In today’s session we focused on learning to create a multimodal presentation and the benefits such a presentation can bring to the classroom.

A text can be described as multimodal when it combines two or more semiotic systems. The semiotic systems are:

• Linguistic
• Visual
• Audio
• Gestural
• Spatial

The benefits of using a multimodal text in a learning environment are they can be:

• Captivating
• Motivating
• Interactive
• Personalised
• Dynamic
• Memorable
• Engaging

There are many examples of multimodal ICT which can be used in the classroom, however our learning today was based on a programme called ActivInspire. ActivInspire can be used to help empower teachers to bring lessons to life and enables children to interact and collaborate on interactive whiteboards . Having never used this programme before, we were guided to watch tutorials on YouTube. I found these tutorials hugely beneficial! Each tutorial was a short clip, which lead us from the very basics of using the programme onto creating moving images. I found it useful to work at my own pace and sometimes re-watching a particular clip to make sure I had a full grasp of each function. Once we were comfortable with the programme, we then worked in pairs to create a lesson using ActivInspire, based on the Experiences and Outcomes of Curriculum for Excellence. My partner and I created an interactive numeracy lesson:

The outcome for this lesson was:

• I can use money to pay for items and work out how much change I should receive MNU 1-09a

Pupils would achieve this by having items of shopping that they were to calculate the cost of and then combine coins to pay for the items. This lesson was interactive as pupils would select a coin from the pile and move each coin into one of the boxes.  The lesson could also be constructed to vary in levels of difficulty dependant on which year group was being taught.

In the past, teachers have been able to present multimodal information and lessons using media such as videos, slides and overhead projectors, however these all lack the interactivity that using ICT in the classroom brings. The use of ICT in the classroom is not exclusive to teachers, children can also present their work in a variety of ways such as digital photographs or movies made on hand held devices. This helps to motivate children and show how their work can be made relevant in today’s rapidly increasing digital society (Beauchamp, G, 2012).

The use of interactive lessons and multimodality can be extended over the whole curriculum and is becoming increasingly relevant within Literacy and English. “The Literacy and English framework reflects the increased  use of multimodal texts, digital communication, social networking and the other forms of electronic communication encountered by children and young people in their every day lives” (Scottish Executive, 2004).  However care should be taken when using such lessons, as quoted by Beauchamp (2012, P100) “The ability to present ideas in a variety of ways can help to structure new experiences but only if you as the teacher have sufficient understanding on the area yourself”. After today’s session I can now see the benefits of using such interactive presentations in class. I will continue to explore the functions of ActivInspire and other programmes to ensure that I am comfortable in their use and hopefully can incorporate these into my next placement visit.

 

References

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

Scottish Executive (2004) Curriculum for Excellence. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive