MULTILITERACIES IN THE

CLASSROOM

Ain binti Abbas Preyangka Karunakaran Izzati ….

 To address the constantly changing classroom, teacher education
programs must consciously consider how they prepare their English
teachers to meet the challenges inherent in the teaching of English.
 Teachers require numerous opportunities to develop the necessary
knowledge and skills needed for their future classrooms, especially for
complex concepts such as multiliteracies.
 To these teachers, the definition of literacy has expanded to being
adaptable to different situations. Some of these situations may call upon
new technologies, and in such cases it will be important to prepare
students to use and understand these as well as understanding how
multiliteracies require preparing students to use different literacy
strategies in different contexts.
 Bringing Adolescents In
 Teachers’ stories was a concern for their students and how using the tools students
interact with on a daily basis could effectively boost student engagement and promote
a multiliterate point of view.
 The ultimate goal of any literacy teacher is to ―guide students to sophisticated
engagement with a variety of technologies, literacies, and pedagogies.
 Sydney found that when students took over ownership of their projects, they were
more likely put more time and effort into their work, especially when presenting in
authentic contexts.
 Teacher education programs should seek out multiple ways to include adolescents in
multiliteracies teaching and learning. Involving adolescents could include having pre-
service teachers complete multimedia projects with students in practicum experiences
which may allow for teacher educators to model ways to create multimodal texts and
demonstrate how to scaffold the process to assist students’ learning.
Bringing Adolescents In

 This may allow for teacher educators to model ways to create multimodal
texts and demonstrate how to scaffold the process to assist students’
learning.
 Pre-service teachers also used digital concept mapping to discuss ideas
of how to integrate technology and, by extension, potentially how to use it
with their future students as well.
 Multiplicity of Texts

 All the teachers were very aware of the importance of helping their students realize
that literacy was more than just print-based texts.
 This emphasis showed through in their lessons and the way they structured learning
opportunities for their students.
 Students learning about different types of texts, teachers will also need to consider
what a text is.
 As Sydney used a variety of texts such as videos, articles, and images with her
students. It could simply be a way of considering different learning and teaching
strategies.
Multiplicity of Texts
 They might employ online tools such as blogging where teacher educators
have specifically highlighted different affordances, social capabilities, and the
manner in which the design and format of different technology platforms can
lead to increased literacy understanding .
 They might use multimedia tools such as VoiceThread (Smith & Dobson,
2011) and have pre-service teachers learn how to integrate reading and
writing with features such as audio, sound, and pictures.
 Connections between these types of texts and an expanded view of literacy.
By integrating digital texts into the curriculum, pre-service teachers, practicing
teachers, and students may recognize their similarities to and differences from
print based texts, thus challenging the notion of what constitutes a text.
 Digital texts allow for nonlinear forms of reading and potentially provide a
more richer and multimodal meaning making opportunity.
Practical Applications

 English curriculum, digital learning should be integrated into every component

of literacy education.
 Technology has its own affordances and constraints, and deciphering among
these can be difficult all by itself, especially as teachers and teacher
educators contemplate how, when, why, and to what extent to integrate them
into classrooms.
 Pre-service teachers start with standards, learning goals, and activities in a
specific grade level and focus (such as reading or writing) and then had them
select digital tools to help in achieving those learning goals.
 The other main concern of these beginning teachers was the need for
assistance in the creation of a multiliterate view of curriculum.
Practical Applications

 Having the background knowledge and familiarity with available tools,

programs, and ways of thinking can contribute greatly to this process.
 This deliberate focus on such creation along with explicit discussions of
the affordances and constraints of such work will, continue to expand
their notions of literacy so as to motivate them to expand their future
students’ notions and experiences as well.
 Addressing these challenges in teacher education programs may help
when new teachers want to extend the conversation of literacy learning
with both colleagues and students in any given school setting