Group+1

Group 1: Critiques of the theory of multiliteracies -Too many of types of literacies to effectively teach in a classroom, especially when technology is changing so quickly. -It is a lot more complex in the corporate world with media and technology. -Where does this general pedagogy start? Middle school? High school? College? It seems like it has a place in high schools as long as it does not take away too much from actual content learning. Do younger students have the cognitive capabilities for learning multiple literacies when they are simply struggling to read at all? (Teachers could incorporate more diverse types of literature to very young students). -Need for a more concrete model? http://newliteracies.com.au/what-are-new-literacies?/116/ - Is there a need to teach children how to IM or FaceBook chat? When the article was written this new "fad" needed to be taught or explained....today its part of everyday life.

Understanding the concept and evolution of the Multiliteracies literature since 1996 : []

Promises and Problems of Multiliteracies and Diverse Learners: [|http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15544800903076119#preview]

Multiliteracies: New Literacies, New Learning http://newlearningonline.com/~newlearn/wp-content/blogs.dir/35/files/2009/03/M-litsPaper13Apr08.pdf

More challenges associated with Multiliteracies: (from http://multiliteracies101.weebly.com/educational-opportunities-and-challenges.html)

1. Access: Students who have access to an education which exposes them to multiliteracies are at a distinct advantage over their peers who do not have access to a pedagogical approach which draws upon multiple literacies."

2. Training older teachers: "Teacher training and professional development has not always been strong, and as we become more dependent on multiliterary techniques, it may be necessary to do some backpedaling and train teachers on content and approaches that so many students are already familiar with in a casual way. With 47.8? of all American teachers aged 45 or older, support and district restructuring will be necessary to make American students fully proficient with multiliteracies – few of these teachers will have the skills and experience to prepare their students for the onslaught of multiliterate messages without formal training (PBS, n.d.)."

3. Dealing with multiliteracies that students understand more than teachers, and getting students to look at technology through different perspectives when they have been looking at them in only one way for their whole lives:

"Another element which is both a challenge and an opportunity is the nature of multiliteracies. Inherently, the presentation of mulitmedia content is more intriguing, interactive, and engaging than traditional text-based content. Youtube, facebook, blogs, asynchronous spaces, and other mutliliterate means of delivering information are all appealing to students, but it can be difficult to remove their preconceived notions and practices with these mediums when transferring them to the classroom environment."

This study explores the feasibility of multiliteracy perspective in the current era of increasingly complex technology:

"Early childhood designs for multiliterate techno tikes" Sandra Hesterma

In 1996, the New London Group presented their manifesto, Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures, advocating change in literacy teaching for the 21st century. The authors claimed that if students are to be equipped with skills necessary to meet the challenging and diverse demands of different forms of communication brought about by the introduction of new technologies, then a broader definition of literacy was required. As debate on information and communication technology integration and literacy definition intensifies, a more hotly contested topic engaging early childhood teachers is how they will accommodate these changes. How will early childhood education facilitate young children's use of ICT to support Multiliteracies learning? What will new literacies look like in their teaching programs? How will young students use ICT to learn in different ways? This study investigated how, a decade after the published manifesto, six West Australian teachers integrated ICT in ECE to support Multiliteracies learning. Six case studies, constructed over a nine-month period and employing ethnographic methodology with postmodern perspective, illustrated how different ECE curricular, pedagogical and classroom designs impact on the quality of students' learning. A cross case analysis of five themes common to all cases: definition, resources, support, pedagogy and program, provided insight to the challenges, considerations, and conditions teachers experience when supporting students' use of ICT and Multiliteracies learning. This study concluded that Early Childhood Designs for Multiliterate Techno Tikes are intrinsically entwined with teacher pedagogy and school culture. Ten Principles of Actions underpinning classroom exemplars were identified