Making Connections
My learning journey throughout this course has been both challenging and rewarding. This class not only provided me with new perspectives on the meaning of literacy, but it enabled me to make connections between the various writing and reading spaces and how their evolution has shaped the way we communicated, created meaning, and shared knowledge throughout history. As we explored the various modes of communications and knowledge transfer afforded by technological innovations, I feel as though I’ve gained a deeper understanding of Ong’s notion of second orality (Ong, 1982). Unlike primary orality, in which thinking processes have not been transformed by print and it is solely based on the spoken word, second orality enables literate people to communicate with written words, images, audio and other forms of media. By borrowing and reshaping elements of primary orality, in essence a form of remediation, communication can now occur through speech in conjunction with text and images, thereby extending our abilities to transfer knowledge and create meaning in multiple ways.
The benefits of incorporating audio-visual modes of communication, especially in education, were highlighted in Mary’s post “Orality and Literacy”. In her post, Mary discusses how some of her students have difficulties writing their thoughts on paper despite being able to share their ideas and knowledge in illuminated ways using oral communication. This observation supports Ong’s notion that writing can limit spontaneous thought creation as it forces the author to adhere to strict grammatical rules. As such, these constraints result in altering the author’s process of thinking and transforms “the human consciousness” (Ong, 1982, p. 78). However, introducing and encouraging various forms of communication in schools can improve learning experiences as it facilitates the expression of thought and meaning-making for multiple types of learners. In addition, it no longer places students at a disadvantage by forcing them to “fit” within a narrow definition of literacy.
The necessity to incorporate multiliteracies in education and change teaching and learning practices was made evident in Wesch’s video “A Vision of Students Today” (2008). When comparing how students communicate, exchange knowledge and learn inside and outside of the classroom, it becomes evident that pedagogical approaches no longer reflect students’ diverse ways of knowing and communicating. Unfortunately, despite the desire to learn, students are increasingly becoming less engaged in school. In her post “The Evolution of Digital Rectangles [Electronic Slides]”, Victoria clearly acknowledges this issue by stating that today’s audience can easily access and read information online, therefore why would a student “attend a talk to do the same thing?”. Therefore it is important to recognize that the simple introduction of technologies in the classroom will not capture students’ attention but rather how it is used. Instructors must seek new ways to bridge how students learn in-and-out of school such that they can create meaningful connections in ways that are relevant to their lives and provide them with opportunities to develop 21st century skills that will ensure success in their future (New London Group, 1996).
While I firmly believe that teaching multiliteracies in education is important, however, Rave’s Rip.Mix.Feed project really spoke to me because it placed multiliteracy in a different context, one that I had not considered previously. Through her presentation, she questioned how educators could introduce multiliteracies in ways that would make sense to students in Brunei. I found her post to be insightful because it had me really reflect on the purposes and aims of teaching multiliteracies. According to the New London Group (1996), multiliteracies can better prepare students to succeed in society and in the workplace. However, it seems important to note that “success” can have a different meaning in different cultures. Therefore, seeing as members of the New London Group were all from first world and English-speaking countries, I wonder to what extent their bias and cultural values shaped how they defined success and developed their theories.
What it means to be educated and literate has changed drastically throughout history. In today’s “information age”, being literate far surpasses the simple ability to read and write. Rather, it requires multiple skills, such as the ability to find information, determine its validity, and be able to understand, create and communicate using various modalities. The increased use of audio-visual modes has given rise to new forms of meaning, communication and representation. However, it is not to say that text should be replaced, as each of these technologies has their benefits and costs. Addressing Bolter’s (2001) question regarding whether or not audio-visual modes will overthrow text-based modes of communication seems daunting, seeing as it is impossible to predict what the future holds. Although, in my opinion, I don’t believe that the use of new media means the annihilation of their antecedents, but rather that it provides us with more choices and freedom in expressing our thoughts and knowledge.
References
Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print. Maywah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
New London Group. (1996) “A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures.” Harvard Educational Review 66(1), pp. 60-92.
Ong, W.J. (1982). Orality and Literacy: The technologizing of the word. London: Methuen.
Wesch, M. (2008). A Vision of Students Today [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o