‘appear poor’ to their peers. Therefore, she suggests that parents talk to their children about the role of consumer goods.

Gunter et al (2005) pose the question of ‘Is it fair to advertise to children unless they fully understand the intent of the advertisers?’ Beder (2009) supports this by stating how advertising is unethical as children cannot critically evaluate adverts. Consequently, Banaji (2010) encourages teachers to educate children about being ‘Adwise’, therefore, unpicking advertisements and their persuasive features to make them aware of what the real aim is.

 

Banaji, S. (2010) ‘Analysing Advertisments in the Classroom’ in Bazelgette, C. (Ed) Teaching Media in Primary Schools. London: SAGE

Beder, S. (2009) This Little Kiddy Went to Market.

Gunter, B. Oates, C. and Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to Children on TV. New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates pp1 – 13

Kenway, J. and Bullen, E. (2001) Consuming Children.

Livingstone, S. and Helsper, E. (2006) ‘Does Advertising Literacy mediate the effects of Advertising on children? A critical examination of two linked research literatures in relation to obesity and food choice’, Journal of Communication, 56 (3):560 – 84.

Nairn, A. (2011) Compulsive Consumerism – Child Rearing in the UK. New Left Project

Blog 6: Advertising and its influence on children

‘Children have spending power’ (Gunter, 2005) and it is for this reason that children are deemed more vulnerable to the effects of advertising than adults (Benaji, 2010). Everywhere you look, there is some form of advertising on display; through television, newspapers, magazines, posters, billboards etc, and therefore it is practically impossible to protect children from its’ influence. Cooke (2002) notes how children in the United Kingdom and United States spend, on average, between 4 and 5 hours watching some form of electronic media through which advertisements are transmitted, and Kunkel and Gantz (1992) found that in the US, 10 minutes of every hour is dedicated to adverts on television. These research findings were concluded over 10 and 20 years ago, therefore it can be assumed that due to the ever-evolving and ever-increasing technology, that these figures are significantly larger in today’s society.

Advertisements are predominantly criticised for playing a negative effect on how children perceive themselves. Ross et al, (1994) acknowledged how the use of celebrities within advertisements can increase children’s liking for a product; however the use of celebrities can also be used to project idealised images to young, influential children. Martin et al, (1999) found that ‘magazine advertisements that included attractive models has the most influence on girls who had poor body image themselves’, and therefore this type of advertisement can ‘reinforce the pressures on young people to conform to ideals of beauty that are hard or impossible to achieve’ (Gunter, 2005). This form of advertisement can also lead to what Cohen and Cahill (1999) describe as ‘getting older younger’ whereby’ toys or products usually associated with a particular age group are now being bought by or for younger children’. This can be seen as the exploitation of children who have little understanding of the power advertisements hold and their persuasive nature.

Gunter (2005) poses the question of whether it is fair to advertise to children if they do not fully understand the intent of the advertisers and noted that a way to increase children’s understanding of advertising is through school education. Banaji (2010) states that teachers who wish to educate children on advertisements should approach them as ‘complicated social and media texts, unpicking their narratives in the way we might unpick written fiction’. In this way, it is proposed that children increase their ability to judge the ‘facts, opinions and persuasive content’ of advertisements (Banaji, 2005). Studying the use of persuasive writing through advertisements is a great way to engage children as it is almost certain that they have had some form of exposure to them, and is therefore providing a link with what they have seen at home to what they are learning in school, providing motivation and interest  and making the learning accessible to all children.

Banaji, S. (2010) ‘Analysing Advertisements in the Classroom’ in Bazlegetter, C. (ed.) Teaching Media in Primary Schools London: Sage

Gunter, B., Oates, C. And Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to Children on TV New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp 1 – 13.

Blog 6: Advertising

Should children learn about advertising in school and if so, what do teachers need to understand about the way in which children engage with advertising?

The purpose of advertising is to increase purchases of a product (Gunter, Oates and Blades 2005). Therefore, why are so many advertisements aimed at children as consumers? And why should children be taught about advertising in scools? 

Children purchase billions of pounds worth of products every year over the world (Gunter et al. 2005). They spend four to five hours a day accessing technological media outside of school (Cooke 2002) and with there being approximately 10 minutes of advertising in every hour of television, children are a prime target to appeal to as consumers. Therefore, teachers need to provide an education to pupils about advertising, to make them more aware of it's purpose and uses (Banaji 2010).

As a student teacher, I see advertising and examples of advertising as a great opportunity to teach children about many aspects of Literacy, for example features of persuasive writing. Although there are many other ways of teaching persuasive writing, using adverts as an example is relevant to the children and can  be much more exciting when combining the use of technology with Literacy (Monteith 2002). Through teaching this particular topic, children will become aware of the purposes of advertising. It will also increase teacher's awareness of why advertising is used and how they can be used for their ideas, rather than focussing on what the product is that the advert is trying to sell (Banaji 2010).

Children need to engage not only with advertising, but with all which is around them in the world to greater prepare them for society. If this does not happen in school, they may not receive all they need at home, leaving them with a disadvantage. Therefore, teachers and parents need to work together to provide a positive educational experience for children, allowing them to explore all aspects of the media, including advertising, for them to understand the meaning behind it.

Word count: 313

Banaji, S. (2010) ‘Analysing Advertisements in the Classroom’ in Bazelgette, C. (ed) Teaching Media in Primary Schools London: SAGE

Cooke, T. (2002) in Gunter, B. Oates, C. and Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to Children on TV New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Gunter, B. Oates, C. and Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to Children on TV New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Monteith, M. (2002) Teaching Primary Literacy with ICT OUP

Blog 5: Multimodal Texts

I created a Multimodal text using PowerPoint in order for children to retell the story of ‘The Gruffalo’. Prior to the lesson, I had not thought of using PowerPoint as a means for engaging with digital literacy, however I found it to be a simplistic yet effective way to create digital texts which would transfer into classrooms with ease, which children would be able to engage with to create new texts of their own or to interact with pre-existing ones. The National Curriculum (1999) states that children should be taught literacy skills through the use of ICT based texts, and Medwell, Moore, Wray and Griffiths (2012) note how ‘electronic texts are becoming more prevalent’ in every-day lives of pupils and so harnessing these types of text in our teaching is extremely important in order to keep motivation and engagement levels high and to keep learners ‘mentally active’ (Medwell et al, 2012). Electronic texts offer ‘literal interaction between texts and readers’ which printed text cannot (Medwell et al, 2012), and although printed text does and will continue to hold great precedence within classrooms, it seems only natural to progress into more digital forms of literacy as texts are ever-evolving and it seems impractical to ignore such changes.

Department for Education and Employment (1999) The National Curriculum, Handbook for primary teachers in England Qualifications and Curriculum Authority: London

Medwell, J., Moore, G., Wray, D. and Griffiths, V. (2012) Primary English Knowledge and Understanding London: Learning Matters

The Triangle

Blog 4/5: Reflections of New Technologies

Upon reflection of the use of new technologies and multi-modal texts, I think that they are extremely beneficial to providing children with an interactive and engaging learning experience. According to Bearne and Wolstencroft (2007), interaction within core lessons is crucial to engaging and motivating children. Merchant (2009) supports this by stating that visual literacy enables its users to see the possiblities for different kinds of learning relationships, different kinds of interaction and the variety of genres and purposes for literacy. However, whilst exploring the new technologies such as, jigzone, wordle and PowerPoint, I was able to understand why some teachers might feel uncomfortable or apprehensive about introducing new technologies into the classroom. Medwell, Moore, Wray and Griffith (2012) state that multi-modal dimensions of digital texts have challenged the notion of literacy, therefore, teachers are encouraged to keep lessons simple and to not let the fear of technology get in the way of creative lessons.

Merchant (2009) suggests that the central concern of visual literacy is reading and writing alongside new technologies. Therefore, by combining the two as opposed to separating them, children are able to see the links between school and home experiences more clearly. Bearne and Wolstencroft (2007) support this by stating how learning should be centered around children's experiences as many children use their experience of visual texts to give them inspiration for writing.  Additionally, according to Merchant (2009), if literacy and ICT are separated then children are more likely to lack in progression.

As most children today could be considered 'natives' to technology (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008), there is a real opportunity for lessons to be more pupil-lead. Evans (2004), therefore, suggests that it is the teacher's role to allow pupils time to experiment with PowerPoint, the internet and other multi-modal texts at their disposal to decide for themselves how to make creative use of new media. I believe that through the incorporation of ICT in literacy, teachers will be providing children with more opportunities to access 'effective learning' that is of a similar experience to their home life (Walsh; 2010).

Bearne, E. Wolstencroft, H. (2007) Visual Approaches to Teaching Writing: Multi-modal Literacy 5-11. London, SAGE.

Evans, A. (2004) The Joys of Text. London, TES Magazine.

Medwell, J. Moore, G. Wray, D. Griffiths, V. (2012) Primary English Knowledge and Understanding. London, Learning Matters

Merchant, G. (2009) Literacy in Virtual Worlds. Journal of Research in Reading, Volume 32, Issue 1, 2009, pp 38–56

Palfrey, J. Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. New York, Basic Books.

Walsh, M. (2010) 'Multi-modal literacy: what does it mean for classroom practice?' Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 33 (3) pp211-239

Blog 5

Multimodal texts are used throughout daily life with the expansion of new technologies. They come in a variety of forms such as blogs, powerpoint, websites, social networking and wikis (Walsh 2010). The use of these in the classroom is widely debated and although much evidence shows they can be an extremely valuable tool for teaching, the confidence of teachers can hinder children’s experiences with these (Dean 2010).
Multimodal literacy combines reading, writing, speaking and listening for children to develop their Literacy skills and technological awareness. As a trainee teacher, my confidence with multimodal texts has been limited until recently because of a lack of experience with a variety of technology myself and to improve this I need to work with technology and the media, rather than against it (Dean 2010). However, from further reading I have been able to recognise simple and exciting ways to engage children and further their Literacy knowledge. The use of multimodal texts also allows children to develop a range of further skills, for example, when reading on screen children have to take into account symbols and scrolling and the different ways of reading than turning the pages (Medwell et al 2012).
Another apparent factor in the use of multimodal texts is the legal requirement for children to be taught reading and writing through a range of ICT based texts (DfES 1999). This can be done through different tools because there is such a wide range of programs and resources available and the internet gives children all of these at their fingertips. Therefore, as a trainee teacher I need to become aware of these resources so children can gain as much as possible from their education in my classroom.

DfES (1999) The National Curriculum DfES: London
Dean, G. 'Rethinking Literacy' in Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms London: SAGE
Medwell, J., Moore, G., Wray, D. and Griffiths, V. (2012) Primary English Knowledge and Understanding London: Learning Matters
Walsh, M. (2010) ‘Multimodal literacy: what does it mean for classroom practice?’ Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 33 (3) pp211 – 239 (in reading pack)

Blog 5

Multimodal texts are used throughout daily life with the expansion of new technologies. They come in a variety of forms such as blogs, powerpoint, websites, social networking and wikis (Walsh 2010). The use of these in the classroom is widely debated and although much evidence shows they can be an extremely valuable tool for teaching, the confidence of teachers can hinder children’s experiences with these (Dean 2010).
Multimodal literacy combines reading, writing, speaking and listening for children to develop their Literacy skills and technological awareness. As a trainee teacher, my confidence with multimodal texts has been limited until recently because of a lack of experience with a variety of technology myself and to improve this I need to work with technology and the media, rather than against it (Dean 2010). However, from further reading I have been able to recognise simple and exciting ways to engage children and further their Literacy knowledge. The use of multimodal texts also allows children to develop a range of further skills, for example, when reading on screen children have to take into account symbols and scrolling and the different ways of reading than turning the pages (Medwell et al 2012).
Another apparent factor in the use of multimodal texts is the legal requirement for children to be taught reading and writing through a range of ICT based texts (DfES 1999). This can be done through different tools because there is such a wide range of programs and resources available and the internet gives children all of these at their fingertips. Therefore, as a trainee teacher I need to become aware of these resources so children can gain as much as possible from their education in my classroom.

DfES (1999) The National Curriculum DfES: London
Dean, G. 'Rethinking Literacy' in Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms London: SAGE
Medwell, J., Moore, G., Wray, D. and Griffiths, V. (2012) Primary English Knowledge and Understanding London: Learning Matters
Walsh, M. (2010) ‘Multimodal literacy: what does it mean for classroom practice?’ Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 33 (3) pp211 – 239 (in reading pack)

Blog 5 Katrina Horn

Burnett, Dickinson , Myers and Merchant (2006) state that new smart boards have replace the old blackboards, in doing so it has seemed to transform teachers pedagogical approaches in how to teach literacy. I chose to a simple PowerPoint that can be placed onto one of these smart boards that was to with sequencing a fairy tale. This PowerPoint could be use in both Key Stages in the National Curriculum (1999) with Key Stage 1 sequencing the fairytale (3b, p. 47)and key Stage 2 children could develop their understanding of character and plot etc (4c, p. 53) are identified as the lower half of the PowerPoint has been left blank for their contribution. Burnett et al (2006) suggest that quite often some teachers tend to avoid technology as much as possible. I have until recently tried to avoid technology as I have described myself in previous blogs to be a 'digital immigrant' and was very afraid of using technology. Having the opportunity to see different multimodal ways in which to teach literacy I am now beginning to build some confidence in trying new approaches.

Burnett, C, Dickinson, P, Myers, J and Merchant, G (2006) 'Digital connections: transforming literacy in the primary school' Cambridge Journal of Education 36 (1) pp. 11-29 (see online)
Http://extra.shu.ac.uk/bvw/Cambridge%20Journal%20piece.pdf

Department for Education and Employment (1999) The National Curriculum, Handbook for primary teachers in England Qualifications and Curriculum Authority: London

Using Powerpoint to create a multimodel text

Prior to the seminar, I had a very limited view as to what powerpoint could be used for. Modwell, Moore, Wray &  Griffiths (2012) believe that ‘children should be taught the skills of reading and writing through ICT based texts’, and as a trainee practitioner, I feel that using such software in the classroom will be both a manageable and enjoyable task. Within the 21^st century classroom, it is suggested that we need to extend the definition of literacy to include ICT based texts (Modwell et al 2012). I feel that by incorporating such texts into classrooms, it will benefit the learning of children, especially boys, as they tend to use visual texts as a means of escaping the hard work involving continuous prose (Moss 1999 as cited in Millard & Marsh 2007) thus making reading and writing an meaningful task which is accessible to all. 

Blog 5: Multimodal texts

 

Blog Task:
When creating this multimodal text, I was able to present my story using images and text.  I enjoyed this way of working as it appears to be much more forgiving and less permanent than printed texts.  According to Medwell, Moore, Wray and Griffiths (2012) there is a growing need for electronic texts as computers are now used for a multitude of daily tasks.  They also state that electronic texts are more literally interactive than printed texts, which is more engaging (Medwell et al, 2012).  I agree with this, however I do not believe that it should eradicate printed texts altogether - it simply provides a different context for children to create texts.   Using PowerPoint to create electronic texts is something I hadn't previously considered, however after having done this myself I can see that it has numerous benefits across a variety of subjects.

Medwell, J., Moore, G., Wray, D. and Griffiths, V. (2012) Primary English Knowledge and Understanding London: Learning Matters

Blog 4: Harnessing new technologies

After exploring a wide range of new technologies, I have a greater understanding of the use of multimodal texts in the classroom, and am in support of the view that using these technologies provide children with the skills, knowledge and understanding that they will need to become ‘a full and active part in social cultural, economic, civic and intellectual life now and in the future’ (Futurelab, 2010). Leu (2000) has acknowledged that ‘new literacies, whether intentionally or unintentionally, impact literacy instruction in classrooms’ (Halsey, 2007) and so using them to our advantage to engage and motivate children is imperative.

Whilst engaging in the creation of multimodal texts myself, I can understand the apprehension some teachers face, and why they feel they may be constrained by their own limited, print-based understandings of literacy (Halsey, 2007). According to Palfrey and Gasser (2008) I am a ‘Digital Native’ who was born into an era where new technologies were established; however, as Leu (2000) noted, ‘the nature of literacy is rapidly and continuously redefined by changing technologies in this information age (Halsey, 2007) and so, even for those classed as ‘digital natives’, teachers are feeling ‘inadequate or under-prepared’ to incorporate and harness these new technologies in their classrooms. I feel more prepared to integrate these new technologies after having adequate time allocated to exploring and experimenting with them, which supports Dean’s (2010) opinion that teachers need to be provided with the opportunities to develop their use of media in order to build the confidence required to harness the technology growing around us. I created multimodal texts using ‘Tagxedo’ , ‘Wordle’ and ‘Jigzone’. Using these within a classroom would provide children with another context for learning (Futurelab, 2010), and using them alongside existing methods, rather than as a separate body of work, would deepen children’s’ understanding in literacy, whilst at the same time inspiring and motivating them to learn.

Dean, G. 'Rethinking Literacy' in Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms London: SAGE

Futurelab (2010) Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum: Digital Literacy in Practice [online]http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf [Accessed 12.02.13]

Halsey, S. (2007) ‘Embracing emergent technologies and envisioning new ways of using them for literacy learning in the primary classroom’ English Teaching: Practice and Critique 6 (2) pp99-107

Leu, D. (2000). Literacy and technology: Deictic consequences for literacy education in an information age. In M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, P. Pearson & R. Barr, (Eds.), Handbook of reading research: Volume III (pp. 743-770). Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates. In Halsey, S. (2007) ‘Embracing emergent technologies and envisioning new ways of using them for literacy learning in the primary classroom’ English Teaching: Practice and Critique 6 (2) pp99-107

Palfrey, J. & Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives.New York: Basic Books (Introduction pp. 1-15)

Turning powerpoint in to a media file

Blog 4: Harnessing new technologies

Harnessing new technologies

In recent years, there has been a rapid emergence of new digital technologies ‘which have offered up the possibility of extending and deepening classroom learning’ (John & Sutherland 2005 as cited in Beauchamp 2012: 1). It is suggested that ‘as educators, we have no choice about inhabiting this technological environment, [as] it is very much with us and is highly unlikely to go away’ (Rudd & Tyldesly 2006: 1). Abbott (2002) states ‘we have moved from a simplistic view that books and computers are in opposition, and we now recognize that using ICT to read and write is part of being literate’ (Abbott 2002: 4). The emergence of digital literacy enables children to develop skills, knowledge and understanding whilst engaging with new digital technologies (Futurelab 2010). Although digital technologies are developing, and ‘some teachers feel that their own functional skills are not as developed as their students’, (Futurelab 2010: 22) Merchant (2009) found that introducing them into the classroom is encouraged by both policy-makers and educators. As practitioners, including digital literacy in the classroom comes with strengths and limitations. With pupils growing up in a technology driven world, they can bring their pre-existing knowledge and apply it digital literacy (Futurelab 2010: 24), potentially enhancing their understanding within the curricular subject. However, the use of digital technologies is under scrutiny due to the safety issues surrounding it. If as teachers we are to use digital technologies to introduce digital literacy, it is of high importance to make the links to e-safety explicit to children (Futurelab 2010). Reflecting on the use of new technologies such as Jigsawzone and Tagxedo, the use of digital literacy is a new and creative means of teaching children, fostering their creativity in a way that pupils enjoy and commit to (DfES/QCA 1999: 3). As future practitioners have been at school, the advances in technology have meant that literacy Is not same, and we should endeavor to facilitate children with current technologies as ‘the literacy of yesterday, is not the literacy of today, and will not be the literacy of tomorrow’ (Leu 2000 as cited in Halsey 2007: 104).

Bibliography

Abbott, C. (2002) ‘ICT & Literacy Teaching’ Reading: National Centre for Language and Literacy

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ‘ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice’ Essex: Pearson Education Limited

DfES/QCA. (1999) ‘The National Curriculum: Handbook for Teachers in England’ London: DfES/QCA

Futurelab (2010) Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum: Digital Literacy in Practice [online]http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf (Accessed 11/2/13)

Halsey, S. (2007) ‘Embracing emergent technologies and envisioning new ways of using them for literacy learning in the primary classroom’ English Teaching: Practice and Critique 6 (2) pp99-107

Rudd, A. & Tyldesley, A. (2006) ‘Literacy and ICT in the Primary School: A Creative Approach to English’ London: David Fulton

Wyse, D. & Jones, R. (2008) (2^nd Ed) ‘Teaching English, Language & Literacy’ Abingdon: Routledge

Week 4: Creating texts using technology

Blog 4: Harnessing New Technologies

Unlike our own generation’s childhoods, there is a vast amount of technologies which can help children to create almost anything (Futurelab, 2010). Whilst some teachers are concerned that Digital Natives are more competent than our generation of Digital immigrants (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008), it is vitally important that we learn how to foster children's digital literacy, as teachers ‘are still more equipped with higher order critical thinking skills and the subject knowledge to apply to digital technologies’ (Futurelab, 2010:p22).  Halsey (2007) is an example of where this has been successful.  The teacher created a class website which gave children an authentic audience, therefore increasing motivation and emphasizing a purpose (Halsey, 2007).  This is something I would be interested in doing in practice, as it can be an exciting on-going project which children could run parts of themselves. 

 

Whilst the functional skills of using technology are often presumed to be only taught in ICT, these could debatably be learnt and practiced amongst other subjects (Futurelab, 2010).  Learning these skills can also be child-led, as encouraging children to experiment with technology can enable them to learn from mistakes, along with considering appropriateness of the technologies for particular tasks (Futurelab, 2010). 

 

When creating multimodal texts using ‘tagxedo’, I was able to create a word cloud based on ‘The Three Little Pigs’.  This text appears to be an effective way of enabling children to consolidate some of the vocabulary they have learnt, as well as being appropriate for many subjects.   However, as Futurelab (2010) suggests, technologies are not a starting point for learning, they provide another context for learning.  Furthermore, as teachers we should strive to learn about these technologies in order to support children, as ‘fostering digital literacy is an on-going process’ (Futurelab, 2010:p21).  Technologies such as word clouds and blogs appear to provide exciting and meaningful opportunities for children therefore according to Halsey (2007), digital literacy should be embraced.

 

Futurelab (2010) Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum: Digital Literacy in Practice [online] http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf (Accessed 10.02.13)

 

Halsey, S. (2007) ‘Embracing emergent technologies and envisioning new ways of using them for literacy learning in the primary classroom’ English Teaching: Practice and Critique 6 (2) pp99-107

 

Palfrey, J. and Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives New York: Basic Books

Blog 4 Katrina Horn

Harnessing new technologies ‘a reflection’

 Having a greater understanding of digital technology allows teachers to build upon their own subject knowledge which they can use to scaffold children’s digital literacy skills. Using a multimodal context within the classroom will help children to gain collaborative, creative and critical understanding of literacy according to Futurelab (2010) There are a variety of ways that this can be accomplished such as linking phones that have video footage to film making (Futurelab 2010), which is a form of storytelling; through to class website that again help children to work in a collaboration thus gaining social skills (Hasley 2007). However I used Tagxedo which is similar to wordle and felt that this could be a great tool for writing such as storytelling and poetry as children can build their word banks up to use within the frame of the picture, this allows children to keep focused on what their purpose is, whilst still being creative. Boyd (2010) agrees, suggesting that this is a simple tool that can help children to ‘build their vocabulary on a whole range of topics’. One of the biggest benefits to having a multimodal classroom is that it inspires, motivates and challenges children, at the same time being achievable to every child, whatever their ability (Hasley, 2010)     

As a ‘digital immigrant’ (Futurelab, 2010) I find it very daunting when thinking how to teach digital literacy to children in a way which will motivate and inspire them to progress with their literacy knowledge through different modes. However, according to Fountain, 2005; Huffaker, 2005 and Valenza, 2006 (cited in Hasley, 2007, p 104) ‘web based technologies are an ideal entry point, as they require little technological expertise’ this will be something worth considering when looking for inspiring lesson concerning literacy.

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Boyd, B. (2010) The Literacy Adviser, Literacy for the 21^st Century [Online]                               http:// www.literacyadviser.wordpress.com/tag/tagxedo (Accessed 10.02.2013)

Futurelab (2010) Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum [Online] http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf

Hasley, S. (2007) ‘Embracing emergent technologies and envisioning new ways of using them for literacy learning in the primary classroom’ English teaching; Practice and Critique 6 (2) pp 99-107

 

 

Reflecting on Digital Technologies

After exploring a wide range of Literacy resources online, the value of these new technologies is apparent in achieving many aspects of the National Curriculum and reading, writing, speaking, listening targets throughout key stages one and two (DfES 1999).
There are a variety of uses that digital technologies can bring as explored by Halsey (2007). Halsey (2007) set up a website for her class to embrace technology whilst teaching. This is because children see using technology as a natural part of everyday life and learning (Northcote et al. 2007). The website that Halsey (2007) uses a variety of methods to enhance children’s motivation and enthusiasm for Literacy, including podcasts, book reviews, word banks and e-mailing which all incorporate reading, writing speaking and listening. The website itself is viewed by parents to see what their children have been doing in class each week in their own time and keeping up to date with topics and progress with the majority finding this a positive experience for themselves and their children’s education (Halsey 2007). However, this is not apparent in every school and class because not all teachers have the confidence of using technologies in the classroom, believing that children are much further ahead than themselves (Marsh 2005). This is something I can associate with because whilst doing an ICT after school club, the children were using paint to create Christmas Cards and this is something I had to spend a lot of time exploring before feeling confident in teaching. As well as this, the children seemed to know a lot more about PowerPoint than myself when presenting a book review.
To build confidence in using digital technologies in the classroom I think myself and other teachers need to make use of ICT more inside and outside the classroom to learn from the children whilst teaching them. The websites explored on the Learning Network are a great starting point in this development because they go further than Microsoft equipment and make use of creative ways of conveying aspects of Literacy such as storytelling and creating word banks.

DfES (1999) The National Curriculum London: DfES
Halsey, S. (2007) ‘Embracing emergent technologies and envisioning new ways of using them for literacy learning in the primary classroom’ English Teaching; Practice and Critique 6 (2) pp 99-107
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)
Northcote, M., Marshall, L., Dobozy, E., Swan, P. and Mildenhall, P. (2007).
Podcasting: Links to literacy teaching and learning. Practically Primary, 2(2),
17-21

UTellStory

The use of UTellStory for story retelling. Can be used across key stages (KS1 Cinderella)
Ideas for lesson sequencing: Tell story of Cinderella, find ways as a class to retell the story with actions and phrases, children in pairs/individually produce their own version of the story.

Blog 4: Harnessing New Technologies

jigzone.com

 

 

tagxedo.com

Blog 3: The use of Comics and Graphic Novels

Does the use of comics and graphic novels (hard copy/electronic versions) within the primary literacy curriculum undermine the values of the classroom or do they offer opportunities for learning?

There is a debate of whether including comic books and graphic novels  into the primary literacy curriculum would be beneficial to children. For some children, having frequent access to comics is easier and more appealing than books as they include popular culture that they are used to and are presented in a more appealing way. Millard & Marsh (2001) suggest that through the use of comics, teachers are presenting an alternative link into literacy for those children who may have not seen a book before. Additionally, Millard & Marsh (2001) state that it is imperative for educators to explore the gap and find ways of building bridges between school and home literacy practices. Therefore, including certain aspects of popular culture, such as comics, allow children to see the link between home and school learning.

There are a number of benefits to incorporating comics and graphic novels into the classroom. Children could analyse one of the pages and discuss or write down their observations. Stafford (2009) states that this activity encourages children to link information together into a story. Graphic novels in particular can encourage children to recognise the format and layout of a story. Additionally, Stafford (2009) suggests that the use of comics and graphic novels give children the opportunity to write in new formats and develop their descriptive writing skills. According to Medwell, Moore, Wray and Griffith (2012), the use of electronic texts can also benefit children as it requires them to read in a more interactive way and at the same time develop their ICT skills.

On the other hand, Stafford (2009) states that the most important factor to consider when using comics or graphic novels in the classroom is the suitability of content. As teachers it is going to be up to us to approve what is appropriate for children within the classroom. However, a comic that contains Barbie may be considered suitable at home by the parents as it engages their children, but teachers might find it inappropriate to use as she could be seen as a bad role model for children. Therefore, there could be a further debate over what is deemed appropriate for children.

 

Medwell, J. Moore G. Wray, D. Griffith, V. (2012) Primary English Knowledge and Understanding. London: Routledge

Millard and Marsh (2001) ‘Sending Minnie the Minx Home: Comics and Reading Choices’ Cambridge Journal of Education, 31:1, 25 – 38

Stafford, T (2009) ‘Teaching Comics’ in Duncan, D. (2009) Teaching Children’s Literature: Making stories work in the classroom. Abingdon: Routledge

blog 3: using new technologies

USing new technologies

Jigzone: www.jigzone.com

Tagxedo: www.tagxedo.com

Blog 4: Examples of New Technologies

Puzzle: www.jigzone.com

 

Tagxedo: www.tagxedo.com

 

Wordle: www.wordle.net

 

 

Blog 3: Does the use of comics and graphic novels within the primary literacy curriculum undermined the values of the classroom or do they offer opportunities for learning?

The issue of whether to include comics and graphic novels within classrooms has been widely discussed. Whitehead (1977) viewed the genre of comics and graphic novels as ‘deplorable’ and argues that teachers should do their best to counteract their influence within the classroom. This is supported by Marsh and Millard (2001) who state that ‘those who choose to read books in graphic forms are seen as denying themselves encounters with more ‘nourishing’ material’. However, theorists such as Stafford (2009) and Dean (2010) believe that children should be exposed to these reading materials as they can gain many skills from studying the genre of comics and graphic novels.

Lewis (1996) has acknowledged that comics are created from an ‘interaction of image and text’ but recognises that it is their drawings which ‘predominate and define the genre’, and it is this essential component which has caused such debate over their use within classrooms. As Marsh and Millard (2001) note, teachers have long been educated to view the transition from reading picture books to more text heavy books as a matter of ‘intellectual progression’ and children have also been brought up to view that their reading ability relies upon ‘the density of print and length of the texts’ that they read, suggesting that introducing comics and graphic novels would have a detrimental effect. 

Stafford (2009), however, argues that the use of comics and graphic novels within classrooms can give children the opportunity to be creative, for example by sequencing the events in the text or by reading images as a source of information. It has also been found that the study of comics and graphic novels can allow children to ‘lend themselves to rich word level’ by exploring the use of puns, alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia (Marsh and Millard, 2001) and gives children the opportunity to study layout, emotion, characters and how different use of language can affect an audience (Bowkett and Hitchman, 2012).

It is imperative that schools provide a range of reading materials to ensure that ‘the interests of all children are reflected’ in schools (Marsh and Millard, 2001) and that ‘comic readership should be seen as contributing to the development of young readers’ due to the range of literacy skills required to read and understand such texts (Marsh and Millard, 2001). Therefore, the use of comics and graphic novels support the values of the curriculum by producing confident readers of a wide range of texts ‘drawn from a variety of cultures’ (National Curriculum, DfEE, 1999).

Bowkett, S & Hitchman, T. (2012) Using Comic Art to improve Speaking, Reading and Writing Abingdon: David Fulton

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

DfEE/QCA (1999), The National Curriculum Handbook for primary Teachers in England and Wales, London: DFEE/OCA

Lewis, D. (1996) pop-ups and fingle-fangles: the history of the picture book, in Millard, E. and Marsh, J. (2001) ‘Sending Minnie the Minx Home: comics and reading choices’ Combridge Journal of Education 31 (1) pp25-38

Millard, E. and Marsh, J. (2001) ‘Sending Minnie the Minx Home: comics and reading choices’ Combridge Journal of Education 31 (1) pp25-38

Stafford, T. (2009) ‘Teaching Comics’ in Duncan, D. (2009) Teaching Children’s Literature: Making stories work in the classroom Abingdon: Routledge

Whitehead, F., Capey, A., Maddren, W. And Wellings, A. (1977) Children and their books. The final report of the schools council project on children’s reading habits 10 -16, in Millard, E. and Marsh, J. (2001) ‘Sending Minnie the Minx Home: comics and reading choices’ Combridge Journal of Education 31 (1) pp25-38

Does the use of comics and graphic novels (hard copy/ electronic version) within the primary literacy curriculum undermine the values of the classroom or do they offer opportunity for learning?

The teaching standards sets the requirement for teachers to ‘foster and maintain pupils interest in [all] subjects’ (Modwell, Moore, Wray & Griffiths 2012: 196), and in the contemporary age, where literacy practices are changing, Marsh et al (2001) state that it is ‘imperative schools examine the material that they provide to ensure that the interests of all children are reflected in the texts made available’ to them. Using comics can provide an approach to fostering these interests though it raises much controversy. It is suggested that such texts are deplorable, uncouth and contribute nothing to the development of reading (Marsh et al 2001)conversely, Stafford (2009) states ‘comic books are credible literature and to be treated as seriously as any other text in the classroom’ (Stafford 2009: 120). With diverse issues surrounding the use of comic books in schools, it is vital for teachers to check for suitable content and feel at ease with the content they are exposing to pupils (Stafford 2001).

In their traditional form, there is the misconception that comic books are restricted to the superhero genre, promoting violence, offensive language and over-sexualising women (Stafford 2009 & Millard et al 2001) this comes poses as a drawback to their use in the classroom however, if children’s initial experiences expose them to texts beyond this genre, it makes them aware ‘that any story can be told in this format’ (Stafford 2009). Within the classroom, comic books can be a valuable resource for pupils, due to them providing children with a medium in which to read for pleasure, thus creating a common discourse to enhance children’s shared understanding (Millard et al 2009).

The National Curriculum requires teachers to enable children to ‘read and write for a range of purposes on paper and on screen’ (DfES 1999 cited in Modwell et al 2012: 196), and with technology expanding, it makes the use of comic books a resource that is readily available for use in the classroom however, does the use of such texts challenge the social discourse constructed by teachers (Millard et al 2001)?  

Modwell, J. Moore, G. Wray, D. & Griffiths, V. (2012) Primary English knowledge and understanding. London: Learning Matters

Millard, E. and Marsh, J. (2001) ‘Sending Minnie the Minx Home: comics and reading choices’ in Cambridge Journal of Education, 31 (1) pp.25-38

Staffird, T. (2009) ‘Teaching Comics’ in Duncan, D. (2009) ‘Teaching Children’s Literature: Making stories work in the classroom.  Abingdon: Routledge

Blog 3: The use of comics and graphic novels in the classroom

Does the use of comics and graphic novels within the primary curriculum undermine the values of the classroom or do they offer opportunities for learning?

 

The National Curriculum (1999) suggests that children should be introduced to a variety of genres, from storytelling to’ texts drawn from a variety of cultures’ (p. 54). However it does not state whether this includes the specific genre of comics and graphic novels. What is evident from research that comics and graphic novels should have a place beside the more ‘traditional literature’ according to Lapp, Wolsey, Fisher and Frey (2012). This is because the positive values far outweigh the negative values when it comes to the progression of reading skills that children can develop. Not only do comics and graphic novels scaffold children’s understanding of comprehension according to NCTE (2005) through the ‘point of reference’, it works in accordance to Vygotsky’s (1978) zone of proximal development allowing children to make the link with what they already know to what they have yet to learn.

Perkins (NCTE, 2005) suggests that comics and graphic novels also support the grammatical structure of reading, including punctuation and paragraphing, although through visual images rather than text. These texts also encourage children to build on their storytelling skills because the structure tends to be identical with a ‘beginning, middle and end, with a main character, conflict and climax’ (Turner, cited in NCTE, 2005)

Carter (2009, p.39, cited in www.bu.edu 2012) suggests that graphic novels in particular have ‘piqued students interests and have increased success in literacy’. This may be due to the fact that often they relate to personal issues that children encounter according to Travis (2013).

Finally, although there are many positives to using comics and graphic novels, teachers do not use them as much as they like because of a variety of issues that arise within primary schools. For example because of school budgets are restricted traditional texts may be prioritised over ‘non-traditional’ texts (Lapp, Wolsey, Fisher and Frey 2012). Another issue is teachers have to be able to understand the format of these genres as they are sometimes seen to be ‘alien’. Lapp, Wolsey, Fisher and Frey (2012) suggest that undertaking professional courses could help to rectify this issue.     

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Travis, M. (2012) Booktrust [Online] Extending story boundries www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/children/comics-and -graphic-novels/ (accessed 3.02.2013)

Department for Education and Employment (1999) The National Curriculum, handbook for primary teachers in England London: Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

Lapp, D, Wolsey, T, Fisher, D, Frey, N. (2012) Journal for Education [Online] Graphic Novels: What Elementary Teachers think about their Instructional Value www.bu.edu/journal for education/files/2012/09/BUJOE_192_1_Lapp.pdf (accessdd 3.02.2013)

NCTE (2005)The Council Chronical Sept 05 [Online] Using Comics and Graphic Novels in the Classroom www.ncte.org/magazine/archives/122031 (accessed 3.02. 2013)