MOOC: Module 1: Response to Allen article / ED 7720

In Rick Allen’s article, “Dawn of the New Literacies,” Edith Ackerman is quoted as saying “Students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.” In some ways I agree with Ackerman. In the article, Allen discusses the idea that “modern society could easily lose the capacity to read and think deeply through the desultory and multimodal nature of typical web reading, which lends itself to skimming rather than detailed reading.” Not only have I noticed that my students skim rather than read closely, but I find myself doing the same. Whether it’s newspapers, magazines, textbooks or even pleasure reading, I find myself reading cursorily, always rushing to “be finished.”

One of our “Student Learning Objectives” this year is to have students read text closely. It is a challenge! Since students live in a multimodal world, we can use a variety of mediums to help them develop close reading skills. We also must remember that text is not just books. As an English teacher, I am definitely not ready to throw the novels out the window! However, I try to supplement the novels as much as possible with relevant videos, speeches, news and magazine articles. It’s important to provide students with background information and also to help them make connections with society today. When I can relate a novel to current social situations, students become more engaged.

In addition to providing multimodal sources to students, they frequently research topics to enrich their learning. One if my goals this year is to have students try new options to present their information. At the beginning of the year my students made Animoto videos to introduce themselves to the class, and everyone enjoyed them. I am starting slowly with class websites. Students in some classes have the option of posting their responses to reading assignments online. I want to have them begin responding to each other as well to create more interaction. Right now my seniors are working on presentations and I have suggested (but not required) that they try something other than PowerPoint or Google Presentations.

Students have changed due to the technological world they live in. They are used to multitasking and want information quickly and in an entertaining way. As teachers, we can use technology to engage students and to increase their skills, but I believe we still must require them to do some good old-fashioned reading. They might even enjoy it!

Citations:

Allen, Rick. Dawn of the New Literacies. Education Update. 2010.