Week 5 Final Blog Task - Tessa Warn

Summarise your own significant learning from this module. Identify its implications for your future role as an English or IT subject leader. Make links to any relevant readings

This module has impacted the way I view the use of technology and popular culture in school massively. Before beginning the module I had very limited experience on the use of technology in schools, and had only seen a handful of moments in schools where it was used creatively. Many student teachers see the use of the interactive whiteboard as the only way that technology can be used successfully with a large number of pupils within the classroom. However, from completing this module I really feel that using new technologies is less daunting and a real possibility.

From the visit to Shirley Warren school where we used iPads in groups of 6 to create an online book I feel my perception of new technologies in the classroom really changed. Before this I was nervous about using new technologies but by the end of the day I was instructing a group of children about how best to use the technology and was very impressed with the final product that the class produced. A further change in my attitude and knowledge was highlighted to me when I first joined my placement school this year. I was shocked at the lack of technology within the school, and also at the lack of proficiency that the children had in regards to using computers. This was rare situation however, and does not match up to research by Halsey (2007) who highlights the fact that children rather than adults have more sophisticated knowledge of new technologies. From looking at this research it is even more important for me to increase the children’s digital literacy skills during my placement, as being digitally literate is going to be essential in our ever increasing technological world.  Before completing this module I don’t think that this element would have surprised me as much as it did, and I certainly wouldn’t have been as passionate or confident as I am now about improving the children’s skills when I begin to teach whole class lessons.

From the perspective of choosing to specialise in English I have learnt a considerable amount about how digital literacies and popular culture can be used to support children’s learning in this key curriculum subject. In regards to children that are considered reluctant readers or those children that find English a subject that they do not engage with – technology and popular culture can really support them to achieve. For example, from this module I have learnt to appreciate the fact that by having comics and graphic novels within the classroom, there can be a really positive change in the attitude to reading of reluctant readers. In a study by Millard & Marsh (2001) 86% of the 69 children that were interviewed said that they thought the stories in comics were more interesting than the ones included in books. This statistic could suggest how beneficial the introduction of this genre is on fostering a love of reading in all children.  Before this module I had never considered the impact that this genre could have on engaging children’s interest with reading, and it will definitely impact my future practice as a class teacher and English subject leader. I will aim to have a variety of genres within all classrooms, and encourage all children to take an assortment of texts home with them to read in their spare time. Further to this I really feel that as an English subject leader I would push the unity of the computing and English departments. Leu (2000) states that we can no longer ignore the impact that technology has on literacy, as the nature of literacy is constantly modified by the changes in technology and we therefore need to support this marriage of ideas within the classroom.

From working at Shirley Warren I can also see the value of using technologies to help aid differentiation within the classroom. During the activity that we supported on iPads, children of all abilities were able to get involved. Some took a lead role in compiling written text, and others filmed themselves speaking on a particular topic on the iPad. This really showed me how versatile this piece of equipment can be, and how all the children felt fully involved with the project – no matter where their strengths lied.  However, Higgins,S., Xiao, Z., and  Katsipataki, M. (2012) found that attainment is not directly increased with the use of technology in the classroom, instead it is dependent on the overall effectiveness of the teacher. This emphasises the need for appropriate training for all teachers on the different types of technologies available and the best ways to support the children in their class to use them effectively. I feel that as an English subject leader I would push for the children in the school to have access to iPads, as they are an invaluable source of education and insist that all staff get regular training on how best to use the technology in their lessons.

Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed this module, and feel that my future practice has benefitted from  it immensely.

Bibliography

Halsey, S. (2007) ‘Embracing emergent technologies and envisioning new ways of using them for

literacy learning in the primary classroom’ English Teaching: Practice and Critique 6 (2) pp.99-107

Higgins,S., Xiao, Z., and  Katsipataki, M. (2012)  The Impact of Digital Technology on Learning: A Summary for the Education Endowment Foundation[online]

http://learn.winchester.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/357892/mod_resource/content/1/Higgins%20et%20al%20Impact%20of%20Digital%20Technology%20on%20Learning.pdf (28.10.14)

Leu, D. (2000). Literacy and technology: Deictic consequences for literacy education in an information age. In M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, P. Pearson & R. Barr, (Eds.), Handbook of reading research: Volume III (pp. 743-770). New Jersey: L.Erlbaum Associates.

Millard, E. & Marsh, J. (2001) ‘Sending Minnie The Minx Home: Comics and Reading Choices’ Cambridge Journal of Education. 31, (1), 25-38