Considerations on the way we view literacy
The way we view literacy has changed in the past years. New literacies are closely connected to various communication practices, and can be addressed with the help of other media, such as radio, television, computers, etc (see the UNESCO report Literacy: an evolving concept). Although electronic communication has not (yet!) replaced paper-based literacy, it has become an element that has to be taken into consideration. But who is likely to benefit or be disadvantaged by the way we view literacy?
Educators, schools and countries that cannot afford to stay up to date with the technological world will definitely be disadvantaged and will continue to follow a paper-based literacy program. On the other hand, developed countries have now the choice of viewing literacy not just as the skills needed for reading, writing and basic mathematics. They can take into consideration all the computer-based interactions that are changing the way we view literacy.
When we choose to view literacy more than just printed text we have to explore the new contexts that electronic communication have created. Thus, graphics have become as important as the text they accompany, computer games have replaced reading books, online learning provides easy accessible education, and instant and mobile text messaging changed our writing conventions.
The podcasting project
In my particular contexts, as a teacher at a school in Bangkok, a reconceptualisation of literacy to incorporate new literacies could benefit my students to a certain extent. The key issue here is to incorporate new literacies in my teaching practice, but at the same time to continue with the paper-based literacy program. Although I think that, in the future, my students will benefit from being exposed to new literacies, they will “not have a future” if they cannot pass the national tests and university entrance exams that are written following a paper-based literacy program.
When it comes to the question of whether I have the knowledge required to implement new literacies in my teaching practice, I can confidently say that not only that I have good ICT skills, but I’m also a fast learner. The fact that I had previously created educational blogs and websites for my students helped me a lot in setting up my podcasting project.
As for my students, they have already been using computers for games and communicating with their friends via e-mail, so it wasn’t too difficult for them to understand how podcasting works. A special lesson in the IT lab familiarized the students with the podcasting blog and, in less than an hour, they knew how to listen to podcasts, how to add comments and how to surf the blog.
The main problem we had in the IT lab was the fact that only one computer had loudspeakers, so all the students had to listen to the same podcast at the same time. Because the students could also read the script of the podcasts, some chose to work ahead and read the next podcast, before we listened to it as a class. This happened especially with the students who were more skilled in using the blog and thus finished reading and writing the comments ahead of the class.
By doing the podcasting project with my students I had to use the IT lab more often. Thus, our usual class routine changed a little bit. Instead of working from books and writing in notebooks, the students were exposed to a different kind of learning. Nevertheless, they still practiced listening, reading and writing while using computers. They also had many technical questions to ask (such as, “Where do I have to click to publish my comment?), so they practiced their speaking skills too.
We could have practiced all these skills (except the IT ones) in our classroom by listening to CD, reading from books, copying the lesson from the whiteboard and talking about the chosen topic. The podcasting project showed me that there are other ways to teach these basic skills and, at the same time, expose students to new literacies.
In conclusion, the podcasting project helped me find new ways of teaching the four basic skills. Although I introduced computers in my lessons, the students didn’t miss out on any of our “traditional” lessons. On the contrary, they did a lot of listening, reading, writing and speaking. And last, but not least, they had loads of fun. By listening to their own voices their confidence also increased.
Researchers are now looking at the impact that video-podcasting will have on learning. This is something that I will follow closely. Until now I’ve used websites, blogs and podcasts in my teaching practice, so the next obvious step would be to experiment with vodcasting too.
