Of course, I missed the whole thing while I was trying to do my part to change the world amidst a busier than usual week. But at least I'm not at all bitter.
But there is an irony that we should read an article focused on the changing landscape of literature communication and do so on the same day as the inauguration of a man who ran his campaign on the basis of change. Change, to me is integral to survival, and the ones who survive are often the one's who are willing not to change completely, but to adapt their ways to a new era as opposed to clinging to outdated ideals.
I still know many educators who seem to believe that black and white textbook communication and lecture notes are the only true way to inform one's students. Some writers are tempted by the belief that a pen and paper is the only true art of literature that should stand to be recognized.
The article of today on the topic of multimodality and multisemiotics highlights a change in literature that should be embraced. As a species so blessed to experience and interpret reality through five different senses, we stand only to benefit by diversifying the way in which we communicate and inform. The integration of these senses through multisemiotic lesson planning allows students of different learning strengths to grasp a concept that they may struggle with had they been confined to just one form of experiencing a lesson.
McCloud's book is of particular interest here because he outlines the different ways in which a graphic writer can communicate a scene to an audience of readers. His book describes the graphics and text as partners that can play different roles from frame to frame. Some may communicate almost exclusively through picture, some may exclusively go through text; and often the two would make no sense at all without the other. In that sense, it can actually be a challenge to the reader to make good use of all the visual information at hand.
The same could apply in a classroom. A teacher's explanation may be very drawn out and difficult to understand if they didn't use a model, and likewise, the teaching model may be of no use if not accompanied by the thoughtful word of the teacher.
I watched most of the inauguration, and I'm glad I did. I may not have been there personally, but I think it will be good to say that I saw it live, and experienced history in the making. Just thought I would give you may two cents on that.
ReplyDeleteWhat you said about the classroom is interesting because I prefer my teachers to have models along with the "thoughtful word" of the teacher. Somehow, having different stimuli together makes information easier and more interesting to learn and interpret.
I must agree with both of you on the classroom analogy. I find the best teachers are the ones that use drawings, movies, and many movements and gestures to get the material across.
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