This is my fourth round of EVO sessions. Back in 2008, I attended BaW, graduated and became a Webhead. I wrote about it here. Since then, every year when I looked at the EVO Call for Participation page, my cursor hovered over the Multiliteracies session. I let it hover, but I didn't click on the link. For me the Multiliteracies course was "advanced BaW" and I didn't feel I was ready. In the meantime, I finished a lot of courses that focused on how to use different applications, I participated in forums, I created blog posts, I let my PLN grow.
This year I clicked on the link. I guess I am still not ready, but here I am. Here I am, because I want to make sense of things. I want to explain to myself why I have become addicted, not to the internet itself (as my mom claims), but to online learning.
I find this little video by Dave Cormier very helpful:
Cormier says information is everywhere. I agree. Information is everywhere and my head is going to explode. There were times when I had to stop all my online activities and go into hiding, refraining from blogging and tweeting, even from turning on my computer.
Because information is everywhere, I tend to overeat. I wrote about it here. It shouldn't be that way. There has got to be a method that will help us sift and filter the information so that it becomes manageable. I came to Multiliteracies to learn that.
Being multiliterate involves a lot of skills. It is much more complicated than knowing how to create wiki pages and use different Web 2.0 applications. It is knowing when to speak and when to refrain from speaking (in order to reduce the overall level of noise), knowing when to read what other people have said and when to switch off your computer and reflect on what you have learnt. You first become multiliterate by learning hands-on, practical things, by plunging in and playing with other children, but to acquire a higher level of multiliteracy, you have to add a little theory in. Finally, you have to organise all the knowledge that you acquired online into your own system. The process is quite different from learning in "regular" schools.
There is one other big difference between conventional education and learning online: I believe that very soon there will be no two individuals who will know exactly the same things. Your education will become as unique as your fingerprints. And every time you share what you know with others, the collective intelligence will change too. It is a fascinating new land and we are the pioneers.
You're studying multiliteracies? I studied this topic at university, and it changed my view of literacy forever. Unfortunately, I've found very few teachers familiar with the concept.
ReplyDeleteIf you need any help, feel free to contact me via Twitter (@mgraffin). I'll keep an eye on your blog - I might learn something.
Hello dear Natasa,
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time at the EVO sessions and I feel like I have had the greatest opprtunity ever. I would never have the chance to meet and interact with so many incredible teachers as I'm having here. I'm grateful for that. Reading your post on week 1 I started to understand my feelings and could also preview what comes next. I won't be able to stop to think of everything I have read so far, yet, but I'm sure, my mind and the way I think of education will never be the same.
Thank you!!
Michael, thank you for offering help. I might need it. This is a five-week course and I suppose by the end of it I will have more questions than answers. But that is a start. The concept of multiliteracies is very complex. I thought being able to use Web 2.0 automatically made me multiliterate, but now I can see how wrong I was.
ReplyDeleteLuciana, I remember what it was like for me when I attended my first EVO session. You are right, your mind and the way you look at education will never be the same. Let's stick together, it is easier to learn that way:)
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