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| Note for teachers | Link to exercises for children |
Literacy in the New Media Age
"...as
reading and writing move from page to screen, literacy is not just a matter of
language but a matter of motivated multimedia design."
This description expresses best the essence of this course, which was borrowed from Jay L. Lemke as a summary of the book written by Gunther Kress: Literacy in the New Media Age. As an introduction a few thoughts are borrowed from Kress's book, which are then extended by the thoughts of the author, injecting further thoughts on programming, program design and desktop publishing - especially with respect to modalities of representations and interactivity - so that readers understand better why these specific issues emerge in the course, before readers get engaged more deeply with the material.
It is no longer possible to think about literacy in isolation, the century-long dominance of writing has now moved to the dominance of the image, as the dominance of the medium of the book moved to the dominance of the medium on the screen. These two together have produced revolutionary changes in the meaning of literacy and the associated means of representation and communication in every level and domain. There is a great difference between the world told and the world shown. The effects of the latter shift the relation of power in the present world of communication.
Text and picture is guided and determined by two different logics.
Texts
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Fig 1. Source: Huba Bálványos & László Sánta, 'Visual understanding and visual communication', Budapest Teacher Training College, 1991. It was produced on campus by using a typewriter and stencil re-production technique. |
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| Structure |
The structure of text – still based on the logics of speech – is controlled by the structure of time, and its temporary position depends on the time sequence of the elements. While talking, we say one thing after the other, utter one sound after the other, pronounce one word after the other and express one sentence or thought after the other. |
| Interpretation |
The words, as sequences of sounds or letters, which are in themselves objects with empty meanings that are filled with content by the reader (listener) depending on their own culture, emotions, experiences and imagination. At the same time, these seemingly empty objects need to be read following a very strict path, that cannot be over-ruled in order to be able to understand the whole meaning. It is the task of imagination to fill with meaning the words emerging after each other in order to merge these meanings and interpret them with respect to language structures. |
Pictures
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Fig 2. Source: Corel Draw 4.0 Clip Art Produced by vectorized digital technology. |
Fig 3. Source: Picasso 'Dora Maar' www.mojoportfolio.com/.../ picasso_page3.html Produced by digitalising photograph of painting. |
| Structure |
The organisation of the picture is determined by the two dimensional space and the logic of the picture elements simultaneously existing within. In visual representation the position of the elements bear meaning as well. If we place something in the middle, then obviously something else is relatively placed to the periphery, like there will be something under and above as well as to the right and to the left. But these relations obviously bear meanings. |
| Interpretation |
The picture bears a precise meaning, so it allows less space for imagination. Seemingly it can be read freely, however the meanings behind their position, use of colour, size, shape, all invoke a sort of attraction of attention and thus imply (without constrains) the sequence of interpretation. The role of imagination is to interpret the position of the elements that already possess some sort of meaning. |
Source: Gunther Kress, Literacy in the New Media Age, New York: Routledge, 2003.
Concise transfer of information
We definitely should not deny the need of imagination in interpreting writing as much as we detest the extent of formalism represented by the rules of text. The screen implies the logics of visual structure, thus text becomes one of the elements of the picture, resulting in a more free - picture like - reading scheme. One has to view the screen as a concise form of information transmission - like that of summary notes. The reader takes a screen-shot of it, thus the positioning bears information even though textual information gets less attention in itself.
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Fig 4. Slide produced by MS PowerPoint |
| Summarising thoughts into points are not the only forms of transmission. This is a rather rigid form of communication which follows the strict logics of writing. |
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Fig 5. Interactive idea map produced with Imagine |
| An idea map allows free-form expression and indicates less strict reading paths, where the fact that the elements are text or pictures does not really matter. |
Since authoring is simple, the reader can easily become a writer
The ability to read and write has always been in close relation to the tools of production. Technical developments always effected the mode of producing writing and consequently it also forms interpretation during the reading process. The richness of today's technological tools require the development of special abilities to produce written materials.
Computers facilitate cheap and easy ways of producing text and pictures. At the same time new media is able to invoke and integrate further effects. Simple ways are provided to produce pictures, animations and sound effects. Thus extending the two dimensional space with the dimension of time, one can produce more complex messages and effects. On the other hand, it is possible to overcome restrictions and create paths for reading that depend mainly on the reader through interactivity. The reader establishes a unique relationship with the message with respect to the route taken during reading and interpretation. Furthermore, the elements of the message - let that be text, picture, or even animation - can exist predetermined by behaviour patterns, and thus are able to live their own lives interactively within the space they invade.
To go further with these thoughts, the produced objects can even leave the digital empire of the computer in printed form, appear in a new form and be confronted with the challenges of 3 dimensions. The written text can transform into sound sequences and thus easily return to approach its original form. Thus the utterance of written text or the meaning of an uttered sound sequence can be paired by some appearing actions as a reaction.
The reader can thus easily become a writer, since he/she would be able to effectively create their own messages using available ICT tools. Messages can be represented and reactions to other messages can be created in return through e-mails, forums or web pages. Take care: this readiness can lead to simple re-use. The readiness by which messages can be found on the internet should not deprive the original writer from authorship, thus proper reference should be given to re-productions. At the same time we should not be discouraged from attempting our own developments, since we could be able to give our own interpretations and meanings by re-building the dissected elements depending on our own creativity and added values. So, do not be afraid of re-forming other's creations according to our own interpretations, but be respectful of the results achieved by others.
Aim of the activities
But what connection does all this have with the course material? A course usually has to transmit some kind of knowledge. At least this is what textbooks did and this is how we see education. But the text-books appearing nowadays are substituted or supplemented by workbooks to invoke action, that produce more effective learning. New media can even transform work-books by invoking more active participation from learners. The possibilities appearing by the use of new media force us to transform our educational materials into new ways that allow more motivation to be built into learning. Workbooks can be transformed into more active action-books through computers, that challenge and tempt explorations.
At the same time the simplicity of authoring systems allow the learners to be more than passive receivers, they can become active creators of absorbed knowledge: to express thoughts creatively, build scientific knowledge or favourite games with ease. All this can be achieved through mastering the basics of digital literacy, in this case, using the authoring tool: Imagine.
The cycle of digital literacy can be attained if both the writer and the reader - with respect to the conscious effects made on each other - are aware of the following:
- the aims that control creation as well as the cultural background let that be on the side of the author or the reader;
- all the characteristics, modes of digital creation, interpretation, effect and reaction of the elements that comprise the basic building blocks (e.g. text, picture, animation, sound and music,... etc.);
- the means of all authoring tools that allow the creation of desired constructions and effects, allow the development of interactivity and construction of models;
- the mode of transmission and distribution, the characteristics of the aimed audience, its temporary and divergent nature, the difference of paths taken during conscious construction, taking into consideration its cyclic characteristics as well.
All of these issues should be discussed with children while doing the exercises so that they become more aware and conscious of their own creations.
EXERCISES: It is advised to do these exercises with children.
REFERENCES
Gunther Kress, Literacy in the New Media Age, Routledge 2003.
