Multiliteracies in ELA Classrooms

The main idea that I got from the readings on web 2.0 is that of the Internet’s generation of a “participatory culture”. Certainly, I see the tremendous value in such a space of connectivity and collaboration, hyperlinking, and multimodality.

But then I think of other factors such as enacting identity and assuming agency. And things get a little murky, and questionable. The web is a tangled entity indeed.

I cannot shake off the events of Amanda Todd’s life and death. I am afraid to even get on some of the online forums for fear of seeing plentiful instances of trolling.

I had never even heard of this term until this week.

Certainly, the web, like the people that create and use it, can be a force for good and evil. I see our role as educators, beyond that of promoting literacy, as one that cultivates ethical and social responsibility.

I hope to learn ways of promoting empathy both on the web and outside of it.