Formal Blog Task

Comics and graphic novels offer opportunities for learning in the classroom. Although, I have not experienced these opportunities on placement, but having discussed these texts amongst my peers in the seminar, made me realise how many different ways you could use these texts in the classroom, and the positive impacts they have on children. For example, we discussed that comics and graphic novels can be part of cross-curricular learning, such as in PSHE, and Literacy, by looking at bullying, because in my Simpsons comic, there was a story on Bart being bullied. The Comic Life program allows children to be creative, and demonstrate their language skills, as they can make their own comics, which is very exciting.

Some children have negative attitudes towards reading; such as reading is, “boring”, graphic novels are a great way to motivate young children to read (Crawford and Weiner, undated). This is evident in the increase of children reading comics, Clarkson and Betts (2007) found that, so far from 2003, reading comics is the most popular text amongst children, age between nine and eleven. One of the main reasons why reading comics has overtaken, reading stories and information books, is that most children enjoy reading comics more (Clarkson and Betts, 2007). From Year 5, children should be learning about how writers use language in comics, in order to understand, and interpret a vast range of texts (Department for Education and Skills, 2006). Therefore, comics should be used within the primary literacy curriculum because it does provide opportunities for learning.

Using comics and graphic novels develops children’s comprehension of texts, because the images allow children to build on their vocabulary, as expressions are clearly illustrated, which enables children to describe the feelings, the characters are experiencing, and then use the vocabulary in their writing (Bowkett and Hitchmand, 2012). The illustrations support the children in understanding the story (Bowkett and Hitchmand, 2012). Millard and Marsh (2001) found that 55% of children said that pictures in comics help them to reads words. This suggests giving children the opportunity to experience comics helps them to read. Stafford (2009) argues learning about comics allows children to compare this type of text from other media and other narrative forms, which develop their understanding of a range of texts. Studying comics in the classroom also allows children to understand the logical flow of stories, because the comic strips provide a logical sequence that needs to be followed in the correct order to understand stories (Frey and Fisher, 2008).

There are many more opportunities for learning by using comic and graphic novels. However, as teachers we need to check the content of the texts we are using, to make sure the comic or graphic novel that we intend to use with our class is appropriate to the age group we are teaching (Education Scotland, undated). It is important to understand that they should be used because readings skills develop, but they need to be approached with caution (Education Scotland, undated).

Bowkett, S. & Hitchmand, T. (2012) Using Comic Art to improve Speaking, Reading and Writing. Abingdon: David Fulton

Clarkson, R. & Betts, H. (2007) Research summary. Attitudes to reading at ages nine to eleven. [pdf] Available from: http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/RAQ01/RAQ01summary.pdf (Accessed: 30/01/14)

Crawford, P. & Weiner, S. (undated) Using graphic novels with children and teens. A guide for Teachers and Librarians. [pdf] Available from: http://www.scholastic.com/graphix/Scholastic_BoneDiscussion.pdf (Accessed: 30/01/14)

Department for Education and Skills. (2006) Primary Framework for literacy and mathematics. [pdf] Available from: http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/pdfs/2006-primary-national-strategy.pdf (Accessed: 30/01/14).

Education Scotland. (undated) Graphic Novels in the Curriculum. [www] Available from:  

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/g/graphicnovels/intro.asp (Accessed: 30/01/14)

Frey, N. & Fisher, D. (ed). (2008) Teaching Visual Literacy London: Sage

Millard, E. & Marsh, J. (2001) 'Sending Minnie the Minx Home: comics and reading choices'. Cambridge Journal of Education 31 (1). pp.25-38

Stafford, T. (2009) ‘Teaching Comics’ in: Duncan, D. (2009) Teaching Children’s Literature: Making stories work in the classroom. Abingdon: Routledge 

Blog Task 1: Sharing a professional stance

Over the past 20 years technology has made massive advances. The internet has gone from being used for official government use to being a modern day utility, accessed by a vast proportion of society. The advances in personal computers, laptops, net-books, iPads (the list could go on) is unprecedented and was wildly unpredictable.

I believe it is impossible to keep this technological advancement out of the classroom and would be a travesty if it was excluded from schools. Children are the future generation, they will be moving into a society rich in technology and therefore must be prepared to live, function and develop this technological society.

It is not only essential that children have access to technology but that they are taught how to use it effectively and safely! With an increase in technology it has lead to a development of inappropriate uses for this technology. Cyber bullying being one of the largest areas of concern, with 34% of young people being affected (DfE 2011), and child protection on the whole being an important part when teaching children how to use this technology safely.

I believe we cannot leave children in a place of technological naivety, they must be prepared for and aware of the uses and abuses of the digital society we live in.

Other than these abuses of technology, technology holds a wide multitude of different learning experiences and opportunities that we never had in years gone by. In my own time at primary school we had access to computers and towards the end we had some interactive whiteboards but still nothing to the level of today’s primary classroom. I myself find it hard to believe that schools coped without photocopiers or online registers, they seem common place in schools and have made practical elements of classroom management easier and less time consuming.

I am excited to be learning new way to bring ICT to life in the classroom and only have little concern over my personal understanding and confidence with technology. My main weakness and therefore aim of this module will be to learn how to incorporate technology in exciting ways, not just using it so children can research topics on Google.

DfE (2011) The protection of children online: a brief scoping review to identify vulnerable groups. London: DfE [online] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181476/CWRC-00085-2011.pdf (accessed 29/01/14)

The Tortoise and the Hare Comic Strip

After todays lecture this is the comic I have designed. I like the software and feel it is simple and gives a good reuslt. I think children in school would be very pleased with themselves if they were able to do this software and feel that they have created their own comics. However, the software, although simple, is very time consuming. It took me an hour to create this and I had to rush the ending. It would take children a lot longer and would need to be given time over a few weeks.

I think the use of this software could easily be incorportaed into english as they could design and write stories which they could then produce in a comic format.

Here is my first attempt to create a comic. I enjoyed using this software very much and learnt new skills. The disadvantage to using it is that you cannot place more than one image in the same box, which is frustrating. However this issue can be solved by creating the image you want in another document and inserting it to your comic. Considering it only took an hour, I am happy with what I have produced and can imagine teaching this to children as a fun activity that they will enjoy.

Grumpy Gran Comic.

This is a comic page that i made using comic life software. I also used the snipping tool software as a way of saving images and in order to copy the entire image of the comic.

Session 3 - Comic Life

This is my comic inspired by the Disney film Sleeping Beauty. I really enjoyed using Comic Life because it was easy to use but had opportunities to edit and 'play around' with the comic as I was creating it. This tool would be engaging for children to use providing them with endless opportunities to develop their ICT skills as well as their English.

Session 3 - Making a comic

I made this comic about the story of Little Red Riding Hood. I made the comic in the Comic Life Program. I enjoyed making my comic, because the program was very simple to use, and I intend to use this program in my teaching career.

Great resources Luke thanks for sharing these with your group I will copy and paste across to all groups later this week so that we can all share them. I had no idea that these types of comics were available online

Useful Comic Books/Graphic Novels

www.themangabible.com/‎

A manga adaptation of the bible. Reads a little odd sometimes as it was translated from English, to Japanese, to English again. But it's pretty... and DRAMATIC.

http://kingstonecomics.com/kingstone-bible

Traditional western-style comic adaptation of the bible. Excellent for boys, but this style generally doesn't appeal so much to girls. However, the stories will be much more accurate than the manga bible.

https://www.facebook.com/theactionbible

Probably a happy medium. Also has a few awesome hooks on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKvr3S9NSzU.

http://www.vimanikacomics.com/

Another really cool one for Hinduism.

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/g/graphicnovels/recommendednovels.asp?strReferringChannel=resources&strReferringPageID=tcm:4-621334-64

Link to some recommended graphic novels for the classroom, including adaptations of classic novels and playscripts.

CREATE YOUR OWN MARVEL COMIC, CLICK BELOW

Blog 1: Increased use of technology in the classroom.

Deferred gratification is one of my sticking points in the development of the digital native, it is a foundation for success in adult life. Constantly switching from one media to the next is likely counter-productive in working towards this goal but it's probably going to happen at home anyway, so yes, increased use of technology in the classroom is a positive step forward.

Growing up without the ability to delay your gratification can potentially have very negative effects not only for individuals but for society as a whole. There are also some recorded negative effects on attainment, something which will be discussed in relation to modern teaching methods, however; this is mostly a social behaviour concern (Wulfert, Block, Santa Ana, Rodrigues & Colsman, 2002).

This could be difficult to overcome as children raised with technology may actually just think differently from those of us who learned to use it later on. They develop what has previously been referred to as 'hypertext minds', thoughts that run parallel, not sequential. Benefits of increased technology use in the classroom are related to two aspects of brain function in the digital native. It takes 100 minutes of focussed attention a day, five days a week for five to ten weeks to make any changes to thought patterns, children's use of technology, even with split-attention could easily match these figures. This can lead to neuroplasticity and malleability of the brain which benefits tasks such as representational competence, visual-spacial skills, mental maps and attentional deployment or 'multi-tasking' (Prenski, 2001).

Lambirth (2003) is sympathetic towards the position teachers are in with regards to popular culture in schools, it is difficult to find a balancing point between culturally accepted teaching methods and the need for newer, more interactive and engaging methods. There is a stigma attached to digital natives in schools which I personally have heard many times, phrases such as "attention span of a gnat"; this is a rather negative outlook on what is potentially the future mindset of all children (Prenski, 2001). I personally have witnessed this lowered attention and its effect on quality of work during an animation topic I ran. The children were all very keen to use the Ipads and create a piece of work, however; they often paced on ahead with little regard for simple things that would affect the quality. I resolved this issue by using mini-plenaries modelling and sharing types of effective animation styles and capture methods, by allowing the children in interact and practice these had an overall better effect on their own work.

If children do now think differently from those of generations past, current teaching methods are potentially becoming more redundant. Merchant (2007) and Higgins, Xiao & Katsipetaki (2012) seem to agree with this statement, both urging for changes in the use of technology within the classroom. They agree that the use of technology should indeed increase within the classroom, but rather than replacing normal teaching it should be used to supplement and engage. They both place emphasis on using a varied and interesting range of technologies and how this will allow a greater depth of understanding, as well as the requirement for further exploration of these methods. There is also a clear message for the need to train and educate the teachers.

In conclusion, increased use of technology is a positive step forward in terms of meeting the children's needs, but there is still a general consensus that it needs to be used carefully to bring meaning to a solid core of real learning. 

Bibliography:

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

Lambirth, A. (2003) ‘”They get enough of that at home”: Understanding aversion to popular cultures in schools’ Reading 37(1) pp.9-13
Merchant, G. (2007) Writing the Future in the Digital Age. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford.
Prenski, M. (2001) 'Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do They Really Think Differently?' in On the Horizon. 9:6 NBC University Press:Online. http://britannia-spb.ru/downloads/Prensky-Digital-Natives-Digital-Immigrants-Part2.pdf.
Wulfert, E., Block, J., Santa Ana, E., Rodrigues, M. & Colsman, M. (2002) 'Delay of Gratification:
Impulsive Choices and Problem Behaviors in Early and Late Adolescence.' in Journal of Personality. 70:4 Blackwell Publishing: Malden.

Informal Blog Task 2

I agree with the student teacher that popular culture should be used in the classroom, and was positively surprised. Marsh et al (2005) found that, children develop skills, knowledge, and understanding of the world, by using popular culture. Furthermore, the student teacher argues using popular culture in the classroom, engages children, which is supported by Dean (2010), who argues that children are captivated into what they see, therefore, are motivated in their learning. Harrett and Benjamin (2009) found that children were enthusiastic to learn, because incorporating Doctor Who into the classroom made their writing, more meaningful and exciting.

The student teacher believes that using popular culture that children are interested in, motivates them to learn (Marsh et al, 2005). Motivation is one of the key reasons of why we use popular culture within the classroom. Marsh et al (2005) found that using popular culture in the classroom also supports, children progressing in speaking and listening, because of the language they are exposed too, and the quality of interaction they engage in with their peers.

The student teacher’s view is agreed with Flewitt (2005), who argued that multimodal literacies create meanings, that supports learning into real life contexts. Furthermore, the student teacher said that we need to check the media, before we show it to children to make sure, it is relevant to the age we are teaching, and it is only used if it enhances teaching and learning (Beauchamp, 2012). The student teacher illustrated this perfectly, with some examples; another example is checking the content of games, or even cartoons to make sure they are not too violent, because it can make them behave aggressively (Knorr, 2013). Past research has indicated that about 90% of movies, 68% of video games, 60% of TV shows, and 15% of music videos include some violence (Knorr, 2013).Therefore, as teachers it is our responsibility to check the media content first (Knorr, 2013).

Finally, the student teacher believes that we should use examples of positive role models from popular culture within the classroom (Anderson and Cavallaro, 2002). Anderson and Cavallaro (2002) found that children respond positively to heroes, as their role models, because of their unique skills that are portrayed in popular culture. Although, this would be a challenge for me, of using role models in the classroom, because of the lack of experience, but I want to take on this challenge, that the student teacher has mentioned, because it is key to support children’s learning.
 
Making the time to learn about children’s interest of popular culture, would be an implication for me, because I would need to manage my time effectively. Allowing my children to teach me, about their culture practices and interests, will support my practice, because I will have a better connection with the children I teach (Baker and Petrone, 2013). Although, I am a digital native like the children of today, it is important to learn from children, because we need to understand their interests, through their “native language” (Prensky, 2001).

Anderson, K. & Cavallaro, D. (2002) Parents or Pop Culture? Children’s Heroes and Role Models. [pdf] Available from: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~tmarra/class/anderson.pdf (Accessed: 23/01/14)

Baker, E. A. & Petrone, R. (2013) Youth, literacy, and popular culture: Implications for teachers. Voice of Literacy. Podcast, 02.12.13 http://www.voiceofliteracy.org/posts/54850 (Accessed: 23.01.14)
Beauchamp, G. (2012) ‘What is ICT in the Primary School?: Tools and Techniques’. ICT in the Primary School, From Pedagogy to Practice. Essex: Pearson Education Limited
Dean, G. ‘Rethinking Literacy’ in Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms London: Sage
Flewitt, R. (2005) Multimodal Literacies in the Early Years Technologies. [pdf] Available from:
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/my-esrc/grants/RES-000-22-2451/outputs/Read/6f850405-2340-4168-af34-bd9ba4107bff (Accessed: 22/01/14)
Harrett, J. & Benjamin, T. (2009) Travel with a Time Lord: Using Media to Enhance Literacy. [pdf] Available from: http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ860210 (Accessed: 23/01/14)
Knorr, C. (2013) Impact of Media Violence Tips. [www] Available from: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents/impact-media-violence-tips (Accessed: 23/01/14)
Marsh, J. Brooks, G. Hughes,  J. Ritchie, L. Roberts, S. & Wright, K. (2005) Digital beginnings: Young children’s use of popular culture, media and new technologies. [www] Available from:
http://arrts.gtcni.org.uk/gtcni/bitstream/2428/27212/1/DigitalBeginningsReport.pdf  (Accessed: 22/01/14)
Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do They Really Think Differently?. [pdf] Available from: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part2.pdf (Accessed: 23/01/14)

Welcome to our Media, Language and Multiliteracies/Multimedia and Technology Joint Module Blog!

We will be posting messages and uploading documents, links etc across the module and I look forward to reading your posts over the coming weeks.

Best wishes
Sandy, and Pam