When we learn to read, we each learn what letters look and sound like, how they work together, how to make meaning from the words, etc. At a certain point, we become "literate" in our native language and possibly other languages. But ultimately, the ability to read supports part of communication - the ability receive ideas from others. It also increases our confidence in being able to acquire new knowledge. When learning to be transliterate, we need to learn to recognize different literacies within various mediums, see how they work together, and learn how to move fluidly between continually evolving mediums. I'm not sure how we know when we "become" transliterate, but it seems that a certain level of confidence and the ability to move fluidly between different mediums is involved. It's been helpful for me to dissect transliteracy a bit, especially while teaching middle school students how to become more autonomous in their research skills. My students have many skills, but not all, that are needed to be transliterate in the 21st century. In this respect, they teach me as much as I teach them. However, transliteracy is not about teaching skills in isolation. Students need to learn different skills (like reading, writing, grammar, conventions, etc.) that can be applied and adjusted to diverse mediums. For example, being able to gather information on a particular topic from an article, blog, tweet, video, podcast, etc. requires knowing enough about how each work as well as the ability to move fluidly between them. But consuming information is not enough in today's society... students are creating and producing information in a variety of mediums. Even more media literacy and digital citizenship are needed. It's essential to incorporate methods to teach and practice transliteracy skills. I love these "throwback" pictures because they show students (who have already graduated from high school) practicing their use of media in order to learn the content at hand. These students have gone on, learned much more, and done much greater things with their own transliteracy, but they needed time in earlier years to practice without fear of judgement and with plenty of room to make mistakes and grow. Again, they've taught me as much as I've taught them. Sketchnoting, as a way to look at transliteracy, for this course has been an unexpected and interesting challenge for me. I frequently have my students do variations of sketchnotes to organize their notes and to communicate what they've learned. Here are some student samples from our last project: However, as soon as I needed to sketchnote my Action Research Journey for this course, I struggled with a lot of thoughts many of my students have previously expressed... "I can't (really) draw," "This is ugly," "This isn't good enough." So I "practiced what I preach" to my students. Yes, it took many iterations, but I'm practicing my transliteracy skills and taking notes along the way. I'm grateful for this experience to step into the shoes of my students. I've gathered more videos, explanations, etc. to support my students this next year to make sketchnoting an even greater part of my classes. Pictures of my Sketchnotes... I created these to help me wrap my mind around the processes I've experienced.
4 Comments
Joel
6/6/2020 09:34:44 am
I like how you said that students teach you as much as you teach them with relation to transliteracy. I love that part of being a teacher. Students have so much media and technology knowledge that my challenge is simply to open the door for them. Once this happens, the experience is usually very rewarding for both my students and myself.
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Jeremy Smith
6/6/2020 11:05:55 am
In third grade students are still learning to read in addition to reading to learn. I appreciate how you talk about how the fundamental skills of decoding, grammar, writing conventions, and vocabulary development are the building blocks upon which transliteracy is built. I think it's important in my own practice to realize that these fundamental skills are not a precursor to becoming transliterate, and that teaching language in the context of 21st century communication, (blogs, podcasts, social media platforms), can accelerate the acquisition of basic skills.
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Evrim
6/6/2020 01:54:30 pm
Even I say I can't draw when its an assignment, but when I am on my own, i love drawing. Just remember its whatever you want it to be, how you are going to remember it when looking back on your notes!
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Kirsten
6/7/2020 02:03:07 pm
I was in the same boat where sketch noting was a whole new ball game for me. I struggled with it too, but it was cool to see the end product and I think it would be a great tool to teach to students, especially students who are not the greatest writers or behind in writing skills.
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Megan BurtonInnovative Learning Archives
June 2020
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