Being Direct Isn’t Always the Best Approach…
Teachers must use a multi-modal approach to instruction to give all students the opportunity to gain a solid foundation in literacy. The traditional strategy of using only direct instruction accompanied by a textbook, notebook, and pencil has run its course in the modern classroom thanks to technological advances. Students have to be engaged and motivated to learn which requires more than traditional instruction alone can accomplish, especially when considering that not all students learn the same way. Teachers must incorporate a wide variety of multimodal instructional techniques infused with technology in a purposeful manner to provide students with different learning styles the chance to learn.
What is multimodality? It is the use of various methods of communication working together simultaneously to convey a specific message to an intended audience (Roswell, 2009). Multimodality includes textual, linguistic, visual, aural, kinesthetic, and spatial modes of communication. The multimodal approach to instruction provides students (or users) with more variety, or as Dr. Sousanis’s book “Unflattening” states, “more ways of seeing”. One particular example that comes to mind is the growing use of media related affinity spaces found online. Affinity spaces are portals that allow users to collaborate and communicate with each other about topics they are interested in like books, sports, music, or movies. There are popular spaces about The Sims’ virtual reality game, The Hunger Games portal, and Neopets. Members’ literacies are impacted by their participation in the online spaces. For instance, members may do such things as ask and answer questions on related blog sites, develop webpages, work in groups to create graphic novels about their, or create multimedia projects such as tutorial videos (visual, aural, kinesthetic, linguistic modes). As these type technologies continue to develop it is expected they will be transferred over to the school setting. It is easy to see that this type technology can engage learning and help students further build upon their literacy (Lammers, 2012).
Too often, however, educators tend to teach one way and categorize students by how well they perform on tests. Alvermann says that “it is best to avoid singling students out for conditions that are not the norm, and assuming that because one does not fit in the norm, they are suffering some disability” (Alvermann, 2001). Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for learners who are outside of the classroom norm to be identified as having a learning disability. Not all students learn the same way. By not addressing the variety of learn styles contained within the classroom, students who do not follow the norms can become disenfranchised and unmotivated (Alvermann, 2001). The multimodal view of teaching addresses learning differences across a large spectrum of learners who come together in a classroom from different socio-economic backgrounds (Picciano, 2009). This model of teaching may prove to be frustrating for some teachers and students, but it is possible that it could also foster an appreciation for the diversity within the classroom.
Teachers who use the direct method of instruction may find that students are not engaged and motivated to learn. Howard Gardner’s work in the field of multiple intelligence suggests that too much of education is linguistically grounded in reading, writing, and speaking while other modes of intelligence are not used enough (Picciano, 2009). In the direct approach, students are required to learn by listening, but this can be difficult if the subject is not one that the learner is particularly interested in. Gardener’s Multiple Intelligences theory suggests that multimodal instruction can engage learners in ways that appeal to their interests or abilities, while also stimulating them to learn in ways that are not as pleasing to their interests, abilities, or preferences.
With the insurmountable number of digital and social media outlets available to students today, traditional class room settings devoid of technology do not stimulate students to active learning. “Educators at all levels have been challenged over the past several decades by a wide variety of technologies designed to assist in teaching and learning. Various technologies including television, microcomputers, presentation software, video gaming, and simulation programs have been heralded as having the potential for dramatically changing instruction, yet most of what goes on in education continues to rely on teacher-student interaction in face-to-face traditional classrooms.” (Picciano, 2009) Instead of defining what counts as legitimate learning, teachers and others should consider other perspectives and ask themselves how unconventional modes of communication can contribute to student learning outcomes (Currwood, 2013). Going back to Sousanis’s graphic novel which “uses the collage-like capacity of comics to show that perception is always an active process of incorporating and reevaluating different vantage points”, the teacher must be open to using what works outside of the classroom for students within the classroom in order to create truly literate people capable of understanding and interacting in a technologically developing world.
“If students are to become agents of positive change, they will need an education that is comprehensive and truly relevant to a digital age.” (Selber, 2004)
No longer is it sufficient to tell students to sit still, be quiet, take notes, and read your textbook assignments. This generation of students is growing up during a time when technology is advancing at an alarming rate. They cannot become successful, informed citizens if expected to only memorize content knowledge long enough to pass state and national assessments (designed to measure student content knowledge, and indirectly, the teacher’s ability to teach). They have to be taught how to navigate life using knowledge and skills relevant to this day and age. A teacher’s job must evolve into being the creator of “learning experiences” that fosters multimodality in the classroom so that students who do not conform to the norm of learning with linear text have an equal (although different) way to learn. The End.
References:
Alvermann, D. E. (2001). Reading Adolescents’ Reading Identities: Looking Back to See Ahead. Retrieved September 11, 2016, from http://www.academia.edu/204792/Reading_Adolescents_Reading_Identities_Looking_Back_to_See_Ahead
Currwood, J. S. (n.d.). The Hunger Games: Literature, Literacy … Retrieved September 11, 2016, from http://www.jensc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Curwood-Literature-Literacy-and-Online-Affinity-Spaces.pdf
Lammers, J. C. (2012, June/July). Toward an affinity space methodology: Considerations for literacy research. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 11(2), 44–58.
Picciano, A. (2009). Blending with Purpose: The Multimodal Model — ResearchGate. Retrieved September 11, 2016, from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/50806600_Blending_with_Purpose_The_Multimodal_Model
Rowsell, J., & Burke, A. (2009). Reading by Design: Two Case Studies of Digital Reading Practices. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(2), 106–118. doi:10.1598/jaal.53.2.2
Selber, B. (2004). Integrating Assessment and Instruction: Using Student-Generated Grading Criteria to Evaluate Multimodal Digital Projects. Retrieved September 11, 2016, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S8755461512000230
Graphic Novel Unflattening [Nick Sousanis Novel Image]. (n.d.).
Sousanis, N. (n.d.). Unflattening.
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