Android and Me
After a year of using my HTC Hero, this post reflects on my use of Android and recommends apps that have become central to my life.
Up until last year I was not a huge user of mobile phones. I actually dislike speaking on the phone and send very few text messages. My main communications go through either social media or email. I used these sporadically on my ‘buggy’ Nokia N82 with varying success for 18 months. When it came to time to upgrade in July 2009 I explored other options instead of going for the next Nokia (Symbian OS) handset. The iPhone seemed very expensive and quite limited in terms of customisation (and I certainly like to make a phone fit with ‘me’) so looked at other options. After reading a few forums the term Android started to pop up. Still in it’s infancy (Android 1.5), it looked like it had promise, and included a limited selection of apps at the time such as third-party apps for Twitter and Facebook. I also liked the fact that the apps and social networks were not discrete and merged with each other as well as the OS being open source. I decided to take the plunge, ordered a HTC Hero, and never looked back. More…
Google Teacher Academy UK – A New Literacies Perspective
When I first started my career in education I considered myself a technologist. I was interested in anything digital and used technology in my everyday life. I also loved teaching ICT. However as my time in the classroom and my increasing research work moved on I became more focused on the literacy-based view of technology and in particular the work of New Literacies Studies (Street, 1997; Pahl and Rowsell, 2005), Multiliteracies (New London Group, 1996) and Critical Literacy (Comber, 2001). I have always had an intense interest in educational technology but in recent years I have been primarily viewing it through the lense of a range of communitive systems in which we engage and create meaning in the world – in short technology is part and parcel of being literate.
Photograph by Lisa Thumann
It was with mixed feelings that I applied for Google Teacher Academy UK. I knew it was primarily focused on ‘edtech’ and would have a large proportion of delegates who were technologists. As part of the ‘New Literacies Gang’ I felt I might have been out of place. However, I was keen to learn more and see what Google had to say. I produced a one minute application video (below) and was thrilled to be accepted as one of 50 delegates from across the globe. More…
Perceptions of Literacy – A fixed point
As part of my MA in New Literacy Studies I have been researching perceptions of literacy in relation the context of the original National Literacy Strategy. I will of course write a more in-depth post about my findings in due course but here is an initial report of what I discovered:
Perceptions of Literacy Study
View more presentations from Martin Waller.
Grim reading isn’t it? Of course the framework has been renewed and offers a much more pluralist approach to literacy education. However, some schools do still use the original strategy AND remain loyal to it’s deeply conservative ideology. We really are at a fixed point in how literacy is defined and taught in schools. More soon.
A developing storm…
I have always criticised the current government for the introduction of the National Literacy Strategy in Primary Schools and it’s narrow conception of literacy in society. I have always felt (and I’m not alone) that it reflected a certain ‘tradition’ of literacy and failed to adapt towards changing times. In 2006 I was pleased that the framework was renewed with a greater emphasis on speaking, listening and multimodality. Even aspects of film began to creep in – it was a step in the right direction.
The National Literacy Strategy was designed in the 1990s and subsequently renewed and adapted. Considerations were made and consultations led to a more appropriate framework to take into account the complexity and diversity of literacy in society. In contrast, the statutory National Curriculum which primary schools use, is now nearly twenty years out of date. It fails to reflect the global communication environment that we live in and has not been radically changed. I was therefore exceptionally pleased that the current Labour government were listening [again] and decided to review the entire primary curriculum led by Sir Jim Rose.
Sir Jim Rose actually did a good job of reviewing the curriculum and listened to a range of bodies, professionals and experts. I also worked with UKLA to write an evidence response for the primary review which highlighted the importance of digital technologies and new literacies in the curriculum which was considered and evident in the final report. The published areas for learning were appropriate and the guidance reflected a curriculum for the modern world. It was a big step in the right direction.
However, now that a general election has been called I have just discovered a rather alarming piece of information on the DCSF website regarding amendments that have been make to a recent bill of parliament. The following part of the bill has been blocked by opposition parties:
Reform of the primary curriculum – the reforms to the primary curriculum, following Sir Jim Rose’s extensive expert review, provide greater flexibility for schools to tailor teaching to the needs and interests of their children while also focusing on the basics of literacy, numeracy and ICT. [Source]
This therefore means that the new primary curriculum, a curriculum that reflects the changing communicative landscape of our society, has now been put on hold. After further investigation, mainly through outraged educationalists on Twitter, I have discovered that it is actually the Conservative party who have blocked the bill. They feel that their actions have blocked more bureaucracy for teachers. Could this be the same party who recently went on record to say:
“Most parents would rather their children had a traditional education, with children sitting in rows, learning the kings and queens of England, the great works of literature, proper mental arithmetic, algebra by the age of 11, modern foreign languages. That’s the best training of the mind and that’s how children will be able to compete” [Michael Grove, Shadow Children's Secretary - Source]
Sitting in rows immediately screams out ‘individuality’ and lack of collaboration – something which was a huge problem with the first National Literacy Strategy. The same party also want to ‘tell’ teachers what to teach via so-called experts who have never been in a classroom and have no idea about how children learn. They also stated:
“Academies which are not bound by the national curriculum and have freedom from bureaucratic intervention in running their schools have raised standards in some of the most deprived areas in the country” [Source]
This is all terribly contradictory and highlights how distanced politicians can be from the classroom. One the one hand the party are saying that they want to ask experts to decide on what teachers should teach and how they should do it. On the other hand they suggest that a more effective model would be to not use the national curriculum at all.
I am actually more concerned about the ‘traditionalist’ method of schooling the Conservatives want to introduce with children sitting in rows to ‘learn’ (probably by rote) poems and facts [Source]. Myself and other colleagues from the organisations such as the United Kingdom Literacy Association have worked tirelessly to promote the need to take account of new literacy practices in the classroom. We maintain that traditional aspects of literacy are still relevant and, indeed, important but by no means sufficient to provide children with the skills they need to participate in today’s society.
I have always looked at the changing horizons of literacy education in a positive light but this news suggests that a devastating storm is brewing.
New Literacy Studies 1 – Is the damage already done?
One of my main areas of interest/despair is the way in which the National Literacy Strategy has led to a narrow conception of what literacy actually is and how it should be taught in schools. I regularly talk about the way the strategy has focused on the acquisition of print-based decoding skills, completely ignoring multimodal analysis/production skills (even speaking and listening), which has in turn led teachers to believe that the idea of ‘schooled-literacy’ is the correct one. Of course we know that children bring different ways of looking at the world into the classroom through their experience of home, school, friendships, technologies and understanding of the world and the domains in which they move. In their cultures they experience a multiplicity of meaning making systems through, for example, social networking systems, text messaging, blogging and online gaming – most of which are ignored in the school curriculum. The renewed framework for teaching literacy (2006) did try to fix some of this but I fear that lasting damage has already been done.
What has also concerned me is that the original National Literacy strategy led to the creation of packaged schemes of work or ‘strategies for immediate impact’ on attainment to meet national standards through the teaching of specific ‘parts’ of writing. Such approaches conceptualise literacy as a set of discrete skills that can be taught in isolation, regardless of context. These dominant frameworks originate from the discipline of educational psychology and translate into reductionist pedagogical frames which promote teacher-centred transmission models of literacy curriculua (Larson and Marsh, 2005). A far cry from the literacy that children experience in their everyday life.
I have been reading, with great interest, the theory of New Literacy Studies which conceptualises literacy as a social practice rather than a progression of technical skills. New Literacy Studies recognises multiple literacies, varying across time and space (Street, 1984; 1997; 2003). Street has used the term ‘autonomous literacy’ which he suggests sees literacy in a reductionist manner in which it can be taught in similar ways across varying contexts in a value-free form, despite the very different needs and experiences of learners (Larson and Marsh, 2005). While the dominant models of literacy are not completely context-free I believe that such models or ‘quick-fix’ strategies towards ‘improving’ writing attainment compartmentalise writing into discrete skills and represent an autonomous view of literacy. Furthermore such strategies, or indeed packaged curricula, can realign the teacher as a ‘deliverer’ in the classroom and significantly alter their conception of literacy (see Crawford, 2004).
Street contrasts autonomous literacy with the notion of ‘ideological literacy’ which recognises multiple literacies rather than one standard literacy and that use of these literacies creates engagement with the real world and wider networks (Hall, 1998). In this sense literacy is not a single, essential thing with predictable consequences. It requires students to be able to discuss the basic choices being made in the kind of literacy they are learning (Street, 1997). Within this paradigm the role of digital technologies is therefore not on technical skills or adding technology as a ‘bolt-on’ but rather the cultural and critical ramifications of technology in society (Pahl and Rowsell, 2005). As a result the notion of embedding technology into the literacy curriculum becomes central to NLS. Digital technologies bring with them new text types that are, like many other texts of popular culture, multilayered and multifaceted. Therefore their place in the literacy curriculum becomes central.
This all seems so obvious. However, New Literacy Studies has failed to move significantly away from theory. It still seems distanced from the classroom, perhaps even misguided. Can literacy be truly ideological? Researchers of NLS use the concept of literacy events and practices to look at what people do with literacy and how they can inform educational practice. Literacy events were established by Heath as an occasion where written text and talk around that text constructs interpretations, extensions and meanings (Health, 1983). Street then expanded this idea to suggest that all literacy events have literacy practices embedded within them. He defines literacy practices as cultural practices in which the use of reading and/or writing are associated with given contexts (Street, 1997). There is a call for literacy events in schools to be meaningful and linked to real-world contexts – but how meaningful can they be if they were constructed and designed by a class teacher? That surely removes an element of authenticity?
In my next blog post I will talk about how New Literacy Studies can be applied to the classroom and build on work I will present at the ESRC Seminar Series on Virtual Worlds in May.
Ponyo – I’m as happy as can be
It’s been a long time since I posted on this blog – a reflection of my increased/hectic workload over the past weeks. In addition to this I have been without internet access for the whole first weekend of my half-term break.
Anyway, today I went to see one of the most charming films I have ever seen – Ponyo. It was written/animated/directed by the incredible Hayao Miyazaki, who created masterpieces such as My Neighbour Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle – films which I have used in the classroom before with great effect. Words can’t really describe Ponyo, but I did think this snippet of a review from the NY Times which came close:
The two were separated — as fated characters invariably are — but she’s found him. Now, as she races along the surface of huge peaking waves she has summoned up by the force of her power, Ponyo is expressing not only her bliss, but also ours [Source]
It really is an absolute marvel and pleasure to watch – it had much more impact than seeing Avatar in IMAX 3D. Go and see it now!
Anonymously Famous (thanks Ofsted)
I’m not a particularly huge fan of Ofsted. However I have just discovered some of my work has made it’s way into their Learning: Creative Approaches that Raise Standards report that was been recently published here. Although I am mentioned anonymously in the report there is a very small case study of a lesson Ofsted observed me teach during a creative learning survey inspection just over a year ago. It was based around multimodal analysis and production of writing with the stimulus of the Japanese anime My Neighbour Totoro.
They report that:
Examples of good practice encouraged pupils to make connections across traditional subject boundaries and to respond imaginatively to technology as a resource. This extended and reinforced pupils’ development as creative learners. The following example comes from one of the primary schools visited. Here an understanding of the choices made and techniques used in film-making enabled pupils to be analytical, collaborative and imaginative.
A snapshot of the lesson is then cited:
From criticism to creation
A Year 2 teacher combined reading and writing with other approaches to interpretation, evaluation and presentation. He encouraged pupils to make connections, ask questions and reflect critically on ideas and actions. He had chosen a Japanese film, My Neighbour Totoro, as the stimulus for learning, splitting the film into sections to study different aspects of the story. This session came as the culmination of work with pupils through which they had learnt to analyse film from the different standpoints of setting, sound, action and language. Discussion at the start of the session demonstrated that the pupils had a good understanding of these categories.
Each pupil was given a small whiteboard with the different categories as headings. During the first showing of the film clip, the teacher helped pupils identify key moments for focusing on the areas for analysis. During the second showing, pupils used the whiteboards to record their own responses across any categories they chose. They discussed their observations and evaluations, showing considerable knowledge and an ability to challenge each other constructively. They not only questioned and challenged each other’s responses to the clip ‘as film’; they showed curiosity and imagination in exploring the culture and assumptions that had shaped the film.
Finally, each pupil wrote an ending for the story they had been watching. The writing was highly imaginative, with a strong sense of place and, in many cases, a sophisticated vocabulary and range of expression.
Famous at last… in an anonymous fashion!
Pirates, Robots and Ideological Literacy
The slightly confusing title to this post sums up my slightly confused state regarding this blog. I have so many different things rushing around in my head at the moment that I sometimes forget to blog or simply cannot pick what to focus in on – life, literacy, work or just general observations of the world around me? For example today I have been thinking of the upcoming Pirate/Seven Seas themed week we are having at school, where I am really hoping to plan some ‘out of the ordinary’ stuff to really inspire my class. I’ve also discovered a really interesting way in which fans of one of my favourite TV shows Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles have utilised Web 2.0 technologies to try to revive the cancelled show. On top of that I am in the process of finishing off my first written assignment for the MA in New Literacies I am completing at the University of Sheffield and have lots of conflicting ideas about ideological literacy, of which I could post a series of blog posts about. So many different things – all linked to different areas of life…
Where do I start?
Next year I would like a… TARDIS (please)
I couldn’t let the major event of last week pass without writing a quick blog post. I’m not talking about the ‘big freeze’ but rather the finale to David Tennant’s association with Doctor Who. Most people who watch Doctor Who talk about who is ‘their’ Doctor – a large proportion of the people I know associate the show with the likes of Tom Baker and John Pertwee. I started watching the show when David Tennant took over the role of the Doctor, therefore most of the episodes I have seen feature him. It’s actually quite strange how you can become so attached to a series such as Doctor Who and when something like a complete change of cast happens it becomes quite significant. This is something that has been part of my life since 2005 and now the era has ended.
One of the most significant moments for me was when the Doctor went to see different companions at the end of the episode before he regenerated. The most poignant being when he visited the granddaughter of the woman he married and then the wedding of Donna, giving her a winning lottery ticket bought with a pound coin her late father had given him years before:
I am unsure what the new series will bring – it will probably be brilliant. However, this era will always be the one that I remember most as it has become part of my culture.
Venturing into Second Life
If you’ve been following me on Twitter or Facebook then there is a strong possibility that you will know I just got a new MacBook Pro. I dual booted it straight away so I could continue to use Windows but have found myself loading up the Windows side less and less. I appear to be converting to the ways of the Mac.
As previously mentioned I enjoy playing World of Warcraft (when time permits) but have had to stop over the past few months due to the fact that my ageing Windows XP computer has not been able to cope with running such complex graphics. I also feel I have been missing out on something else… Second Life – the alternate reality space where many of my digital literacy friends and colleagues choose to communicate and collaborate.
When I met Angela Thomas at the Centre for the Studies of New Literacies in July we had a long chat about Second Life and some of the fascinating stuff she is doing with Virtual Macbeth. I promised that I would sign up and take a look when I could and now that I have a MacBook Pro now seemed like the perfect opportunity. I was warned that one of the most important things to do was to change the default avatar, otherwise I would be labelled a noob (a person who is new and doesn’t know what they are doing). I have literally spent all day in Second Life trying to customise my avatar and make myself appear unique in the dense population of the virtual world. A population that derives very striking parallels to the real world – not least the fact that you have to use real money to buy clothes.
Above is the completed avatar that I use in Second Life, under the name of Multiplo Innovia. Do add me as a contact if you use Second Life as I could still do with a hand finding my way around!