Week 3: Multimodality

Tuesday 22nd January

Today we looked at the use of multimodal texts within the classroom and how this could have a positive or negative effect on teaching and learning. For a text to be multimodal it has to include at least 2 aspects of the semiotic systems. The 5 aspects include: linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial and can be either presented digitally, on paper or through a live performance.

Beauchamp (2012) talks about how the use of multimodal texts is another benefit to using technology in the classroom and it can allow teachers to support their pupils by presenting lessons in a range of different ways. Today we specifically looked at a software called ActivInspire. This software allows you to create different pages of a flip chart which can then be projected onto the Interactive Whiteboard. The flip charts can be as interactive as you like and children can come up to the board and move objects or select answers by simply touching the board. ActivInspire has many amazing resources which can be used to support lessons, specifically maths lessons. Initially I found this software very difficult to use. I did not think it was easy to navigate around and I was constantly pressing the wrong thing. After playing around with the different tools for a while, I started to work my way around it slightly easier. Our task was to create a few pages of a flip chart using ActivInspire that we could potentially use in the classroom. I decided I would work from the same Experience & Outcome from CfE as last week with the Bee Bot activity as I had a few different ideas for that task that I still wanted to use. It took me a while to get started as I wasn’t sure what approach to take. I have attached a few screenshots of my final presentation below.

  

“I can tell the time using 12 hour clocks, realising there is a link with 24 hour notation, explain how it impacts on my daily routine and ensure that I am organised and ready for events throughout my day.” – MNU 1-10a

I am not sure how much I would use this resource in the classroom. I found it difficult to use and it was quite time consuming, compared to other presentation software such as PowerPoint. However, I did really like some of the resources, such as the protractor, squared paper and spelling activities so this is possibly something I would use on their own rather than creating a full flip chart presentation.

As part of this week’s reading, I read an article which can be found online outlining the truths and consequences of using the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) in the classroom. This article pointed out that IWB’s are just another classroom accessory which aid teachers in their lessons (Deubel, 2010). It also highlighted some interesting points about how the features on the IWB are not always appropriate for every lesson (Deubel, 2010). Personally, I do agree with this. I feel that sometimes teachers can get carried away with the IWB and use it in every single lesson, even if it is just to show instructions for a task. As much as the IWB is an amazing addition to the classroom and children love when the teachers use it, I think it is important that it is not over used. A lesson can be just as fun and interactive without the use of the IWB and I think this is really important to remember. If teachers really think outside the box for different activities they could create themselves, rather than always going back to what they know, some of the lessons could be really amazing and no doubt the children would love it just as much.

References

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.

Deubel, P. (2010) Interactive Whiteboards: Truths and Consequences. [online] Available: https://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/08/04/Interactive-Whiteboards-Truths-and-Consequences.aspx?Page=4# [Accessed: 29 January 2019]

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *