1. Copy and paste a quote from each reading that causes you to have a strong reaction (agreement, disagreement, confusion...) and explain your reaction:
"I think that underlying this interest in assessment is the recognition of its importance in connecting new media assignments to broader curricular goals. As with print assignments, when we grade students' work we are assessing their success in achieving goals that we value and that, ideally, are made explicit to our students. How we evaluate and grade student work is - or should be - connected to everything else in the course, from the assignments themselves to the readings, the class activities, and the software we use.."After reading this article about the issues involving the assessment of writing in the new media, the issue of how to update assessments to accurately reflect the cohesive nature of a multimodal text into an accurate evaluation became clear. Previous evaluation methods of work, based in the pre-digital media age, applies "traditional" assessment methods to new writing skills; this, obviously, will not provide an accurate reflection of the students' work, if educators don't develop their assessment methods to identify the new values that are emerging from the new media.
Adapting familiar (read: standard/old) methods to the new media assignments is needed; while it's not beneficial to throw out the entire base of current assessment, we do have to be aware of our own tendencies to revert back to the "familiar" of the pre-technology standards. Given the myriad of technology available to students (websites, images, audio, etc.), it can be difficult to assess how well a project fits an assignment; to accommodate this, it is suggested that a more flexible evaluation method be in place to accommodate the varied nature of new media.
Educators need to develop updated rubrics to include elements that assess how the new media enhances or contributes to the development of the projects (e.g. how does a certain color and/or transition further a thought or concept).
2. Have you ever asked students to create a multimodal text? Have you ever created a multimodal text for a school-related assignment? Describe the assignment. What were the learning goals? How was it assessed? Do you feel that the assignment improved you or your students' comprehension of the content? Why? Why not?
I have had elementary students (5th grade) create a multimodal text in a group assignment where they researched a place that they would want to go for vacation. After researching (in both "traditional" books as well as online), I had them make short PowerPoint presentation to present to their peers. The learning goals in this project included introduction to how to locate and evaluate information as well as how to incorporate that information into a cohesive, logical format. At this learning level, the assessment was focused more on participation and location/evaluation of information; however, the project gave me the opportunity to see the positive effect that new media had on my students' enthusiasm, as they were able to personalize the projects with embellishments. I would say that it developed my students' comprehension as it activated a deeper level of understanding about the topics; not only were they able to read the information, they were also able to "experience" the data with images and with audio, allowing for multi-level learning. It also seemed to deepen the sense of ownership of the projects.
I have also created multimodal texts for my own school-related assignments. During my MAT program, I had the opportunity to create a presentation of data in my Action Research Project, which was the final project of the program. The evaluation of my ARP presentation was peer-based, and it included feedback with regard to both content and digital elements.
Another multimodal project that I recently completed was entitled "Equestrianism" (for EDUC 6809). The learning goals for this project were to develop a topic of personal interest to include design (with minimal words - 5 or less - and with images) to develop our readers' understanding of that topic via new media. The assessment of this project focused on the "readability" and graphics employed to enhance understanding. I believe that the graphics that I utilized improved the comprehension of the content, as there were nuances of the topic (e.g. varied equestrian events, complicated field courses) that most people aren't familiar with. In addition, I was able to include digital enhancements that personalized the project, allowing my audience to get to know me a bit better and allowing me to be more personally connected to my work (allowing for a deeper interest to develop in myself as well).
3. METAPHOR:
" A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes a subject by asserting that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise unrelated object. It is, put simply a figure of speech that compares two unlike things without using like or as..." (Wikipedia, 2014)
This metaphor example employs a potato to stand in for a person on a couch; this substitution of two unrelated things allows the viewer to see that a person is laying like a potato on a couch... resulting in a "couch potato." This is a pretty clever metaphor for a cable company (they are encouraging their customers to be "couch potatoes" and enjoy Comcast's services).
4. METONYMY:
"Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept..." (Wikipedia, 2014)
5. How does this reading help you think about the use of multimodal text to support writing and content area instruction in school?
There are many facets of the reading that I will employ with my classroom. The ideas on how to use multimodal text to broaden and deepen student comprehension. The readings also called to the forefront the need to develop assessment methods that take the diverse new media facets into account, as well as the caution to not fall into the trap of assigning a multimodal project yet reverting to merely assessing only the written portion of that project. In addition, I appreciate the highlight of ways to use (and how *not* to use) project enhancements, how we must be aware of how each element enhances and contributes to the meaning of the project.
Citations:
Content:
Metaphor. (2014, May 28). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 2, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor
Metonymy. (2014, May 16). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 2, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonymy
Sorapure, M. (n.d.). Between modes: Assessing student new media compositions. . Retrieved June 5, 2014, from http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/10.2/coverweb/sorapure/between_modes.pdf
Images:
Nunnery, Laura (2011). "Get Comfortable." [Image] Retrieved 2 June 2014, from http://lauranunnery.wordpress.com/
"McDonald's." (n.d.). Logopedia. Retrieved 8 June 2014, from http://aplangterms.wikispaces.com/metonymy
1)How does your thinking about the effects of digital media effects of school-based writing similar of different from that of your peers?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your quote as well about assessment. I like how you bring the awareness to familiar methods of assessment for the students. I feel it is important to make sure the students understand the assessment tool being used by the teacher for each assignment. If the student does fully understand how they are going to be assess how are they going to succeed in the assignment.
2) How does your thinking about school-based literacy instruction similar of different from that or your peers?
As you have a classroom you did a great job explaining how you have incorporated multimodal text into your classroom. I enjoyed reading about the project you had your students complete. I feel this was a great assignment to introduce to the students to give them a better understanding of the assignment.
3) If your thinking is similar, use a quote from the text that support your agreement.
“My own suggestion in this webtext involves another adaptation of familiar practices to the new
situation of student new media production. Rather than assessing individual modes in a
multimodal work, I suggest an assessment strategy that focuses on the effectiveness with which
modes such as image, text, and sound are brought together or, literally, composed.”
I feel you were able to do the above quote in your assignment you did with your class. You introduces this assignment and graded them more so on participation and the information gathered. You were able to give your students a better understanding of what they were researching.
I have to go to your very first sentence, " After reading this article about the issues involving the assessment of writing in the new media, the issue of how to update assessments to accurately reflect the cohesive nature of a multimodal text into an accurate evaluation became clear." I've also done a similar mulitmodal project like you described with your 5th grade classroom only mine were 10th grade biology students. I had mine interpret an ecological disaster within a specific field of science (biologist, ecologist, conservationist, etc…) Just like you, I found that the end product or PowerPoint poster helped them talk to their audience - "the scientific community" (aka classmates) about their point of view. The only problem I had was assessing creativity. I wanted them to be creative but I didn't know how to exactly assess it without it being subjective. After all some of us are analytical and some of us are artistic. I too thought that the readings and beginning to understand the difference between metonymy and metaphor, plus understanding what graphics are distractions gave me more of an understanding as to how to grade "creativity." If I can relay that same information back to my students, then I think they'll better understand that part of the rubric as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to push back on the idea that being analytical and being artistic (creative) are dichotomous. I think being "creative", which I define as helping people see the familiar in a new way requires analysis. I think creating metaphor metaphor and analogies require analysis. That is way having student create metaphor, metonymy can increase student conceptual understanding in math and science!!
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