It is now the 3rd week of the Digital Technologies module and all I have to say is that I am really enjoying it so far. This week was all about Multimodality which is a subject I have previously learned about through the Literacy for Understanding module. At the time, I wasn’t very confident explaining a multimodal text but after yesterday’s tutorial, I have been able to further my knowledge which has given me a deeper understanding.
You may be asking “What make a multimodal text?” Well, I am here to tell you! For a text to be classed as multimodal, it must feature 2 of the semiotic systems. These are:
- Linguistic
- Visual
- Audio
- Gestural
- Spatial
Texts can feature these in multiple different ways and individuals will have a variety of methods to create a multimodal text. Patricia Deubel (2010) says that using this technology should do one of three things. It should be a tutor to the teacher by helping them with their technology skills, a teaching aid for teachers to enhance the learning in their class of individuals and it should be a learning tool which provides children with a sound understanding of the subject they are focusing on.
The most common tool used to enhance children using a multimodal text is the interactive whiteboard which can be seen in most primary school classrooms in today’s society. They allow a hands-on approach to learning allowing children to touch the screen which allows an action to take place such as revealing the answer or moving a character or object to the correct position. These are very relevant due to the digital age that we are living in (Beauchamp, 2012). These devices are allowing classrooms to be more captivating, interactive, motivating, dynamic, personalised and memorable. Personally, I like the interactive whiteboards as they can make lessons fun through learning games and they are also very useful to highlight the main parts of a topic. However, they do have their consequences. They are extremely difficult to write as the pens don’t always match up with the screen and like all technology devices, they do have faults from time to time which may require professional assistance.
This week, I used the tool ActivInspire and I have many mixed feelings about this program! Firstly, I have to say that I understand why it is used a lot in the primary schools and it allows teachers to create fun activities and slides for their topics which allows children to interact rather than just watching a powerpoint. Secondly, the mass of tools available is incredible especially for mathematics such as the protractor for the children to use for angles. I also really liked the clock tool as it would make learning the time fun and engaging. However, I had many troubles which will reduce through more practice. It took me a few minutes just trying to learn how to add text! Also, I just couldn’t work out how to add photographs and other media but I did work this out and was able to create a quick resource below. The CFE outcome that I used was “I use practical materials and can ‘count on and back’ to help me to understand addition and subtraction recording my ideas and solutions in different ways”. – MNU 0-03a
In my activity, the children have to help The Hungry Caterpillar to count the different fruits that he eats throughout the week and to help him collect more food. This used the semiotic systems of linguistic due to the test and visual due to the images used. It was also interactive as the children could move objects to help them to count. Below are some images…
This video shows how the source can be used for interactivity.
This was great fun to produce, however, for my future career I will definitely need to work on my ActivInspire skills as I was still having difficulties at the end of the class but this will come through practice. In terms of Scotland Digital Learning Strategy, I believe that this program can help with all 4 of the objectives to an extent. It helps to develop the skills of the educator while improving access of digital devices to the children as well as enhancing the curriculum delivery to the individuals while empowering the leaders of change as they show great investment in their lessons (Scottish Government, 2016).
I believe that multimodality is incredibly important for the engagement of pupils within the classroom and will be a subject area I will continue to focus on during my studies and when I have my own classroom.
References in this week’s blog:
Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.
Patricia Deubel. (2010) Interactive Whiteboards: Truths and Consequences.[Online] Available: https://thejournal.com/Articles/2010/08/04/Interactive-Whiteboards-Truths-and-Consequences.aspx?Page=1[Accessed: 27 January 2019]
Scottish Government. (2016) A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. Edinburgh: Scottish Government [Online] Available at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00505855.pdf [Accessed: 7 January 2019]
