Multiliteracies

The term 'multiliteracies' was coined to describe what constitutes literacy in today's world. Literacy has in the past had been centered on language, but with globalization and use of new technologies, literacy in the traditional sense is no longer relevant. We now encounter, use and interpret multiple kinds of literacies (visual, audio, graphical, spatial, gestural etc) which are embedded in multimodal text- meaning that is more than one way to communicate meaning (Cope and Kalanstzis, 2000). In order to achieve in the future, students now need to be literate (read and write) in multiliteracies whist often processing several modes of text (sometimes operating simultaneously) (CEO Sydney, 2010).

The multiliterate approach states that:

• Students should be taught the skills for all 5 semiotic systems- grammars of language, still and moving images, music and sound). 
• They will also need to produce text that use all 5 systems. For instance- email, video, powerpoint presentations etc. 
• Understand the purpose and ideal context for using multimodal forms. 
• Be critically literate- able to analyse texts through understanding how we construct and communicate information in our society and others, identify their origins and understand how they have been constructed in order to perceive their gaps, biases etc (Anstey & Bull, 2007).

Even from a young age, students should be taught basic multiliterate skills such as the 5 semiotic systems, producing their multimodal text and some critical literacy skills. During the lecture we were introduced to a variety of multiliteracies that I had never even heard of and left the class feeling excited about trying out these new tools for myself.
These included:

• Podcasts & Vodcasts: Podcasts are audio files which can come with accompanying text and/ or images. Vodcasts come in video form. They can be downloaded and played on computers or mobile devices like iPods. Users can subscribe to podcasts and receive new episodes automatically. I created my first Voki the other day which I have embedded on my main blog page. Voki allows teachers to choose different characters and their voices. Examples of use in education: podcasts and vodcasts for school radio stations (Shaw, 2010). Voki- can be used for narratives or engaging students before starting a new topic. Programs such as Blabberise allows students/teachers to record their voice and an avatar speaks for you. This is useful for protecting student identity online.  
• Digital Storytelling: Uses multimedia narratives such as a combination of text, images, audio and video. Examples of use in education: To help students practice writing narratives, the class could write a narrative and create a mulimodal story, or, teaching ESL students through simple narratives with programs such as Story Bird. Below is my first attempt at using Story Bird. 

• The Extremely Hungry Robot by krisparker on Storybird

• Social Sharing Services: Widely used in education and business. Users can share resources like text (scribd), photos (Flickr etc) and videos (You Tube, Teacher Tube etc) and audio files (AudioBoo).Examples of use in education: collaborative projects 

There are so many multimedia programs out there that can be used to engage and enrich students learning experiences in the classroom. Teachers need to be knowledgeable and capable enough to help their students develop essential multiliteracy skills in this global and technological world, otherwise, how do they expect their students to succeed?