Monday, December 7, 2015

Is there any hope of reflective reading in a digital paradigm?


(Critics) are not recognising or do not want to recognise that the former traditional approaches to alphabetic literacy through reading print are not meeting the needs of young people who read texts much differently than the generations of teachers and educators who are teaching them (Zipes, 2009, p. 42).


I am inclined to agree with Manuel and Carter (2015, p. 125).  I believe that a balance of print, multimodal and visual media will provide a rich experience for students; combining the contemporary and the classic in a well-rounded curriculum to meet both their individual needs and preferences (Manuel and Carter, 2015, p. 122), and the required reflective ‘expansion of thinking’ (Wolk as cited in Zipes, 2009, p. 31) to achieve educational outcomes.  Hutchinson, Bexchomer & Schmidt-Crawford (2012) have provided an example of how a teacher can blend purposes and tools by using a digital tool to teach print and digital literacy skills.  As teachers come from all age groups and backgrounds, the teacher librarian will need to provide a variety of sources and texts to assist them all, regardless of their level of experience.  The TL will also need to ‘value-add’ by being able to make suggestions about how to mix and match the tools and texts to effectively engage the students in deep learning.

References
Hutchinson, A., Bexchomer, B., & Schmidt-Crawford, D. (2012). Exploring the use of the iPad for literacy learning. Reading Teacher, 66(1), 15-23. doi:10.1002/TRTR.01090
Manuel, J., & Carter, D. (2015). Current and historical perspectives on Australian teenagers' reading practices and preferences. Ausralian Journal of Language and Literacy, 38(2), 115-128.
Zipes, J. (2009). Relentless progress: The reconfiguration of children's literature, fairy tales and storytelling (eBook ed.). Longon: Routledge.



No comments: