Myers, J. & Beach, R. (2001, March). Hypermedia authoring as critical literacy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 44(6). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=/electronic/jaal/3-01_Column/index.html
As a proponent of critical literacy, I enjoyed reading this article. It is my belief that our world of media saturation requires a close look at the representations and agendas of media creators and distributors. In his introduction, Bertram Bruce invokes Kant when he says, “We are both empowered by our representations and limited by them. In today’s realm of learning technologies, we would say that representations provide both affordances and constraints for sense-making.” This is especially important when you are working with students to create hypermedia. Critical literacy involves the ability to ask questions like: What is really being said? What has been left out? What can I learn from and about this text/image/site/sound? It is tricky to teach students to question media without appearing to deride its value. One way to approach this is to provide different versions of the same content, for example, articles, stories, and web sites of a news event they are familiar with. Through discovery, they learn on their own that media often present slanted versions of events.
I really like the idea that Myers and Beach discuss regarding students’ use of hypermedia productions to foster critical analysis. The interactive nature of hypermedia projects practically ensures engagement. Teachers do need to provide guidance as students follow the many paths available in this type of inquiry. It is possible to become “lost in hyperspace,” and/or distracted by easy access to online videos and games. Scaffolding instruction in creating hypermedia productions might help students learn to focus. In addition, it might help if they keep a project book with notes of the process, so they can learn what works and what doesn’t. By giving them choices, using discovery learning, and scaffolding instruction, a hypermedia project is a great way to incorporate critical literacy into a class.
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April 8th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Rebecca,
Your conclusion about involving discovery learning, scaffolding instruction, and its implementation into a hypermedia project as a way to teach or facilitate critical literacy hit the nail on the head. I wish Myers and Beach has elaborated more on the importance of the role of scaffolded instruction and discovery. While they do discuss discovery on different levels, I believe the omission of the importance of personal reflection in the act of hypermedia authoring is worrisome.
Because, as you so eloquently stated, critical literacy is about asking the deep, meaningful questions, being able to answer questions which bring about critical thinking requires students to reflect inwardly on themselves, their beliefs, values and socially situated worlds. As students continue to answer questions about hypermedia that allow students to address what is being said, what’s not, and how the “text” is presented, they will become more critical, more reflective, and the cyclical nature will perpetuate itself.
Do you think reflection has a role in hypermedia authoring? I’ve delineated this conversation further on my blog; but on the surface, what do you think?
April 10th, 2007 at 11:38 am
I pretty much discussed the same issues in my post, but I may have missed the issue of heightened engagement in students as a result of critical involvement, which is of worth following up on as response to your post.
If I am not wrong, the authors noted that the students were more active when a critical element was employed in authoring hypermedia productions than not (e.g., putting together a website on a topic of common choice). Approaching an issue with a critical eye seems to foster greater involvement among the students as they relate to it in the process of gaining ownership and rewriting it. They are not regurgitating facts any more, but are reflecting and action upon them: the two most important components of Freire’s praxis. In this respect, a critical approach affords more effective learning outcomes in students as they are engaged in Bloom’s higher-order skills of analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating. This will not only reflect in their learning outcomes but also in a future where they will be better prepared to navigate through the ever-growing amount of information.