I’m at the International Reading Association convention in Minneapolis this week.  It’s only Monday, but I’ve already had the opportunity to hear some phenomenal presentations from literacy and language scholars.  It’s so exciting to hear about the research that has shaped the field – and to see the new directions in which it is going.

I gave my talk today, entitled “Teaching Visual Literacy Using Hypertextual Books.”  (For a PDF of the handout, click here).  I highlighted four changes in children’s literature, and talked with the audience about how we “read” multiple modes of representation.  These changes include (1) Words that express meaning through typesetting, (2) Interactive narration, (3) Images that carry and expand meaning, and (4) Multiple perspectives in a single story.  My advisor, Dawnene Hassett, has worked extensively to identify the interactive and multimodal elements of children’s literature and to situate these changes in sociocultural theory and new literacies.

The presentation today highlighted the children’s books themselves, noted the relevant learning theories that support their use in the classroom, and showcased research in K-3 classrooms to that effect.  At the end, I wondered aloud what the future directions of such interactive stories will be.  With touch-sensitive platforms like interactive whiteboards becoming a staple in many classrooms, what does that mean for such literature?  Maybe it will look like the stories on Starfall.com – or like Inanimate Alice.  Or maybe we’re still trying to figure out how the medium is the message… and what that means for interactive, multimodal stories in the classroom.

Be Sociable, Share!

•