Module 5:Multimodal Literacies

I found this module very practical and useful because it involved researching a range of apps and considering how useful they would be in the classroom. It was frustrating at times because a number of the apps it recommended we investigate weren't free.

One ofthe first activities involved using a voice-recording app such as Quick Voice to help develop reading fluency. I have used this function already in my yr 2 classroom with some chn with special needs. They record themselves reading a book, practising their spelling or reading blends & digraphs or sight words.  They can then listen to their recording and reflect on how they can improve. It is a very simple task but very engaging and achievable.  There are microphones available which attach easily to an iPod or iPad and which would improve recorded voice quality. The recording can be very easily emailed from within the app. This means that you could use Quick Voice as a means of recording an oral response to an assessment task, for example, and email & save the recording as evidence. 

Ebooks are a great resource for use on an iPad - although of the apps suggested in this module, only Mee Genius is free and therefore accessible for everyone.  I personally like reading on an iPad but it bothers me that chn spend so much time on devices like an iPad or iPod that many literally don't know how to interact with books - I have yr 2 children who actually don't know how to turn the pages on a book properly! 

We also looked at apps with embedded activities - for example Miss Spider. My impression of these sorts of apps is that there is no way of tracking what the chn have read or understood & how much of the text they have read before playing the built in games.  This means that chn can quite easily be distracted from reading & comprehending a text by playing the games. 

There are countless apps with word games - including Scrabble, Dragon Dream, Hangman. Again, I found that I need to spend more time searching for free apps because it's not economical to use apps that cost.

Reference apps - dictionary, thesaurus, wikipanion, to quote Shakespeare

Digital storytelling: narrating photos,  narrating & recording a story

Doodlecast, doink, comic strip, strip designer, toontastic, puppet pals, p. 12 website for digital storytelling 

Verses poetry, poetry magnets, 

Ebook creator, ebook magic, stor