William Cope
Reda Sadki
May Thet Khine Nyein
Eugenia Arvanitis
Pinakini Shah
Jonathan deHaan
Alessandra Coutinho Fernandes
Ketan HeinLiteracy Teaching and Learning MOOC’s Updates
Section 1a: Introduction
Welcome to this Literacies Learning Module. Using Scholar, we prompt a number of different kinds of interaction between course participants, all of which use digital media and collaborative writing processes. Our Scholar medium is our Multiliteracies message!
So, what is 'Multiliteracies'? This term captures two aspects of meaning making in the era of our contemporary communications environment, two kinds of 'multi', if you like. The first is the multimodality of contemporary meaning making in which text, image, sound and other media are used together and the same time to make meaning. Just look at a social media activity feed, and Scholar's activity stream, and you will see this mutlimodality at work. The second is the multiplicity of different ways of meaning. Once, literacy was just about correct spelling and grammar, as if there was one best and correct way to communicate. Now, we explore literacies in the plural. A social media post is different from a report on a science experiment, is different from a personal opinion blogpost, is different from an email, is different from a text message. Literacies are about creating a message that is right for the context and medium, and contexts and media are always different.
Scholar is a web discussion and writing environment that supports multimodal literacies. As well as text, your 'writing' in Scholar can include images, videos, audio, dataset, and even embedded web media—which means that you can do traditional literacy here, and also broaden out your meaning-making to create multimodal communications. Scholar is also very social. In this Learning Module, you will be discussing literacies issues and topics with your peers in the Community Area of Scholar. You will be taking surveys. You will also be creating multimodal works in the Creator area of Scholar, peer reviewing each others works, then revising for submission to your community admin, and publication to your personal portfolio page in Community. You will not only be exploring the subject of literacies. In the spirit of our time, this will itself be a very multimodal and very social experience of literacies.
Comment: Discuss the ways in which literacy is changing, and why the word 'literacies' might be more appropriate today. Read over each others' comments as they come through in the comments area and respond to each other's thoughts by mentiong the other person, @ Their Name.
Introduction to the Concept of Literacy provides fascinating insights into how literacy has evolved as part of human history. Literacy is not merely about reading and writing; rather, it is an artificial technology that has transformed the way humans store knowledge and communicate. This video discusses three major moments in the globalization of literacy: first, spoken language, which has been used by humans for over 100,000 years; second, the emergence of writing around 5,000 years ago, enabling the transmission of information across generations; and third, the era of digital media over the past 60 years, which has drastically changed the way we think and interact. These changes highlight that literacy is not just an individual skill but also a reflection of how humans adapt to technological and media developments in constructing meaning. As an introduction, this video effectively explains that literacy is an ongoing process of evolution, though it would be even more engaging if concrete examples were provided on how digital literacy impacts everyday life across different cultures.
The video highlights Multiliteracies, where literacy extends beyond spelling and grammar to include text, images, sound, and video. Communication now adapts to different contexts, making literacies in the plural more relevant. Digital platforms like Scholar support multimodal learning, fostering interactivity and collaboration. This evolution reinforces the importance of adapting messages across various media in education and daily life.
Traditional literacy remains fundamental, the term 'literacies' expands the concept to encompass a broader range of essential skills needed to navigate and thrive in the modern world. It acknowledges that being literate today means more than just reading and writing—it means mastering a spectrum of skills that are crucial for personal, social, and professional success.
When discussing literacies, one must take into account the ability to read and write as well as the understanding of the message behind the text and what is being written. As language is never stagnant, it is important to remember that literacy refers to the basic skill of reading and writing where literacies refers to the broader spectrum of reading and writing through different lenses. For example, an older person may be well-versed in literacy in terms of reading a text and understanding what it says, but they may not be as fluent when it comes to media literacy. Younger generations are more fluent with media literacy, but when you ask them to read a novel for class, they are not as fluent in their reading and understanding of the text. As time goes on, languages evolve which means the idea of literacy is also evolving.
Your comment is spot on in highlighting the evolving nature of literacy in today's world. It's true that while traditional literacy—reading and writing—remains fundamental, the concept of literacies has expanded to include various specialized skills like media literacy, digital literacy, and cultural literacy, among others.@Michelle Dec,
Per Cope, the shift in how individuals produce knowledge as much as they consume knowledge invites the question of the importance of high-quality curriculum materials and learning modality in tandem. If a student is exposed only to readings and media that tell and inform, but do not invite active participation then there is no advancement or progress. Cope states that learners who interact with social media are producers of content as much as they are consumers. This needs to be reflected in the educational system. There are many situations in which technology is being used for passive learning and not for active participation. When young learners are taking information in through digital platforms, is it true learning? What was stressed in the video on new technologies is the need to replicate the same impetus for interaction with social media in a more dynamic way in the classroom. Some examples might be to work in collaborative groups evaluating a document or illustration produced by AI (Artificial Intelligence) or to have students experience writing a good prompt for AI.
A non-example is to have students sitting on laptops and writing individual reports and turning it in to the teacher or to have students using iPADs to simply respond to questions in workbook style.
Per Cope, the shift in how individuals produce knowledge as much as they consume knowledge invites the question of the importance of high-quality curriculum materials and learning modality in tandem. If a student is exposed only to readings and media that tell and inform, but do not invite active participation then there is no advancement or progress. Cope states that learners who interact with social media are producers of content as much as they are consumers. This needs to be reflected in the educational system. There are many situations in which technology is being used for passive learning and not for active participation. When young learners are taking information in through digital platforms, is it true learning? What was stressed in the video on new technologies is the need to replicate the same impetus for interaction with social media in a more dynamic way in the classroom. Some examples might be to work in collaborative groups evaluating a document or illustration produced by AI (Artificial Intelligence) or to have students experience writing a good prompt for AI.
A non-example is to have students sitting on laptops and writing individual reports and turning it in to the teacher or to have students using iPADs to simply respond to questions in workbook style.
Per Cope, the shift in how individuals produce knowledge as much as they consume knowledge invites the question of the importance of high-quality curriculum materials and learning modality in tandem. If a student is exposed only to readings and media that tell and inform, but do not invite active participation then there is no advancement or progress. Cope states that learners who interact with social media are producers of content as much as they are consumers. This needs to be reflected in the educational system. There are many situations in which technology is being used for passive learning and not for active participation. When young learners are taking information in through digital platforms, is it true learning? What was stressed in the video on new technologies is the need to replicate the same impetus for interaction with social media in a more dynamic way in the classroom. Some examples might be to work in collaborative groups evaluating a document or illustration produced by AI (Artificial Intelligence) or to have students experience writing a good prompt for AI.
A non-example is to have students sitting on laptops and writing individual reports and turning it in to the teacher or to have students using iPADs to simply respond to questions in workbook style.
Per Cope, the shift in how individuals produce knowledge as much as they consume knowledge invites the question of the importance of high-quality curriculum materials and learning modality in tandem. If a student is exposed only to readings and media that tell and inform, but do not invite active participation then there is no advancement or progress. Cope states that learners who interact with social media are producers of content as much as they are consumers. This needs to be reflected in the educational system. There are many situations in which technology is being used for passive learning and not for active participation. When young learners are taking information in through digital platforms, is it true learning? What was stressed in the video on new technologies is the need to replicate the same impetus for interaction with social media in a more dynamic way in the classroom. Some examples might be to work in collaborative groups evaluating a document or illustration produced by AI (Artificial Intelligence) or to have students experience writing a good prompt for AI.
A non-example is to have students sitting on laptops and writing individual reports and turning it in to the teacher or to have students using iPADs to simply respond to questions in workbook style.
Per Cope, the shift in how individuals produce knowledge as much as they consume knowledge invites the question of the importance of high-quality curriculum materials and learning modality in tandem. If a student is exposed only to readings and media that tell and inform, but do not invite active participation then there is no advancement or progress. Cope states that learners who interact with social media are producers of content as much as they are consumers. This needs to be reflected in the educational system. There are many situations in which technology is being used for passive learning and not for active participation. When young learners are taking information in through digital platforms, is it true learning? What was stressed in the video on new technologies is the need to replicate the same impetus for interaction with social media in a more dynamic way in the classroom. Some examples might be to work in collaborative groups evaluating a document or illustration produced by AI (Artificial Intelligence) or to have students experience writing a good prompt for AI.
A non-example is to have students sitting on laptops and writing individual reports and turning it in to the teacher or to have students using iPADs to simply respond to questions in workbook style.
Traditionally, literacy meant reading and writing, but today it's more complex. 'Literacies' now encompasses digital, media, information, visual, cultural, numeracy, health, financial, and environmental skills. These are crucial in our interconnected world. 'Literacies' acknowledges this broad range of abilities needed to thrive in the 21st century.