Week 7 - Article Summaries

“Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education:  The Instructional Dynamics of Picture Books and Primary Classrooms”

By Dawnene D. Hassett and Jen Scott Curwood

The article, “Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education: The Instructional Dynamics of Picture Books and Primary Classrooms” details multimodal education, a new shift in understanding how 21^st century learners receive and interpret information.  Awareness and a focus are placed on the interpretation of how information is presented in a digital society versus the print-based education of the past.  Students need to decode image and text relationships, while teachers have to adopt new roles to help facilitate the learning process.  New teacher roles include maintaining reliable resources for student use, adopting a co-learning model between student and teacher, and consulting with students to provide feedback and a broader perspective.  Multimodal reading places importance on the various design choices made in the presentation of a book, specifically the use of color, line, shape, or texture to help construct meaning.  I find the crossover between ELA and art significant and fascinating.  Art students learn about the elements of art (line, shape, color, form, texture, and space), and principles of design.  Students take these concepts and learn how to critique and evaluate art based on the combination of these elements and principles.  Critiquing art and multimodal reading comprehension utilize the same skills.  Any visual learner can tap into these skills to better inform their comprehension process.   

"Using the ADDIE Model to Design Second Life Activities for Online Learners"

By Shiang-Kwei Wang and Hui-Yin Hsu

Second Life is a virtual environment, created with the intent to improve online learning motivation. Constructivist theory states that knowledge is constructed through experiences unique to the individual.  Second Life addresses the gaps in shared experiences in a virtual classroom environment, specifically student interaction. The constructed environment offers a unique, shared experience amongst students, which as the authors suggest, can positively effect the learning environment and desired learning outcomes.  The authors also describe some of the drawbacks of Second Life, which includes hardware issues of space and upgrade requirements, as well as public accessibility and limitations for creating secure environments.  Second Life definitely addresses a new educational need.  Online classes offer accessibility, however they often lack connectivity to the group.  Creating an environment that fosters collaboration in a natural way is a challenge due to the physical level of disconnection.  Second Life offers a solution to this problem.  The authors note the importance of goal setting when implementing Second Life in a learning environment.  The purpose is not to throw a technology tool at students for the sake of using one.  Well-constructed goals and outcomes should be established first to determine the benefits of creating a shared environment and experience.