BLOG 3- Multimodality 23/01/18
In todays session we were reinforced with the concept of ‘multimodality.’ Graeme had previously briefly touched upon it in a BA1 Literacy lecture the term before, however, today we were given a lot more in depth understanding and detail. A Multimodal text is in short, a text consisting of a combination of two or more semiotic systems. This includes; linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial elements that can all be added to a text to enhance its impact.
In this third instalment of Digital Technology our task of the day was to explore and familiarise ourselves with PowerPoint presentations and, something completely new to me, ActivInspire. This application is something that intrigued me throughout the class, as it was a completely different way to present a lesson with so many possibilities to make it interactive as well. Through ActivInspire the children are given the slight bit of freedom to control and play a role in their learning as well as gaining hands on experience. Me and my partner chose to target early level students in the Mathematics’ section of subtraction of numbers less than 10. By adding bright backgrounds, colourful images, moving text and an interactive activity I could see from the start just how it would appeal to the children’s understanding. The only problem I encountered was that it was very time consuming, however I believe I can put that down to my lack of experience and expertise. After having completed this task we were invited to take a look at the rest of the classes ideas and I was astonished to say the least at the immense possibilities ActivInspire presented.
Multimodality ‘allows teachers to present an idea in a variety of different ways to help pupils understand it’ (Beauchamp, 2013, p8.) This resonates a lot with how I felt about today’s session as through multimodal texts I feel that the children would be captivated, interactive, engaged and motivated with/by the text and the information is portrayed as dynamic and memorable. The fact that the knowledge becomes solidified in the child’s mind is what most interests me as, if the knowledge is remembered it will help a great amount in the overall understanding of the subject.
As a potential teacher I can see the vast opportunities that an application such as ActivInspire presents for a classroom. It is beneficial for teachers as it helps bring a lesson to life by using the IWB which encourages interaction. Although, as a teacher it is important that we have an understanding of the programmes we are using (Beauchamp, 2012, p100). For this reason I am very happy that we got a chance to explore the application as a learner first, as not only did it give me an insight to a child’s learning experience, but also as it reminded me a lot of this quote: “The ability of ICT 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” (Beauchamp, 2012, p.100). By learning more about Digital Technologies I hope I become competent enough to always increase a child’s understanding and knowledge and never to limit it in any way through my own inadequacy.
References:
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Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.
