Final Connection

What a journey! I decided to make my connections with the use of visuals (cartoons created on Bitstrips) and text.

When looking through the names of people posting to the ETEC 540 Weblog, I saw several familiar names of people that have been in a few of my courses before and many new ones.  This being my ninth course, posting an introduction was a familiar process, but there is always a twist.  For this course we were to write what literacy meant to us.  I went down the path that today people need multi-literacies as they have to navigate through many different types of “reading spaces”. At the end of this course, I still believe this.

Looking through some of my cohorts’ assignments, there was a range of platforms that were used to present their projects, all which incorporated different types of multimedia and Web 2.0 tools.   As many have stated in their own connections to this course, I couldn’t help but wish that our actual course material better utilized visual representations and multimedia to further our understanding of the material.

Until I read Walter Ong’s Orality and Literacy I had never thought of a world without writing or that writing was a technology.  It is so ingrained in our society, that it is hard to realize that it is artificial, that the letters you are reading right now are symbols that have a coded meaning.  We also now have to add in symbols associated with electronic technology such as HTML coding or navigation symbols, never mind the different types of multimedia that can be used.  This again supports the idea that people need to have multi-literacies to find their way through the many different types of platforms and interfaces.

It took the written word an extensive amount of time to become commonplace and to have an efficient way of being produced.  In saying that, the book has been quite unchanged for a very long time.  We are now seeing changes to this medium, as more and more digital text is being produced.  As Jay David Bolter stated, with the rise of each new technology, there will be remediation with the old technology that it is replacing.  Right now, this is occurring between printed text and digital writing, but I feel the book will not be completely replaced by its electronic counterpart in the near future.  I still think that we are finding our way through this new, electronic landscape and have not yet come to the point where we are using technology to its fullest potential.  Electronic devices can allow other forms of media to be used to express ideas and I think we are just at the tip of discovering how that will look.

When viewing my cohorts assignments, I found I was drawn to the ones that were easy to navigate, made use of videos, included pictures, and had some text, but not too much.  I then realized that I must do this for my students and this can be done by utilizing different Web 2.0 tools (such as in our Rip.Mix. Feed activity).  I can make interactive, authentic assignments or allow my students to hand-in products that all don’t look the same, but still meet the learning outcomes I want to see.  I believe that everyone must have multi-literacies, including myself, if we are to utilize different electronic devices and view various types of multimedia and text.

Lisa

 

 

 

 

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16 Responses to Final Connection

  1. mbourdon says:

    You could not have said it better Lisa! I love your use of Bitstrips to break up the text. You made some great connections to sum up the course as well. As teachers, it is important that we are aware of multiliteracies and offer our students opportunities to explore new tools to express their knowledge in ways that are more relvant to their life experiences. There are so many amazing Web 2.0 tools out there to explore. It was great getting a chance to try some out.
    Thanks for sharing and happy holidays!
    Amanda

    • Lisa Nevoral says:

      Hi Amanda,

      Thanks for you comments. There are lots of great Web 2.0 tools out there that both teachers and students can utilize, but with that comes a couple of drawbacks. First, it may take teachers quite a bit of time to find Web 2.0 tools that their students can use for assignments or for themselves to add to their material. As well, Web 2.0 tools means that students need access to laptops, computers, etc… and this is not always possible. In saying that, I think that these tools do need to be used and that we can help foster differentiation for our students with these them.

      Have a great holiday break and maybe I’ll see you around Kelowna,

      Lisa

  2. laurenmacd says:

    Great post Lisa! I loved how you incorporated images, infographics and comics using Bitstrips. Great summary of the course. My list of Web 2.0 tools to try just keeps growing and incorporating their use is definitely a way to help support student learning.
    Happy Holidays!

    Lauren

  3. lindsayn says:

    Lisa,
    Your post was very engaging! I really enjoyed how you used a combination of text and images to portray your learning from this course. I also appreciated how you demonstrated the effectiveness of another online tool for supporting visual literacy.

    You commented that “with the rise of each new technology, there will be remediation with the old technology that it is replacing”. I think this argument was supported by many of the projects developed throughout this course; for instance, it was touched on in my research paper, which discussed the transition from use of the scroll to codex book. Great point and excellent post!

    Lindsay

    • Lisa Nevoral says:

      Hi Lindsay,

      Thanks for your comments. I created the visuals to remind me of what we read and learned about throughout this course. I was hoping that when others read the comic pieces they would be brought back to that moment in time when they read about a certain topic.

      Have a great holiday break,

      Lisa

  4. Mike Singh says:

    Lisa,

    I have seen Bitstrips used to annoying amount on facebook, but I really like how you incorporated it into your post. I have just downloaded the app and am excited to test it out. I completely agree with your view on using web 2.0 tools in the classroom. They are great ways to show understanding of concepts. Its fun for the teacher to mark and fun for the student to create!

    Mike

    • Lisa Nevoral says:

      Hi Mike,

      I am glad you changed your mind about Bitstrips. As I was reading through some of the final connections, many people noted that they wished there were more visuals incorporated within the written text in this course. That got me thinking on how I could do this with my own connection. In our final project on flipped learning, one of my group members, Heidi, had used Bitstrips. She had incorporated them into her page on feedback of the flipped classroom and had used them to separate each portion of text. I think I got the inspiration to do my final connection from Heidi’s page. It allowed me to add images, but also expand on my thoughts.

      Have a great holiday break,

      Lisa

  5. emonks says:

    Like the comments above, I really enjoy your ‘walk through time’ for our course. You did a great job incorporating the mediums. Thanks for posting your thoughts this way!

    • Lisa Nevoral says:

      Hi Eileen,

      Thanks for your comments. I’m glad you liked the ‘walk through time’ portion of my final connection:)

      Lisa

  6. maubanel says:

    Great summary of the course. I always like breaking down the second (third?) wall in your piece. “Wait a minute, I was created by a web2.0 tool”. This lack of self awareness is all around us. We often take all of the technology we use for granted. We also conflate “new” with “technology”. We also give the benefit of the doubt that if it is newer, it is better.

    MarcA

    • Lisa Nevoral says:

      Hey Marc,

      Thanks for the message. Yes, I agree at times there is a lack of self awareness. I have been trying to really make a conscious effort to ask myself why I am using a certain technology/media, whether in class or life. As well, I ask myself why I am doing certain activities in class; do they have a purpose/function or am I just having students do busy work. Have a great break,

      Lisa

  7. I really enjoyed the points that make in your connections and the way you presented them! Very creative!

  8. troymoore says:

    I’m going to have to mirror Mike on this. Bitstrips has become the most annoying thing on social media ever, yet used in this context I see actual value in it. In fact, I think I may use it for my writing class to visualize what they have been writing about…thanks.

    • Lisa Nevoral says:

      Hi Troy,

      I think this may occur with many Web 2.0 tools. What use could they have in the classroom? For example, when we did the Rip.Mix.Feed activity, I wasn’t sure how I might use some of the tools, but then I saw some of our cohorts examples and thought of some ways. I am glad you were able to think of a way to use it in your writing class.

      Lisa

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