Multimodality and metacognitive instruction

Research 4 MULTIMODALITY AND METACOGNITIVE INSTRUCTION IN DEVELOPING TWO READING STRATEGIES by Sen & Towndrow.

• learners who move across two or more modes have opportunities to invent connections between them, which can lead to richer and deeper understandings. 

• As the elements in a multimodal text come together, it is possible to create meanings that could not have been expressed in a mono-modal text alone;

•  different modes-such as images, gestures, written language, and spoken language-each play a unique role in how they help the reader make meaning.

• (Gee and Hayes, 2011) state that multimodality is not new. They go on to

 Explain, “People of all cultures have always used a range of ways to represent ideas and communicate meaning through speech, writing, image, gesture and movement, music and sound.” 

Teaching With Multiple Modalities

Research 2: Teaching With Multiple Modalities by Phil Wilder- Read Write Think journal

When we know about the learning style habits of our students, we can use multiple modes of learning  to engage students in literacy activities in a  meaningful way.  We should not strive to put every mode in every lesson, but with multimodal resources, we can successfully hone their ability to learn.

• We should strive to move away from the traditional practices of teaching with one modality (typically linguistic) for all students in a lesson. Instead, if we  know that  our students learn in different ways, then we also need to teach students to process information through multiple modalities.

• Students should be encouraged to search for and use clips from news media, blogs, etc that replace traditional print, because these help to make comprehension of the text easier.

• A good strategy is to rotate students to write for the class blogs so everyone has a chance to have their work on the class blog.

• Try to get students to express themselves in as many ways as possible, visually, verbally and even musically.

• Writing should not only be restricted to complete essays or recounts, but also include letters to friends, lists, personal learning statements, truth statements etc.

Nobody Wants to Read Anymore!

Research 1: Nobody Wants to Read Anymore! Using a Multimodal Approach to Make Literature Engaging by Riki Thompson and Matthew McIlnay(2019)

In this article, Thompson and Mcllnay highlight concerns about changing reading habits, and they address the role of digital media in literacy practices, and the problem of adequate access to reading materials. Having found their research a bit concerning, I started to look closely at how they suggested teachers reinvogarate students’ interest in reading. My take from Thompson and Mcllnay’s article are as follows:

• In English language teaching (ELT) contexts, the use of visual texts  produced positive outcomes, including increasing student participation, improving reading comprehension, inspiring students’ motivation and building confidence.

• A panel of experts argue that the cause of the problem “is the way schools teach reading, with current instructional approaches relying upon outdated methods based on assumptions about learning (Wexler, 2018). Students who aren't interested should be assisted to connect rather than being alienated, and they should be made available materials, including ‘books from an array of genres and text types, magazines, the Internet, resource materials, and real-life documents’(Gambrell, 2011, p. 173).

• By allowing choice, children won’t view reading as a boring activity that is forced upon them.

• As a solution to the problem, they advocate for an eclectic mix of genres, formats and media, and attention to multiple communicative modes. 

• According to Ryu  (2016): ‘Graphic elements can easily lower learners’ emotional and intellectual barriers because a “picture can say a thousand words”’ (p. 64). 

Multimodal text benefits for Reading and Writing

In researching how multimodal reading activities can lead to improved writing skills, I came across this very profound relationship between reading and writing by  Braunger and Lewis, cited in Anggrainy, S(2016) .

 Braunger and Lewis (1997, p. 24) state that “writing leads to improved reading achievement, reading leads to better writing performance and combined instruction leads to a higher level of thinking than when either process is taught”. 

This really gave me an important insight into the value of multimodal reading for writing and vice versa. Indeed a win-win situation, and with the introduction of multi-modal texts, this positive gain for students can only be described as accelerated learning.

Multimodal Learning Strategies and Examples

Research 3:  Multimodal Learning Strategies and Examples by Laney Kennedy (2019)

This article gave me a really in depth understanding of multimodal learning strategies and how students can accelerate their learning as a result of the level of  engagement due to the variety of modes that students could use for meaningful learning.

• Multimodal learning in education means teaching concepts using multiple modes.

• Modes are channels of information, or anything that communicates meaning in some way, including: pictures,illustrations, audio, speech, writing and print, music, movement, gestures, facial expressions and colour.

•  One student might need as many visuals as possible, while another would swap a picture for a verbal explanation in a heartbeat. Other students need information in multiple formats for concepts to stick. This is why a multimodal approach to education is best.

• The following figure clearly illustrates the four modes that students use most often to make meaningful connections.

Figure 1: VARK model    Source: Kompas Muda

Visual learners  learn best by seeing, responding to visual cues like images, graphs or charts. 

Aural learners learn best by hearing, responding to auditory cues like verbal instruction, discussions or songs. 

Read/Write learners learn best by reading and writing, responding to written cues like lecture notes, books and cue cards. 

Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing, responding to tactile cues like movement, actions and real-life examples. 

Kennedy (2019) concludes,“A multimodal learning style works most effectively with many communication inputs, or modes. A multimodal learner will thrive in a comprehensive learning environment that uses visual, auditory and kinesthetic inputs — both verbal and non-verbal — including videos, images, actions, real-life examples and hands-on activities”.

Blog post #4 - Collecting of evidence and data

Having closely considered my school’s reading goal ie. 

To increase the number of ALL students reading at chronological age and an emphasis on acceleration in Yrs 1 & 2 students as well as Maori students in Yr 3 - 8 to be reading at chronological age, I have come up with my Inquiry topic:

If I used digital technology to increase student engagement, would that lead to accelerated learning in reading?

Having baseline data is always the best way to begin my inquiry. 

The following table shows 7 priority students from my Y5/6 class. Data included both March and June  eAsTTle reading results, PAT comprehension data as well as PAT vocabulary data.

STUDENT	GEN	ETH	eAsTTle March 2020	PAT  compr	PAT vocab	eAsTTle June 2020
EA(Y5)	M	M	2P	4	4	2P
FTK(Y5)	M	S	2P	3	3	2P
MMM(Y5)	F	M	2P	4	4	2P
PSJ	M	S	2A	3	5	3B
RHL(Y5)	M	CIM	2P	5	4	3P
TSAR(Y6)	M	CIM	2P	3	4	2A
WWD(Y5)	F	M	2P	3	3	3B

Blog post #4 - Collecting of evidence and data