The amazing thing about the incorporation of new literacies into our schools is the creation of a “third space”. This concept was described in an article on podcasting by Suzanne Smythe and Paul Neufeld. The authors (Smythe & Neufeld, 2010)identified a study on “podcast time” in which students involved creatively sourced data and information (symbols, music, stories etc.) from the various cultural and social sources available to them (home, community, popular culture) to produce dynamic podcasts. As a result of this production process which was unlike any other area of production within the curriculum, students themselves made a clear distinction of pedagogic spaces. They identified a ‘podcast time’ and a ‘class time’.
As educators we all know how creative our students can be and how willing they are to participate if we make things a little more fun loving for them. As we begin to incorporate technology into our lessons, we will necessarily begin to cover what Smythe and Neufeld refer to as ‘new pedagogic territory’ (Smythe and Neufeld, 2010, p.494) This means that we will be challenged to think outside the boxes and books as far as our students’ contributions and creativity is concerned. With Web 2.0 technologies we live in a changing world which impacts our classroom. Quite unconsciously our classrooms are microcosmic mirrors of this world consciously however, we as educators need to modify our instructional strategies towards a more metacognitive style as we teach students how to think and sort information with which they are bombarded. Inevitably they will want to be creative and engaged but like the students in the study, they will be sourcing information from various places and spaces. A metacognitive approach is therefore increasingly more appropriate since we cannot (sometimes if we apply the strictest measures) always control what information they have access to.
Hi Alicia,
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to say that Leu et al. (2005)supports so much of what you said concerning literacies in the classroom. one that stands out is "new literacies are deictic in that they constantly change and require teachers to embrace these changes" Whether we like it or not literacy is ever evolving and the only constant is change. If we do not learn to complement our lessons with technology and so engage our students we would find ourselves stuck in a time warp from which we would be able to catch up with our students.