“Reading and writing are both about making meaning. When we read we have a purpose, such as enjoying a literary text or gaining new knowledge from an information text. We gain meaning as we decode and interact with a text and link our background experiences to new experiences or knowledge”
This quote that I have chosen from the text explains how students are able to make meaning from other modes of information other than reading and writing. There is not simply one way to gather information and all are of equal value. There appears to be a stigma of where individuals gather information. If someone listens to an audiobook or podcast that is viewed in society as “less scholarly” or less educational than reading a physical copy of a book. The information gathered from the book can be the same but there appears to be an emphasis on the method of how one obtaining the information. I acknowledge that reading is a skill that needs to be learned and can improve by reading physical copies of books but I am focusing more on the concepts, themes and information gathered from books rather than reading skill. I find this curious and lead me to pay closer attention to this section of the reading.
While reading “Multiliteracies’: New literacies, New learning” the section that resonated with me the most was when the article discussed meaning making through different modes of technology while applying student’s various literacies. Today’s generation is fluent in technology literacies thanks to their daily consumption of digital communication. There is an online culture that without being familiar with, can confuse and cause technology illiterate people to misinterpret the messages and meanings producers of content are attempting to create. This is often seen through the over use of sarcasm imbedded into photo captions, misleading article titles to gain attention and traffic onto their site and images/memes with messages within the actual photo. These messages within online content can go unappreciated/understood which explores the articles idea of “meaning making” and how it is only done when one is able to decode the images and hidden meaning and that can only happen when one is literate. One is unable to connect and relate their life experiences to a photo or production online that they do not understand the reference to or joke inside. This is the cause of social exclusion for some that are not as technologically literate and explains student’s desire for a constant source of new, current information to consume in order to relate and be a part of the conversation. I appreciated the view of this article that advocates for teachers to incorporate these new literacies into the class rather than ban cellphones and new modes of tech (that students are expanding their literacy skills on) all together. This is explained in the example of the 4th grade class using claymation accompanied by a script and storyboard. These new projects are broadening the boundaries for teachers and is something that inspires new ways of thinking about lessons.
An idea I have discussed with my MT in my practicum experience is the art of remixing funny memes found on instagram. Students are able to take the basic format of a popular text or image and remix that content into something relatable to their life and make meaning of the image. This can be a potential class assignment that gets students working on their critical thinking skills and becoming more technologically literate. At the same time as all of this, the assignment would be engaging, fun and meaningful to the student’s lives. It would allow students to get creative, apply their own humor/interests and have fun with producing content that showcases their technology literacy through various modes. These new ideas are important to education today because we have to keep up with the times. Reading from a textbook is ineffective and can not be applied to every student and every class. We as educators have a responsibility to try new methods that engage students, prove that learning is not just black and white and provide different avenues of learning information.
New Media Literacies and Culture 