The Wide Reading Program Returns

Last week the Wide Reading Program started back up for 2024. I had three classes (two year 8, one year 7) come into the library for their first lesson, where we explored the reasons why we are running the program and what the research says about the benefits of reading for pleasure:

During this lesson I ask students to fill out a survey to give me information about their perceived reading ability, their identity as readers, and their reading preferences. Here’s the results from the three classes I’ve seen so far.

There’s no real surprises here; short books, books with images, and books with connections to other media such as movies or TV shows are usually the top picks for my students. Series books are also identified as a popular choice, supporting the academic research in this space. While manga is generally the most popular genre in my library each year, many students aren’t actually aware of what it is, suggesting that dedicated lessons on manga and how to read it would be beneficial.

Their responses for the reader identity question also supports the research I’ve mentioned previously around teen reading habits, which suggests that by the time they reach high school they are increasingly ambivalent to the idea of reading as a leisure activity.

In this survey I ask students to tell me about the last book they’ve read as well as their favourite book. I also ask them to set themselves a reading goal for the year, and plan in a future lesson to get them to reflect on these goals while designing personalised bookmarks to help keep them on track.

This is only my third year running this program (and my first since graduating from the teacher-librarianship Master degree). There’s no formal curriculum to work with and the high staff turnover alongside constant interruptions in the library space have previously made it difficult to assess the program’s efficacy. Fingers crossed that this year I’ll be able to run it more consistently and I’ll be able to gather useful data to inform the program’s future activities.

ETL504 3.2 + 3.3: Applying Leadership Theory

Scenario:
Recreational borrowing is declining and students’ engagement with the fiction collection has decreased. The collection is currently shelved alphabetically. Genrefication of the fiction collection is being proposed as a strategy to address the issue.

Task:
A) Consider both internal (library) and external (school wide) factors in this element as a response to the change process

B) Identify one leadership style that will facilitate your chosen element to support the change process. Explain the leadership attributes that will be of most value.

 

External factors potentially leading to conflict over proposed genrefication could include:

  • Different or competing personal beliefs held by leaders and teachers regarding the role of the fiction collection
    • Possible solution: present summary of research into the benefits of fiction as a literary learning tool to support the curriculum; show connection between this research and the impacts that increased pleasure reading has on NAPLAN/HSC scores to align the project with the school’s Strategic Improvement Plan; show testimonials and data from other teacher-librarians or public librarians who have genrefied their collections to benefit their communities
  • Lack of communication opportunities
    • Possible solution: in addition to email communication which members of the leadership team can review in their own time, potentially schedule a meeting to present research and make a professional case for the genrefication of the fiction collection; briefly explain process and reasoning to whole staff at a meeting
  •  Limited available time and resources to genrefy the fiction collection (this is especially problematic given current staff shortages and workload issues!)
    • Possible solution: form a student library committee to a) increase student voice and ownership over the project and b) provide students with their own leadership opportunities (in my school, Student Voice is a key component of the Strategic Improvement Plan)

Internal factors which could potentially lead to conflict in this scenario are:

  • Lack of understanding about what genrefication is and how to undertake this process
    • Possible solution: undertake professional learning in this area, read professional articles (such as those in SCIS Connections), seek support from professional networks and other local libraries (both school and public libraries)

To implement a project such as this, I believe that a teacher-librarian would benefit from understanding both Transformational and Distributed leadership styles. We need to ensure that we have the support and buy-in of both official leaders and classroom teachers and can achieve this by providing them with the reasons why this project benefits them as individuals as well as the whole school community. Our colleagues would need to trust that we are capable of achieving this goal and so we would need to project our professionalism and base our plans in research and best-practice at all times. Leading this change by example is another way we can exhibit Transformational leadership. Empowering selected students to assist in the process of genrefication would also display elements of Distributed leadership.

ETL533 Assessment 4: Part D – Critical Reflection

My understanding of digital literature has grown significantly over the last few months. From my early definitions to the creation of my own narrative, I’ve gained a solid understanding of what digital literature is, why it’s beneficial and how it can be implemented to support my school.

My preliminary definitions of digital literature focused on the distinction between the digital and the digitised (Lysaught, 2022, July 19; Lysaught, 2022, July 25). As my research progressed I consolidated these distinctions by combining Unsworth’s (2006, p.2-3) and Allan’s (2017, p.22-23) categories (Lysaught, 2022, August 7). Like my peers (Curtis, 2022, July 19), I believe digital literature should be quality and meet community needs, which led me to consider what makes quality digital literature (Lysaught, 2022, August 14) and to design my own evaluation criteria where I determined three key aspects: multimodality, interactivity, and connectivity (Lysaught, 2022, August 28). Self-evaluations and peer feedback reveals – despite the amateur multimodal features – mine’s an effective, quality text suitable for its intended purpose and audience:

Evaluation of The Shakespeare Chronicles

However, defining digital literature is arguably less important to teacher-librarians than understanding how to incorporate it effectively. Digital literature provides exciting opportunities to move students from passive consumers to active creators of content  (Morra, 2013, para.2; Kitson, 2017, p.66), and as new technologies and communication tools emerge, students require new literacies to ensure they’re critically consuming and ethically creating texts (Walker et al., 2010, p.214-216; Kearney, 2011, p.169; Leu, 2011, p.6-8; Mills & Levido, 2011, p.80-81, 89; Leu et al., 2015, p.139-140; Serafini et al., 2015, p.23; Combes, 2016, p.4). In 2009 students spent an average four hours a day online (Weigel, 2009, p.38); by 2015 US teens consumed between 6-9 hours of media a day (Common Sense Media, 2015, para.6), while Australian teens now spend an average of 14.4 hours a week online (eSafety Commissioner, 2021, p.4). Digital literature therefore harnesses our students’ preferences and familiarity with technological platforms (Figueiredo & Bidarra, 2015, p.323; Skaines, 2010, p.100-104; Stepanic, 2022, p.2; Weigel, 2009, P.38). Digital literature incorporating interactivity, multimodality, and connectivity can develop ‘nöogenic narratives’ wherein personal growth is achieved by viewing our lives as a story (Hall, 2012, p.97), a key element of the English syllabus (NSW Standards Authority, 2019, p.10). Research shows that educators can exploit digital narratives to create meaningful and authentic learning opportunities for students to create personal and academic growth (Bjørgen, 2010, p.171-172; Dockter et al., 2010, p.419; Hall, 2012, p.99; Reid, 2013, p.38-41; Smeda et al., 2014, p.19; Sukovic, 2014, p.222-226).

However, educators must carefully consider the purpose of integrating digital narratives into their programmes. While research reveals digital texts’ benefits supporting young, emerging, or struggling readers and developing transliteracy (Tackvic, 2012, p.428; Cahill & McGill-Franzen, 2013, p.32-33; Matthews, 2014, p.29; McGeehan et al., 2018, p.58), others raise issues regarding reading comprehension, retention, and attention (Cull, 2011, para.35-38; Goodwin, 2013, p.79; Jabr, 2013, p.5-30; McGuire, 2015, para.30-35). Technology should be used as a meaningful tool, not just as a gimmick. Monsen (2016) explored the idea that we are “quintessentially cyborgs” due to the symbiotic relationship between humanity and technology. My research into digital learning frameworks such as the SAMR model (Lysaught, 2022, August 6) revealed that effective implementation of technology should not replace, but co-exist with and supplement existing print literacies. Printed choose-your-own-adventure narratives arguably improve literacy (Chooseco & Hofmann, 2016, para. 8-9) and can be updated using digital features to form powerful digital texts (Farber, 2015, para.1-2). Thus, my own digital narrative was designed as an immersive, interactive, multimodal resource to develop students’ understanding of life in Shakespearean England while supplementing traditional print resources and online information sources.

Throughout ETL533 I have examined how I currently incorporate digital literature into our school and considered ways to increase this in future (Lysaught, 2022, July 31; Lysaught, 2022, August 7; Lysaught, 2022, August 13). As discussed with my peers (Macey, 2022, September 24; Barnett, 2022, September 27; Facey, 2022, September 29) difficulties arise surrounding cost-effectiveness, storage, access, and user preferences that often impede digital literature’s success in schools. Despite these challenges, after creating my own digital narrative I strongly believe that student-created digital texts can enhance their own learning and connections to content, and integrate well with Guided Inquiry units and literary learning (Lysaught, 2022, January 27; Lysaught, 2022, August 14; Lysaught, 2022, September 3; Lysaught, 2022, September 16). Peer feedback also supports this (Lysaught, 2022, September 3). Due to this unit I am more aware of my students’ discussions around digital literature (Lysaught, 2022, July 25; Lysaught, 2022, August 28), revealing these are powerful texts with which students are already engaging. Literature in digital environments allows teacher-librarians to show our value to our school community, as we can support time-poor staff as they include more captivating, rich resources and utilise digital narratives to support our students with various interests and literacy needs.

 

 

Word count: 806

Reference list: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/10/04/etl533-assessment-4-reference-list/

ETL533 Assessment 4: Part A – Context For Digital Storytelling Project

The Shakespeare Chronicles is a digital choose-your-own-adventure narrative created using Canva. Also known as a pick-a-path story or a gamebook, these narratives were popular during the 1980s due to their interactivity and appearance of choice for children who otherwise lacked agency (Hendrix, 2011, para.29; Jamison, 2022, para.4). Falling out of favour due to the rise of video games in the 90s (Jamison, 2022, para.46), these printed narratives can be updated for new audiences and technologies in our electronic age by incorporating the digital features which once superseded them (Stuart, 2011, para.1-2; Figueiredo & Bidarra, 2015, p.330).

The Shakespeare Chronicles was designed to support EHS’s Year 7 English Guided Inquiry Design unit ‘Shakespeare’s Bawdy Mouth’. It can also be used to support revision for Stage 5 and 6 English students studying a variety of Shakespeare’s plays. In this narrative, students follow the adventures of an actor in Shakespeare’s theatre company. They are presented with choices to guide the narrative and learn about life in Shakespeare’s time. Utilising interactivity, multimodality, and connectivity – key elements of quality digital literature (Lysaught, 2022, August 28) – it supports students as they explore the following questions:

  1. How different or similar are our experiences to peoples’ experiences in Shakespeare’s time?
  2. Why is Shakespeare considered a significant composer?
  3. How can understanding Shakespeare’s works and the experiences of people living during his lifetime help us understand ourselves and our world?

Due to its historical focus, stage-appropriate language features and dual function as a research pathfinder, this resource allows teachers to meet multiple English and History outcomes, while the inclusion of ICT and the cause-and-effect nature of this interactive narrative allows staff to link to a number of General Capabilities:

This digital narrative taps into what Figueiredo and Bidarra (2015, p.324) call the ‘ludic’ or game-based learning model and draws on students’ predilections towards digital, interactive media (Figueiredo & Bidarra, 2015, p.323; Skaines, 2010, p.100-104; Stepanic, 2022, p.2; Weigel, 2009, P.38). Introduced in the Immerse inquiry stage as a resource to assist student engagement and build background knowledge (Kuhlthau  et al., 2012, p.61-66, 70; Maniotes, 2017, p.8), its secondary purpose as a research pathfinder supports students as they move into the Explore, Identify and Gather stages of Guided Inquiry (Kuhlthau  et al., 2012, p.75-82, 93-98, 109-116; Maniotes, 2017, p.8-9).

Currently the summative assessment for this unit requires students to produce three diary entries from the perspective of someone living during Shakespeare’s time, to be viewed and marked by a teacher. The Shakespeare Chronicles provides a model for students to create their own digital narrative, supporting their digital literacy and social development in interesting and relevant ways with an authentic audience of peers to promote engagement (Dockter et al., 2010, p.419-420; Weigel, 2009, p.40). Multimodal aspects build understanding of life during Shakespeare’s time, supporting students’ use of visual and auditory imagery in their own writing and moving students from consumers to creators of content – a key element of digital literature (Morra, 2013, para.2; Kitson, 2017, p.66).

In designing this resource, I considered the questions posed by Reid (2013, p.41) to ensure my community’s learning needs were being met. EHS is a comprehensive, co-educational public school in South-West Sydney. Enrolments increased 10% in the 2016-2020 period, though decreased in 2021 (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2021a). New housing developments changing our catchment demographics lowered our ICSEA score from 1017 in 2014 to 995 in 2021 (ACARA, 2021a). NAPLAN results are below average (ACARA, 2021b) while Sentral data shows increasing disengagement, with suspensions increasing 96.6% and expulsions 600% since 2014 (Sentral, 2021).

This digital narrative engages students visually and emotionally with the experiences of past people, supporting a variety of literacy needs and growing student independence (Foley, 2012, p.8; Cahill & McGill-Franzen, 2013, p.33, 35-36; Chooseco & Hoffman, 2016, para.8-9; Towndrow & Kogut, 2020, p.4, 14, 147-148). Access to 1:1 devices is limited to shared, bookable banks of often unreliable laptops or iPads, so the resource is accessible on a variety of devices (including student phones) via an easily shared Canva link and can be uploaded to subject learning platforms and the library website for future reference and to support social connection. While our students frequently engage with digital media, they often lack the skills to effectively navigate web content or critically evaluate online information; hyperlinked resources provide students with quality information to use in their own research. Teaching time is limited, as are student attention spans; a short narrative counteracts this peripatetic “grasshopper mind” (Weigel, 2009, p.38), though multiple pathways invite replay and continued enjoyment. Choice encourages interactivity and engagement (Hendrix, 2011, para.19, 29), aiming to overcome disengagement and encourage students to make personal connections with the content (Weigel, 2009, p.40; Bjørgen, 2010, p. 171; Hall, 2012, p.99; Lambert, 2012, p.37-38; Towndrow & Kogut, 2020, p.148).

 

 

Word count: 798

Reference list: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/10/04/etl533-assessment-4-reference-list/

ETL533 Assessment 3: Digital Storytelling Proposal

Working titles: Shakespeare’s Age and Stage OR The Shakespeare Chronicles OR Shakespeare Transformed

Topic: This digital storytelling project aims to help secondary students understand Shakespeare’s life and times through an interactive, multimodal choose-your-own-adventure digital narrative. 

Platform/tool: Canva

Rationale: 

This digital narrative is intended to support the EHS Stage 4 English unit Shakespeare’s Bawdy Mouth, where students explore Elizabethan England to gain an understanding of Shakespeare’s context and works. It could also be used as revision for Stage 5 or 6 English students studying a variety of Shakespearean plays. 

In this choose-your-own-adventure narrative, students will follow the adventures of a young actor in Shakespeare’s theatre company, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, as they prepare for the opening night of Macbeth in 1606. Students will be presented with choices to guide the narrative and learn about Shakespeare’s life and times. It aims to utilise the three elements of quality digital literature I’ve previously identified – interactivity, multimodality, and connectivity – to support students’ developing understandings. 

Ideally, this resource will also function as a research pathfinder, as student’s choices will be supplemented by hyperlinks to external resources in order to support literary learning and develop their information literacy skills. Currently, students are assessed on their knowledge of this unit via their composition of three diary entries from the perspective of someone in Shakespeare’s time. Students could potentially use this narrative as a model for their own digital diary entries, thus updating the task for a digital environment and supporting student learning needs in the 21st century.

I initially investigated PowerPoint and Microsoft Sway for this task but chose to use Canva for a variety of reasons.  I enjoyed using Microsoft Sway but its inability to link between pages meant that it wasn’t viable for a hyperlinked choose-your-own-adventure narrative. I am proficient with PowerPoint and could utilise many of its features to construct a hyperlinked narrative, but felt that Canva was easier and more appealing for Stage 4 students due to its user-friendly interface, cloud storage, collaborative potential and its wide database of images and graphics. It is also free to access for NSW Department of Education students via their student portal. However, I am finding it difficult to inset audio to different slides since Canva is limited to one audio file per design. 

You can view the work in progress here.

ETL533 Assessment 2 Part B: Critical Reflection of Digital Literature Experiences

In the light of your readings and your experience of different digital literatures write a critical reflection which considers the following issues:
• What makes a good digital text, what counts as one, and what purpose do digital texts serve?
• Compare your experience of reading digital texts with reading print.
• Choose the digital text you most enjoyed and discuss how you might incorporate it into a program at your institution.

As my research into digital literature has progressed, my understandings have simultaneously narrowed and blurred regarding this nebulous topic. I have encountered numerous definitions, categories, and subcategories in my research, including the commonly repeated broad distinction between the digital and the digitised (Strickland, n.d., para. 3; Hayles, 2007, para.10; Bourchardon & Heckman, 2012, p.1; Heckman & O’Sullivan, 2018, para.4). 

Many attempts to define digital literature have focused on what it is not. For instance, electronic literature is not something that can be printed (Strickland, n.d., para.3; Sargeant, 2015, p.455; Wright, 2019, para.2), thereby excluding e-books which digitise existing print texts (Writerful Books, n.d., para.10) as ‘paper-under-glass’ texts (Allan, 2017, p.22) which, while popular with publishers, do not take advantage of many potential features offered by emerging digital platforms (McGeehan et al., 2018, p.62-63). However, excluding these texts from discussions about digital literature arguably ignores their popularity and potential as learning and engagement tools, especially in schools; after all, this unit is called ‘Literature in Digital Environments’ and not ‘Digital Literature’ for a reason, and it would be unwise to eliminate digitised texts from discussion altogether. I personally prefer to read digitised e-books due to the ability to increase font size and define unknown words, yet my favoured features were missing from many of the digital texts I’ve explored so far (Lysaught, 2022a).

Other definitions focus on common features of digital texts, such as their exploitation of digital characteristics (Bourchardon & Heckman, 2012, p.1), their inherent multimodality (Walker et al., 2010, p.219; Mills & Levido, 2011, p.80; Heckman & O’Sullivan, 2018, para.11) or the way they use interactivity and connectivity to position the audience in the process of either constructing meaning or constructing the text itself (Serafini, 2013, p.403; Walsh, 2013, p.181; Bell, 2016, p.295-296; Wall, 2016, p.35; Allan, 2017, p.23-24). These multidimensional features allow readers a different experience to that of reading a traditional unidimensional printed text, with some research suggesting that changes to reading speed and navigation in digital environments can affect comprehension and memory (Jabr, 2013, para.10, 20). Lending data and anecdotal discussions in my school suggest printed texts have maintained their top position as preferred reading materials amongst both staff and students, though this may have more to do with digital poverty, lack of exposure and competing distractions on devices than the potential offered by digital texts.

Another useful categorical framework I used to structured my reviews resulted from my early combination (Lysaught, 2022b, para.2-3) of Allan (2017, p.22-23) and Unsworth’s (2006, p.2-3) distinctions between recontextualised or digitised literary texts, enhanced app or electronically augmented texts, and ‘born digital’ texts. However, my increased exposure to digital literature revealed that often digital narratives defy simplistics attempts at categorisation, with all three reviewed texts blurring boundaries depending on whose definition one applied (Lysaught, 2022c, 2022d, 2022e).

Inspired by my reviewed texts, I decided to play with the multimodal potential offered by this blog to create a word-cloud of my notes so far. Several key ideas emerge, including: a focus on the relationship between readers, authors, teachers and the act of reading; the relationship between technology and meaning-making processes; and new literacies focused on mixed media and formats such as digital devices and internet platforms.

As a result of this research, I conclude that quality digital literature involves the interplay of three core elements: multimodality, interactivity, and connectivity (whether to the world or content of the text and/or to other users and platforms). Early attempts to construct an evaluative criteria (Lysaught, 2022f) have solidified into the criteria below:

😍 = yes, love it!

🤔 = hmm … somewhat?

👎 = not really/not evident

Arguably, defining digital literature is less important in school contexts than how it can be used to support the needs, interests and abilities of the school community. I discussed in each review how these texts could effectively support teaching and learning in my school community (Lysaught, 2022c, 2022d, 2022e). Early in my journey I posited that teacher-librarians could be invaluable in aligning new pedagogies with innovative digital narratives to support time-poor staff (Lysaught, 2022g, 2022b). Anecdotal evidence suggests that digital literature is a powerful tool for engaging students as readers (Lysaught, 2022h). Moving forward, I am interested in harnessing digital literature and its associated social networking to motivate reluctant students (Lysaught, 2022a) as part of my Year 7 Wide Reading Program.

 

 

747 words.

Reference list:

Allan, C. (2017). Digital fiction: ‘Unruly object’ or literary artefact? English in Australia, 52(2), 21-27.

Bell, A. (2016). Interactional metalepsis and unnatural narratology. Narrative, 24(3), 294-310.

Bourchardon, S., & Heckman, D. (2012). Digital manipulability and digital literature. Electronic Book Review.

Hayles, K. (2007). Electronic literature: What is it? https://www.eliterature.org/pad/elp.html

Heckman, D., O’Sullivan, J. (2018). Electronic literature: contexts and poetics. Literary Studies in the Digital Age: An Evolving Anthology.

Jabr, F. (2013, April 11). The reading brain in the digital age: The science of paper versus screens. Scientific American.

Lysaught, D. (2022a, August 13). ETL533 3.2 Exploring digital forms. All you read is love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/13/etl533-3-2-exploring-digital-forms/

Lysaught, D. (2022b, August 7). ETL533 2.3: Challenges of using digital literature in the classroom. All you read is love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/07/etl533-2-3-challenges-of-using-digital-literature-in-the-classroom/

Lysaught, D. (2022c, August 28). ETL533 Assessment 2 Part A: Review 1 – Over the Top by The Canadian War Museum (n.d.). All you read is love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/28/etl533-assessment-2-part-a-review-1-over-the-top-by-the-canadian-war-museum-n-d/

Lysaught, D. (2022d, August 28). ETL533 Assessment 2 Part A: Review 2 – iPoe by iClassics Collection (2012-2015). All you read is love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/28/etl533-assessment-2-part-a-review-2-ipoe-by-iclassics-collection-2012-2015/

Lysaught, D. (2022e, August 28). ETL533 Assessment 2 Part A: Review 3 – Dracula Daily by Matt Kirkland (2021). All you read is love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/28/etl533-assessment-2-part-a-review-3-dracula-daily-by-matt-kirkland-2021/

Lysaught, D. (2022f, August 14). ETL533 Evaluating digital literature: Deeper considerations. All you read is love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/14/etl533-evaluating-digital-literature-deeper-considerations/

Lysaught, D. (2022g, July 19). ETL533 Evaluating digitally reproduced stories. All you read is love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/07/19/etl533-1-2-evaluating-digitally-reproduced-stories/

Lysaught, D. (2022h, July 25). ETL533 Assessment 1: Online reflective journal blog task. All you read is love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/07/25/etl533-assessment-1-online-reflective-journal-blog-task/

McGeehan, C., Chambers, S., & Nowakowski, J. (2018). Just because it’s digital, doesn’t mean it’s good: Evaluating digital picture books. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 34(2), 58-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2017.1399488

Mills, K.A., & Levido, A. (2011). iPed: pedagogy for digital text production. The Reading Teacher, 65(1), 80-91.

Sargeant, B. (2015). What is an ebook? What is a book app? And why should we care? An analysis of contemporary digital picture books. Children’s Literature in Education, 46(4), 454-466.

Serafini, F., Kachorsky, D. & Aguilera, E. (2015). Picture books 2.0: Transmedial features across narrative platforms. Journal of Children’s Literature, 41(2), 16-24.

Strickland, S. (n.d.). Born digital. Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69224/born-digital

Unsworth, L. (2006). E-literature for children: Enhancing digital literacy learning. Routledge.

Walker, S., Jameson, J., & Ryan, M. (2010). Skills and strategies for e-learning in a participatory culture (Ch. 15). In R. Sharpe, H. Beetham, & S. Freitas (Eds.), Rethinking learning for a digital age: How learners are shaping their own experiences (pp. 212-224). New York, NY: Routledge

Wall, J. (2016). Children’s literature in the digital world: how does multimodality support affective, aesthetic and critical response to narrative? by Alyson Simpson and Maureen Walsh. An extended abstract by June Wall. SCAN 35(3), 34-36.

Walsh, M. (2013). Literature in a digital environment (Ch. 13). In L. McDonald (Ed.), A literature companion for teachers. Marrickville, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA).

Wright, D. T. H. (2019, July 10). From Twitterbots to VR: 10 of the best examples of digital literature. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/from-twitterbots-to-vr-10-of-the-best-examples-of-digital-literature-110099

Writerful Books (n.d.). New $10,000 digital literature award. https://writerfulbooks.com/digital-literature-award/

ETL533 Assessment 2 Part A: Review 3 – Dracula Daily by Matt Kirkland (2021).

Dracula Daily (Kirkland, 2021) is an excellent example of a recontextualised or digitised literary text (Lysaught, 2022a). Kirkland has updated Stoker’s original 1897 Dracula for modern readers by recontextualising it as a narrative delivered episodically via a free email subscription. Dracula Daily conforms to many definitions of digitised works (Strickland, n.d.; Hayles, 2007, para.10; Bourchardon & Heckman, 2012, p1; Heckman & O’Sullivan, 2018, para.4), since Stoker’s original was conceived for the print medium. It might also be designated as a ‘paper-under-glass’ text (Allan, 2017, p.22). However, Kirkland’s recontextualisation cleverly utilises many features of the digital environment to enhance readers’ understanding, which is a key consideration when evaluating digital literature (Lysaught, 2022b) and not unique to ‘born digital’ texts.

Firstly, the novel’s content is largely unchanged, but Kirkland enhances the original’s epistolary form by delivering the narrative gradually to subscribers’ inboxes on the date each event occurred (Kirkland, 2022, para.1), helping readers build a sense of time. In the original, it feels like the characters speed through the plot. Dracula Daily is delivered in instalments from May to November, allowing readers to gain a sense of just how much time passes. This also builds on the original’s suspense – a key element of the Gothic genre, since readers must await the next instalment instead of reading ahead. Although this chronological delivery loses some of the original’s dramatic irony, footnotes in misordered entries remind readers of key plot points while the reader’s anticipation of the next portion emulates the characters’ anticipation as they put together the clues about Dracula. While not technically an interactive feature – an element important to digital literature (Lysaught, 2022b) – this digitised recontextualisation allows readers to form a closer vicarious connection to the characters and events than the original. 

Secondly, innovative use of email technology evokes the optimistic modernity present in Stoker’s novel. One of the key tensions in the original is the dichotomy between the modern and the traditional. By updating Stoker’s printed text to a digital environment, Kirkland has recaptured the sense of technological innovation that Mina, Jonathan and the others champion through their use of now-outdated communicative developments such as short-hand, phonographs, typewriters, and telegraphs.

Finally, Kirkland’s daily delivery and recontextualisation of Dracula in a digital format allows the expansion of the novel into other adjacent digital spaces. Towndrow and Kogut (2020, p.14, 148) argue that “digital storytelling is fundamentally an active social process” while Leu et al. (2011, p.6-8) posit that collaborative, social practices are one key difference between online and offline reading experiences. Likewise, Valenza and Stephens (2012, p.75-77) assert the relationship between author, reader, and text is evolving alongside the reading experience due to the rise of socially connected digital communities; Skaines agrees (2010, p.96, 102). Dracula Daily is popular on social media sites such as Twitter and Tumblr, with discussions expanding into new digital spaces and offering readers opportunities to connect with the text and other readers in ways Stoker could never have imagined. Stepanic (2022, p.2) notes Dracula Daily’s social media popularity taps into modern snark and meme culture. In an age of on-demand entertainment consumption, Dracula Daily harkens back to the days of ‘appointment viewing’ and allows for a flourishing “ecosystem” (Stepanic, 2022, p.2) of online content to develop, further enhancing readers’ engagement and interaction with the text in new contexts. It also democratises Stoker’s classic text, opening it up for interpretation and engagement with new audiences on new platforms.

Discussions about Dracula Daily on Twitter reveals that digital texts can move into adjacent digital spaces to enhance reader connectivity.

Likewise, Dracula Daily’s popularity on Tumblr democratises the original novel in digital spaces and keeps it relevant for modern audiences.

Dracula Daily reveals the potential for digital texts to move into adjacent online spaces and foster connection between readers and other texts, as seen through this meme.

However, this expansion into adjacent online spaces raises further questions around how we define and categorise digital texts. While I categorise Dracula Daily as a recontextualised or digitised literary text due to Kirkland’s transformation of the printed original to a digital environment, Kitson defines electronically augmented texts as ones where online resources expand opportunities for commentary, interpretation, and engagement  (2017, p.59). Dracula Daily could arguably be an electronically augmented text, highlighting the difficulty around defining nebulous digital literature. 

This text is certainly not without criticism. The email format and associated substack archive of past episodes is difficult to navigate, lacking the ability to move easily between posts. Kirkland’s digital reworking of Stoker’s original removes many peritextual elements which enhanced verisimilitude, such as the note explaining that all documents were truthful reflections of actual events. However, new peritextual features are added; each episode features funny captions which encourage the cynical, irreverent tone of the aforementioned online discussions and maintain the narrative’s relevance for modern audiences. 

The substack archive with its snarky, humorous subheading summaries of each episode’s content taps into modern attitudes towards reading.

Dracula Daily could potentially use more features offered by its new digital format, such as interactive maps, images, and sounds which could further enhance readers’ engagement and understanding. However, anecdotal discussions with students in my Year 11 English Extension class reveal it’s an engaging way to explore the original; recently I’ve enjoyed having my students run up excitedly to discuss the latest instalment. Dracula Daily could be a meaningful resource to study alongside Stoker’s Dracula, and can inspire similar recontextualisations with other texts as a learning activity to explore how we value literature and how responses to texts change over time.

 

 

814 words.

Reference list:

Allan, C. (2017). Digital fiction: ‘Unruly object’ or literary artefact? English in Australia, 52(2), 21-27.

Bourchardon, S., & Heckman, D. (2012). Digital manipulability and digital literature. Electronic Book Review.

Hayles, K. (2007). Electronic literature: What is it? https://www.eliterature.org/pad/elp.html

Heckman, D., O’Sullivan, J. (2018). Electronic literature: contexts and poetics. Literary Studies in the Digital Age: An Evolving Anthology.

Kirkland, M. (2021). Archive. Dracula Daily. https://draculadaily.substack.com/archive

Kirkland, M. (2022). About. Dracula Daily. https://draculadaily.substack.com/about

Kitson, L. (2017). Exploring opportunities for literary literacy with e-literature: To infinity and beyond. Australian Literacy Educators’ Association. Literacy Learning, 23(2), 58-68.

Leu, D. J. et al (2011). The new literacies of online reading comprehension: Expanding the literacy and learning curriculum. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(1), 5-14.

Lysaught, D. (2022a, August 7). ETL533 2.3: Challenges of using digital literature in the classroom. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/07/etl533-2-3-challenges-of-using-digital-literature-in-the-classroom/

Lysaught, D. (2022b, August 14). ETL533 Evaluating digital literature: Deeper considerations. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/14/etl533-evaluating-digital-literature-deeper-considerations/

Skaines, R. L. (2010). The shifting author-reader dynamic: online novel communities as a bridge from print to digital literature. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 16(1), 95–111.

Stepanic, S. (2022, May 20). ‘Dracula Daily’ reanimates the classic vampire novel for the age of memes and snark. The Conversation.

Strickland, S. (n.d.). Born digital. Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69224/born-digital

Towndrow, P. A., & Kogut, G. (2020). Digital storytelling for educative purposes: providing an evidence-base for classroom practice. Studies in Singapore Education: Research Innovation & Practice 1. Singapore: Springer.

Valenza, J. K., & Stephens, W. (2012). Reading remixed. Educational Leadership, 69(6), 75-78.

ETL533 Assessment 2 Part A: Review 2 – iPoe by iClassics Collection (2012-2015).

iPoe by iClassics Collection is a wonderful example of the second category of digital text defined by both Unsworth and Allan (Lysaught, 2022): an enhanced app or electronically augmented text. 

Published across three volumes between 2012-2015 for Apple and Android devices, iPoe is a creative augmentation of several Edgar Allan Poe texts alongside contextual information and details about the app designing process. Each volume recontextualises Poe’s original texts alongside interactive illustrations, music, and sound effects which effectively utilise the multimodal and interactive potential of digital environments to enhance the reader’s experience and understanding. This resource would suit our Year 8 unit on suspenseful stories, therefore I’ll focus on two texts relevant to this unit: The Tell-Tale Heart (vol.1) and The Raven (vol.2).

Unsworth defines electronically augmented literary texts as those which take traditionally published print texts and augment them with digital resources to “enhance and extend” the original (2006, p.2). This can be through the addition of digital features such as interactivity and multimodality (Walsh, 2013, p.187) or supplementary digital resources designed to extend commentary, discussion, and interpretation of the text (Kitson, 2017, p.59). Arguably, iPoe features both. Allan (2017, p.22) defines narrative apps as digital, interactive remediations of print narratives – a category into which iPoe seems to fit nicely. However, as with my other reviews (Lysaught, 2022), looking at iPoe from different angles raises questions regarding definition and categorisation of digital texts. Much like the paradoxical ‘ship of Theseus’, I wonder how much has to be changed before it is considered a new, ‘born digital’ text in its own right, since the combination of iPoe’s multimodal and supplementary features greatly enhanced my experience of Poe’s stories, especially through the app’s original artwork and soundtrack. Furthermore, iPoe could fit Unsworth’s sub-category of a linear e-narrative digitally originating text (2006, p.3-4), since it presents an illustrated traditional, linear narrative on screen. Clearly defining digital literature is not so clear!

The interactive multimodal features of iPoe are testament to the transformative potential of literature in digital environments. The iClassics website claims 85 minutes of original soundtrack by Teo Grimalt and Miquel Tejada, 185 sound effects and 95 original interactive illustrations by David G. Forés (iClassics Productions, 2018a, 2018b, 2018c) – reflecting that ‘authorship’ in digital contexts is often shared (Bowler et al., 2012, p.43). 

In The Raven, readers can touch the titular bird to hear it croak ‘Nevermore’, while their understanding of Gothic metonymy and atmosphere is enhanced through other sound effects such the knocking on the door, the fire’s crackling, the hinges creaking, and the wind’s howling. In one dramatic moment, touching the raven led to a shift in camera focus to the ponderous protagonist, while in another readers are invited to touch Lenore’s portrait; the subsequent cracking glass emphasised the protagonist’s fracturing mental state. Likewise, the penultimate image of the protagonist wavering alongside Lenore’s ephemeral ghost was a brilliant representation of grief.

Readers are invited to touch the characters, resulting in a perspective shift.

The ‘camera’ focus shifts to the ponderous protagonist.

Readers are invited to touch the photograph, with the ensuing cracking of the glass acting as an effective visual symbol of the protagonist’s fracturing state of mind.

The protagonist beseeches the reader, inviting their interaction…

… only to be reminded that he is forever haunted by Lenore’s ephemeral ghost.

These multimodal features similarly enhanced my experience reading The Tell-Tale Heart. The old man’s eye shifted into a vulture’s, supplementing the written text with the visuals. The interactive image of the old man, shivering under the reader’s watchful gaze, accentuated his fragility and aligned the reader with the protagonist’s perspective, as did the dark page where text could only be partially illuminated by moving the reader’s finger. The masterful soundtrack underscored the climactic moment of murder through its overwhelming crescendo and fading heartbeat. I experienced genuine discomfort as I watched a dolly zoom of the protagonist murdering the old man before literally turning his gaze to me. The protagonist’s increasing paranoia was stressed with visuals and associated sound effects, particularly when I was invited to touch a close-up of his panicked eyes. His final admission of guilt was brought to life through these multimodal elements – when readers touch the still-beating heart, bloody fingerprints appear on the page.

In this point of view shot, readers assume the position of the insane protagonist as he silently watches the fearful old man.

Readers are encouraged to run their finger over the screen, illuminating the text like the protagonist’s lamp illuminates the room.

The reader’s finger falls upon the old man’s ‘vulture’ eye – much like the protagonist’s lamp, emphasising the horror.

The reader watches as the protagonist murders the struggling old man …

… only to have the protagonist’s murderous gaze fall upon the reader!

Bloody fingerprints follow the protagonist’s confession.

Interactive, multimodal elements are supported by mobile features such as gyro-perspective, flash, and vibration ((iClassics Productions, 2018a, 2018b, 2018c), though I didn’t notice these to any great extent. Also, while some multimodal elements greatly enhanced my reading experience, others were distracting, such as the initial photo and the dismembered corpse in The Tell-Tale Heart. However, the contextual information amplified my understanding of Poe’s life, times, and works (James & Kock, 2013), p.108). 

However, logistical issues around cost, access, and other required technology should also be considered when evaluating digital texts for school libraries (Lysaught, 2022a). The app bundle cost $8.99 on the Apple Store, expensive to replicate on 1:1 devices. Aural elements required additional headphones and were fiddly, while constant review pop-ups interrupted immersion. Also, I couldn’t adjust the font size or define unknown words –  favoured features of digitised texts. Overall, I greatly enjoyed iPoe since it effectively utilised the multimodal and interactive potential of the digital format to enhance my understanding and engagement, especially compared with other gimmicky narrative apps such as Alice for the iPad (Lysaught, 2022b).

 

 

821 words.

Reference list:

Allan, C. (2017). Digital fiction: ‘Unruly object’ or literary artefact? English in Australia, 52(2), 21-27.

Bowler, L., Morris, R., Cheng, I-L., Al-Issa, R., Romine, B., & Leiberling, L. (2012). Multimodal stories: LIS students explore reading, literacy, and library service through the lens of “The 39 Clues”. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 53(1), 32-48.

iClassics Productions (2018a). Deliciously dark, devilishly fun. http://iclassicscollection.com/en/project/ipoe1/

iClassics Productions (2018b). Ravings of love & death. http://iclassicscollection.com/en/project/ipoe2/

iClassics Productions (2018c). The master of macabre returns. http://iclassicscollection.com/en/project/ipoe3/

James, R. & de Kock, L. (2013). The digital David and the Gutenberg Goliath: The rise of the enhanced e-book. English Academy Review: Southern African Journal of English Studies, 30(1), 107-123.

Kitson, L. (2017). Exploring opportunities for literary literacy with e-literature: To infinity and beyond. Australian Literacy Educators’ Association. Literacy Learning, 23(2), 58-68.

Lysaught, D. (2022a, August 14). ETL533 Evaluating Digital Literature: Deeper Considerations. All you read is love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/14/etl533-evaluating-digital-literature-deeper-considerations/

Lysaught, D. (2022b, August 13). ETL533 3.2: Exploring Digital Forms. All you read is love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/13/etl533-3-2-exploring-digital-forms/

Unsworth, L. (2006). E-literature for children: Enhancing digital literacy learning. Routledge.

Walsh, M. (2013). Literature in a digital environment (Ch. 13). In L. McDonald (Ed.), A literature companion for teachers. Marrickville, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA).

ETL533 Assessment 2 Part A: Review 1 – Over the Top by The Canadian War Museum (n.d.)

Unsworth’s (2006, p.2-3) and Allan’s (2017, p.22-23) three main categories of digital texts provided me with a structural framework for this assessment. As such, each review will focus on one format of digital literature:

  1. A recontextualised or digitised literary text
  2. An enhanced app or electronically augmented text
  3. A ‘born digital’ text.

Over The Top by the Canadian War Museum is a fine example of the third category. This digitally originating narrative updates the choose-your-own-adventure format, allowing readers to electronically explore life in World War I trenches. Multimodal moving visuals and sound effects support readers’ understanding of the 1916 Battle of the Somme, as do interactive choices leading to a variety of possible outcomes and emphasising the difficult decisions faced by soldiers. Based on eyewitness historical accounts, Over The Top successfully utilises digital features to teach students about conditions in WWI while simultaneously developing their empathy and literacy skills. 

‘Born digital’ texts are created for and on digital devices and mix different systems and media to make meaning for their audience (Di Rosario, n.d., 1:10-1:59; Hayles, 2007, para.10; Kitson, 2017, p.59): “if it could possibly be printed out, it isn’t e-lit” (Strickland, n.d., para.3). Over The Top is a browser-based interactive narrative which cannot be printed, thus fitting the definition of a ‘born digital’ text. Unsworth further subdivides digitally originating texts (2006, p.3-4), and Over The Top’s features potentially fall into his hypermedia narrative sub-category due to its combination of hyperlinks, text, and images. However, its prominent interactivity raises questions about the distinction between digital literature and games (Strickland, n.d., para.4, 8; Sargeant, 2015, p.461-463; Kitson, 2017, p.59, 66). Hayles notes that in games users interpret in order to configure while digital narratives allow the user to configure in order to interpret  (2007, para.16); as such, Over The Top is not a game. As with the other three texts examined for this task (Lysaught, 2022), attempts to categorise Over The Top reveal that defining digital literature is no easy task.

Lambert (2012, p.37-38) notes that a key component of the Center for Digital Storyteling’s definition of digital stories is reader participation and ownership of a text. Over The Top successfully utilises what I consider the three core elements of digital literature – mutlimodality, interactivity, and connectivity (Lysaught, 2022) – to ensure active participation in the text’s construction. It begins with the option to enter the reader’s name alongside a friend’s name; this personalisation creates immediate connection between reader and text, allowing for stronger vicarious engagement with the narrative’s content.

Over The Top invites personalisation and immersive interactivity

This vicarious engagement is furthered by the use of second person ‘you’, a common feature of traditional choose-your-own-adventure narratives (Morse, 2019, para.9-16). An optional narrator’s voice-over reads the written text to the audience, supporting a wide range of literacy ability levels. Moving images are supplemented by sound effects such as the wind and explosions to further enhance engagement and understanding. Hyperlinks encourage readers to define unfamiliar words such as ‘dugout’ or ‘duck-board’, developing their understanding of historical metalanguage. Walsh (2013, p.187) notes that non-linear story progression is a feature made possible in digital environments; navigation between pages in Over The Top is easy, as readers can click arrows to advance the story or move backwards, while multiple possible endings expand on traditional linear narrative structures. If the reader’s ‘character’ dies, they are invited to replay and explore the outcomes of different choices, promoting multiple read-throughs and supporting what Bell calls interactional media-specific metalepsis wherein multiple reading paths encourage multiple analytical perspectives by the reader, leading to their immersion in narrative content and new interpretations in new contexts (2016, p.295-6). This non-linear reading behaviour taps into trends regarding engagement with texts in digital environments, as both Cull (2011, para.58) and Liu (2005, p.707) note that non-linear reading has increased and is affecting the way readers understand and interact with digital texts. 

Readers are presented with multimodal image, sound, and text to support their understanding.

Readers must choose to progress the story, inviting interactional media-specific metalepsis which promotes immersion.

The outcome of choice 1: the reader lives and continues to progress with the story.

Strong textual features supported by visuals and sound elements enhance immersion.

Readers are invited to replay.

Logistically, this is an easy to access, free resource that is suitable for a variety of literacy abilities. It is supported by teacher notes and, despite its focus on the Canadian experience, has strong links to the current NSW History Stage 5 topic Australians at War (WWI), while its excellent literary qualities support use in English classrooms. Teachers would need to have access to a bank of laptop or desktop devices to utilise this resource in the classroom and would find it a useful digital narrative to use in conjunction with other historical sources. 

 

 

732 words.

Reference List:

Allan, C. (2017). Digital fiction: ‘Unruly object’ or literary artefact? English in Australia, 52(2), 21-27.

Bell, A. (2016). Interactional metalepsis and unnatural narratology. Narrative, 24(3), 294-310.

Canadian War Museum (n.d.). Over the top. https://www.warmuseum.ca/overthetop/

Cull, B. W. (2011). Reading revolutions: online digital text and implications for reading in academe. First Monday, 16(6). http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3340/2985

Di Rosario, G. (n.d.). Are pixels the future of literature? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CAaoWcknvM

Hayles, K. (2007). Electronic literature: what is it? https://www.eliterature.org/pad/elp.html

Kitson, L. (2017). Exploring opportunities for literary literacy with e-literature: To infinity and beyond. Australian Literacy Educators’ Association. Literacy Learning, 23(2), 58-68.

Lambert, J. (2012). Digital storytelling: capturing lives, creating community. Routledge.

Liu, Z. (2005). Reading behavior in the digital environment: Changes in reading behavior over the past ten years. Journal of Documentation, 61(6), 700-712.

Lysaught, D. (2022). ???. All you read is love.

Morse, L. (2019, November 30). How to write a choose-your-own-adventure story: all protagonist POV, all the time. Medium.
https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-write-a-choose-your-own-adventure-story-9d353fa84ce4

Sargeant, B. (2015). What is an ebook? What is a book app? And why should we care? An analysis of contemporary digital picture books. Children’s Literature in Education, 46(4), 454-466.

Strickland, S. (n.d.). Born digital. Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69224/born-digital

Unsworth, L. (2006). E-literature for children: Enhancing digital literacy learning. Routledge.

Walsh, M. (2013). Literature in a digital environment (Ch. 13). In L. McDonald (Ed.), A literature companion for teachers. Marrickville, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA).

ETL533 3.2: Exploring Digital Forms

Explore innovative digital literature sites. What did you enjoy most? How could you incorporate social networking sites for literature organisation and access, such as Inside a Dog, GoodReads or LibraryThing into your practice?

 

This week I explored a few of the immersive multimedia journalism resources such as K’gari and My Grandmother’s Lingo, and thought that they could be an interesting way to engage students with non-fiction texts and current affairs (typically perceived as ‘boring’ by many teens). I personally found that the multimodal, immersive nature of these resources helped me remember the key points and allowed me to connect the information in the articles to my prior knowledge and experiences very effectively.

I also looked into Beowulf in 100 Tweets, which I thought was a fantastic resource that I could easily incorporate into my Year 11 English Extension program where we look at the relationship between texts, cultures and values. I think that my students would respond well to a similar learning activity where they could take one of the texts we study and recontextualise it as a tweet or social media post to explore the ways that context affects response over time. Beowulf in 100 Tweets also linked really nicely to one that my students showed me this week: Dracula Daily, where the epistolary form of the original novel is harnessed by networking technologies such as email, Tumblr and Twitter. While anecdotal, the conversations in my classroom suggest that these types of recontextualised literary texts can be powerful and engaging learning tools.

There were some resources that I enjoyed less, however. War Horse (the app for the iPad) had a timeline along with some interesting links, videos, and interviews to help readers understand the context, but the text itself was just a digitised version of the print novel (with an accompanying audio version). I didn’t feel that this app utilised the immersive, interactive possibilities afforded by the format to enhance reader experience or support the function of the text as effectively as it could have. Likewise, Alice for the iPad seemed rather gimmicky and its ‘interactive’ elements were distracting rather than elevating my understanding and enjoyment.

I like the idea of incorporating social networking sites into my practice, since it expands my students’ sense of connection to the world of the text and allows them to feel a sense of belonging with other readers. I personally have experimented with tracking my reading journey this year via Instagram, GoodReads and The Storygraph App. While I like the way these resources use my data to help me reflect on my reading preferences and connect me with similar books and readers, I am concerned about the privacy implications of encouraging their use in my classrooms by my students, though it would be a great opportunity to discuss digital citizenship. They also take a lot of time to keep up to date, and you can see from my Instagram experiment that it has fallen by the wayside.

ETL533 2.3: Challenges of using digital literature in the classroom

There is an enormous difference between facility with technology and being able to engage with the content of digital literature as a consumer or a creator. What are some ways (small or large) you could alter your pedagogy to ensure technology and digital literature is embedded in your educational practices?

In this week’s readings I liked the distinction made by Allan (2017) between the different types of digital fiction:

1. eBooks or “paper-under-glass” texts;

2. Narrative or enhanced apps; and

3. “Born digital” multimodal narratives.

This distinction fit nicely with Unsworth’s classifications (via Walsh, 2013) from the Module 1 readings, where he identified three main categories of e-literature:

1. Recontextualised literary texts;

2. Electronically augmented literary texts; and

3. Digitally originated texts.

This also links with previous discussions I’ve read about what counts as digital literature, which emphasise the difference between “the digitised and digital literature” (for more on this, please feel free to check out my blog post).

In our school we have a virtual library with eBooks and audiobooks that our students, staff and parents can engage with, but it’s an expensive subscription (last year’s invoice was over $3000 – more than a third of our yearly budget!) with logistical issues around promotion and access. It also falls into the digitised, ‘paper-under-glass’ or ‘recontextualised literary texts’ category where technology facilitates access rather than exists as an innovative and inherent aspect of the texts. While it was a useful resource during last year’s lockdowns, data suggests that average use each month is down on last year’s figures. This year our school removed the DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) program, so I’ve been trialing a Wide Reading Program with a few Year 7 classes (initially 4, now dropped back to 2). Given Foley’s (2012) findings about student engagement with ebooks, it might be worthwhile creating activities for the Wide Reading Program which target and promote our virtual library.

One of the texts I’ve been investigating for the second assessment is the iPoe app by iClassics Collection. From my engagement with this app so far, it appears to fall under the ‘enhanced app’ or ‘electronically augmented literary text’ categories outlined above. I chose this because a) Poe is awesome fun and b) we have a Year 8 unit on suspenseful stories that this would work well with. I had a great time exploring this app and playing with its features, designed to immerse the reader with the texts’ Gothic emotions, settings, and atmosphere. I think this is a resource that could work really well with our Year 8 unit, though it cost $8.99 for all three volumes/apps, therefore presenting a financial and logistical issue for faculties with tight budgets.

This week I also had a little play with Microsoft Sway, in an attempt to create my own ‘born digital’ narrative in preparation for the final assessment. One of my projects this year has been to build up the Student Media Team I introduced to the school last year, and Microsoft Sway was one of the tools we were investigating for our student-designed newsletter. While it has many useful features and is (mostly) user-friendly, one issue I found while playing with it is that this tool lacks the ability to link to content within the Sway, and thus might not work for my intended ‘choose your own adventure’ style narrative. However, this investigation did remind me that for larger projects teachers might have, it takes time to find the right tools with the right features for their vision. While wonderful guides exist (such as http://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html and https://instructionaldesignbykelly.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/the-evolution-of-blooms-taxonomy-and-how-it-applies-to-teachers-today/ from this week’s readings) these take time to investigate and, given the current educational climate, this is time that many teachers simply cannot spare. This is where an innovative, technologically current teacher-librarian could be an invaluable resource for time-poor teachers!

 

 

Allan, C. (2017). Digital fiction: ‘Unruly object’ or literary artefact? English in Australia, 52(2), 21-27.

Foley, C. (2012). Ebooks for leisure and learning. Scan, 31, pp. 6-14.

Walsh, M. (2013). Literature in a digital environment (Ch. 13). In L. McDonald (Ed.), A literature companion for teachers. Marrickville, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA).

ETL533 Assessment 1: Online Reflective Journal Blog Task

Using your readings and interaction with the subject to date, develop a statement about your current knowledge and understanding of concepts and practices in digital literature environments, tools and uses, within the context of your work or professional circumstances.

As I start ETL533, I’m already struck by its relevance to my experiences as a secondary English teacher. Digital literature is exciting and full of potential, but also fraught with uncertainty due to its complexity and relative obscurity when contrasted with the traditional literary forms familiar to classroom teachers. 

Even understanding the definition of digital literature is more complex than it first appears. Rowland (2021, para.2) notes that digital literature is difficult to determine, while Heckman and O’Sullivan state that it is “ambiguous because it is amorphous” (2018, para.1), evolving as new technologies, forms, and uses emerge. Hayles defines electronic literature as “digital born” (2007, para.10), while the Electronic Literature Organization states it combines literary elements alongside computer technology (Rowland, 2021, para.2) – though this seems outdated, since computers aren’t the only (or even the most popular) tool used to create and access digital resources. I personally like Groth’s focus on digital literature showcasing innovation and creativity via technology (Groth, via Rowland, 2021, para.3). However, users should be aware of the distinction between “the digitised and digital literature” (Heckman & O’Sullivan, 2018, para.4), with traditional printed texts which have been digitised (e.g. eBooks) often not making the cut as digital literature (Wright, 2019, para.2).

Part of the difficulty in defining digital literature is that understandings of traditional literature are also hotly debated (Krystal, 2014, para.1). When exploring this concept with my English Extension students, I often show them a variety of different definitions:

Screenshot from my introductory “Texts, Culture and Values” PowerPoint

We have great fun discussing what counts as “lasting artistic merit” and whose values are evident in the judgment of texts as “beautiful” or “excellent”. I imagine many traditional defenders of the Western Literary Canon would find it difficult to accept that digital literature meets these criteria, despite their potential as tools to engage and extend students in our classrooms (Wall, 2016, p.35). Yet these preconceived notions of what constitutes ‘literature’ also extend to our students. Hayles argues that readers approach texts with expectations formed by their knowledge of print works, and “electronic literature tests the boundaries of the literary and challenges us to re-think our assumptions of what literature can do and be” (2007, para.11). Clearly, the emergence of digital literature requires a paradigm shift as we expand our understanding of literature to include new forms reliant on new technologies and literacies. 

Yet where do we draw the line? If wordless picture books can count as literature, then why not immersive games with textual elements, such as The Witcher 3 or Horizon: Zero Dawn? Hayles notes that the line is far from clear, but perhaps depends on the ways users configure or interpret texts: “with games the user interprets in order to configure, whereas in works whose primary interest is narrative, the user configures in order to interpret” (2007, para.16).

The Witcher 3 allows players to explore and read in-game books – often with cheeky intertextual nods to pop culture. But is it digital literature?

Another challenge in pinning down digital literature emerges from the plethora of potential forms such storytelling can take. In addition to those listed previously (Lysaught, 2022, para.2-5), Rowland (2021) discusses four types of digital literature:

  1. Twitterature
  2. Hypertext
  3. Generators
  4. Video poetry

Several of my Year 10 students have recently raved about Markiplier, who uses YouTube to create exciting, interactive choose-your-own-adventure style narratives. 

As my students’ obsession reveals, digital storytelling can be a powerful way of engaging today’s students.

 

Words: 550

 

Reference list:

Hayles, K. (2007). Electronic literature: What is it? https://www.eliterature.org/pad/elp.html

Heckman, D., O’Sullivan, J. (2018). Electronic literature: Contexts and poetics. Literary Studies in the Digital Age: An Evolving Anthology. https://dlsanthology.mla.hcommons.org/electronic-literature-contexts-and-poetics/

Krystal, A. (2014, March). What is literature? In defense of the canon. Harper’s Magazine. https://harpers.org/archive/2014/03/what-is-literature/1/

Rowland, R. (2021, July 8). What is digital literature? Understanding the genre. Book Riot. https://bookriot.com/digital-literature/

Wall, J. (2016). Children’s literature in the digital world: How does multimodality support affective, aesthetic and critical response to narrative? by Alyson Simpson and Maureen Walsh. An extended abstract by June Wall. Scan 35(3), 34-36.

Wright, D. T. H. (2019, July 10). From Twitterbots to VR: 10 of the best examples of digital literature. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/from-twitterbots-to-vr-10-of-the-best-examples-of-digital-literature-110099

ETL505 Assessment 3 Part C: Genrefication Essay

The literature provides good arguments for arranging primary school library collections by genres. Is this also the case for high school library collections? Choose two of the advantages and disadvantages mentioned in the literature and critically discuss these in relation to arranging a high school library collection by genres.

When deciding to genrefy a high-school library’s collection, teacher-librarians should consider the multiple roles a library performs within a school community, the specific needs of their adolescent users, and which aspects of genrefication (if any) best suit these purposes and user needs. While genrefication has gained popularity amongst practitioners for its ability to increase circulation and promote lifelong reading habits, issues around logistics and lack of standardised organisation remain.

Genrefication is a relatively new topic in information sciences (Outhouse, 2017, p.43). Broadly speaking, genrefication constitutes organising resources by a system other than the traditional Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) (Outhouse, 2017, p.44). Organisation can be based on resources’ formats, literacy levels, subject headings (such as those assigned by SCIS), or literary genres (Wall, 2019, p.11). Genrefication exists on a spectrum, from labelling books in their original DDC location, to separating ‘mini-collections’ in distinct displays, to completely reorganising the layout and position of resources (National Library of New Zealand, n.d., para.33-36; Gray, 2019, p.25; Wall, 2019, p.11). There is also an imbalance in the treatment of fiction and non-fiction collections in genrefication discussions, with greater emphasis on its benefits to fiction collections (Wall, 2019, p.11).

School librarians espouse numerous benefits to genrefying their collections. Increased circulation statistics are cited as one crucial benefit (Gray, 2019, p.18-22). Many practitioners claim that genrefication has made their collections more accessible and more appealing (Davenport, 2017, p.7; Dawson, 2019, p.23; Mathur, 2019, p.6; Wall, 2019, p.14; Davenport, 2021, p.12). Hider (2018, p.24) argues that effective information resource description should help users obtain information, and librarians should therefore understand their users’ specific needs. In high-schools, when student pleasure-reading declines (Dickenson, 2014, p.10), genrefying fiction can be a game-changer. Many teenagers prefer to browse to find interesting and relevant resources (Bessman Taylor et. al., 2019, p.862); therefore, organising fiction according to similar subjects or themes is a useful way to promote positive reading habits in adolescents. Pleasure-reading has numerous academic and social benefits which overcome socio-economic disadvantage (Krashen, 2011, p.1-9), and research shows that access to reading materials increases adolescents’ reading motivation (Manuel and Carter, 2015, p.126). Therefore, genrefication supports adolescent information behaviours, encouraging browsing and selection of resources relevant to their needs, interests, and abilities.

While reading promotion is one aspect of high-school librarianship, promoting information literacy is also crucial. Forsaking standardised methods of organisation like the DDC is a frequent objection to genrefication (Gray, 2019, p.23; Wall, 2019, p.13) since students require the skills to navigate standardised systems utilised by most libraries worldwide. Greater emphasis is placed on genrefication’s benefits to fiction than on non-fiction collections, possibly because the DDC already groups similar resources by discipline to facilitate browsing (Hider, 2017, p.193). However, Outhouse (2017, p.36) argues the DDC is not a browsable system for today’s students due to its technical nature. The DDC has been described as a ‘secret code’ that students today do not understand (LaGarde, 2018, para.10). Outhouse (2017, p.41-42) argues that one of the DDC’s faults is that it is difficult for young children to search effectively due to its reliance on mathematical knowledge and seemingly unrelated subject order; high-school students with poor numeracy or pre-existing negative perceptions about the library would likewise be frustrated by its complicated numerical classification system. Some high-school teacher-librarians have therefore partially genrefied their non-fiction resources to support specific subject areas such as English, or to support specific groups of students, such as senior students (Dawson, 2019, p.23).

One frequently cited disadvantage of genrefication relates to the logistics of such reorganisation. Rearranging sections of a collection, let alone the entire library, takes time, effort, money, and training to ensure effective organisation and cataloguing of the changes (Gray, 2019, p.24; Mathur, 2019, p.6; Wall, 2019, p.14). However, LaGarde argues that if we value improving our users’ reading experiences and volume, then genrefication is worth prioritising (2018, para.26). Yet it must be stated that by replacing the ‘secret code’ of the DDC with genre classifications such as those assigned by SCIS, teacher-librarians might just be replacing one code with another, and replacing the standardised DDC subject groupings with another, non-standardised genre grouping (such as SCIS categories) might not suit all texts and users (Hamm, 2019, para.1; Wall, 2019, p.14), especially considering recent trends towards genre-blending (Barone, 2010, p.15-17). The ongoing flexibility needed to maintain a genrefied collection and keep it up-to-date with teen reading needs and expectations might be more than some teacher-librarians are willing or capable of providing.

Teacher-librarians considering genrefying their own collections should thus weigh the benefits to their specific clientele against the logistical realities of such an undertaking. They may choose to genrefy ‘mini-collections’ or to label resources in their current DDC position, using SCIS categories and user input as a guide. Ultimately teacher-librarians must use their technical expertise alongside their knowledge of their specific users’ needs, abilities, and interests to make the right decision for their context.

 

Reference List

Barone, D. M. (2010). Children’s literature in the classroom: Engaging lifelong readers. Guildford Publications.

Bessman Taylor, J., Hora, A., Steege Krueger, K. (2019). Self-selecting books in a children’s fiction collection arranged by genre. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 51(3), 852-865. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000617743088

Davenport, S. (2017). Genrefying the fiction collection. Connections, 102(3), 6-7. https://www.scisdata.com/media/1511/connections102.pdf

Davenport, S. (2021). Genrefication 3.5 years later: Reflections. Connections, 117(2), 12-13. https://www.scisdata.com/media/2283/scis_connections_117_web.pdf

Dawson, T. (2019). Genrefying nonfiction at Parkes High School. Scan, 38(2). https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/vol-38–2019/make-a-difference-mad-spotlight-on-teacher-librarians#tabs1

Dickenson, D. (2014). Children and reading: literature review. University of Western Sydney, Australian Government, and Australia Council for the Arts.

Gray, M. (2019). Genre fiction collections in Australian school libraries. Scan, 38(10). https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/vol-38–2019/genre-fiction-collections-in-australian-school-libraries

Hamm, S. (August 5, 2019). Why I chose not to genrify the fiction section. Teen Services Underground [blog]. https://www.teenservicesunderground.com/why-i-chose-not-to-genrify-the-fiction-section/

Hider, P. (2018). Information resource description: Creating and managing metadata (2nd ed.). London: Facet.

Krashen, S. D. (2011). Free voluntary reading. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

LaGarde, J. (October 24, 2018). Genrefying your collection without changing call numbers. The Adventures of Library Girl [blog]. https://www.librarygirl.net/post/genrefying-your-collection-without-changing-call-numbers

Manuel, J., & Carter, D. (2015). Current and historical perspectives on Australian teenagers’ reading practices and preferences. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 38(2), 115-128.

Mathur, P. (2019). Genrefication @ The Kings’ School Senior Library. Scan, 38(9). https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/vol-38–2019/genrefication—the-kings-school-senior-library

National Library of New Zealand (n.d.). Arranging library fiction by genre. https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/reading-engagement/libraries-supporting-readers/arranging-library-fiction-by-genre

Outhouse, A. R. K. (2017). Genrefication: Introducing and explaining the exponential trend in public and school libraries. https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/masters_papers/kk91fq479

Wall, J. (2019). Genrefication in NSW public school libraries: A discussion paper. Scan, 38(10). https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/vol-38–2019/genrefication-in-nsw-public-school-libraries

ETL402 Assessment 2 Part B: Reflective Blog Post

ETL402 has greatly expanded my understanding of how children’s literature is more than a literacy tool only useful in the English classroom. This unit has built on the knowledge I’ve developed over the last 10 years as an English/History teacher and expanded my understanding of new literacies and text types that have evolved (largely due to new technologies) since I finished my Master of Teaching in 2011.

Literary learning – teaching curriculum content through literature – is a powerful tool to develop students’ multiliteracies. In a changing information landscape, it is crucial that we develop multiliterate students who are flexible, have the skills to reformulate knowledge and practice, and can make meaning via multiple modes and formats (Anstey & Bull, 2006, p.19-21; Gorgon & Marcus, 2013, p.42). Sometimes as classroom teachers we can get stuck in a rut and it’s hard to find the time to explore new developments. ETL402 exposed me to new, exciting text types such as digital narratives (Lysaught, 2022a, para.4-6) and emphasised that teacher-librarians, acting as a mediators for time-poor classroom teachers, should seek out, explore, and curate useful resources to ensure that our colleagues have the best tools possible to teach our students (Braun, 2010, p.47; Lysaught, 2022b, para.6).

While many ETL401 readings emphasised that libraries were about more than just books (Lysaught, 2021a, para.8-9; Lysaught, 2021b, para.7-8, 15), ETL402 reminded me about reading’s importance and the value of literature across the curriculum (Lysaught, 2021c, para.1, 5). Like my peers (Poyitt, 2021, para.1), it troubles me that so many teens I work with simply don’t read. ETL402 made me question my own practices, preferences, and habits (Lysaught, 2021e, para.1-2). Many readings and discussions explored the reasons why people read or don’t, leading me to create these infographics:

These readings gave me valuable insights and inspiring strategies to inform my future practice as I work towards building a whole-school reading culture (Fulton, 2021, para.1; Shaw, 2021, para.2-9; Lysaught, 2022b, para.5; Lysaught, 2022c, para.2-3; Lysaught, 2022d, para.4-6). Literary learning is a particularly exciting way to build whole-school reading culture which I plan to implement to benefit my school community, as summarised in my infographics which I plan to share with my colleagues:

Moving forward, I understand that as information specialist, curriculum leader, and literacy expert, I should:

  • Offer professional development opportunities for staff wishing to engage their students with literary learning;
  • Collaboratively plan for the implementation of literary learning with classroom teachers;
  • Implement literary response strategies with my own classes and support colleagues’ implementation e.g. Book Bento Boxes, Literature Circles;
  • Curate appropriate resources to support staff and student needs and interests;
  • Encourage further investigation and continued pleasure reading with a diverse, relevant, accessible collection;
  • Effectively display and promote relevant materials as well as successful literary learning units via parent bulletins, social media, staff meetings, and school reports;
  • Work with other stakeholders (e.g. Head Teacher Teaching and Learning, Literacy Committee Co-ordinator) to collect and analyse data determining the efficacy of literary learning;
  • Draw upon the expertise and strengths of numerous staff to build a more effective whole-school reading culture which supports students’ personal and academic needs;
  • Be responsive to the changing information landscape, time-pressures, and other issues (e.g. Covid restrictions) which may hinder implementation of collaborative practice

 

Bibliography:

Allington, R. L., & Gabriel, R. E. (2012). Every child every day. Educational Leadership, 69(6), 10-15.

Anstey, M., & Bull, G. (2006). Chapter 2: Defining multiliteracies. In M. Anstey & G. Bull (Eds.) Teaching and learning multiliteracies: Changing times, changing literacies. International Reading Association.

Barone, D. M. (2010). Children’s literature in the classroom: Engaging lifelong readers. Guildford Publications.

Braun, P. (2010). Taking the time to read aloud. Science Scope, 34(2), 45-49.

Brugar, K. A., & McMahon Whitlock, A. (2019). “I like […] different time periods:” elementary teachers’ uses of historical fiction. Social Studies Research and Practice 14(1), 78-97.

Carrillo, S. (2013, June 14). The power of a single story. Facing History & Ourselves. https://lanetwork.facinghistory.org/the-power-of-a-single-story/

Combes, B., & Valli, R. (2007). Fiction and the twenty-first century: A new paradigm? Paper submitted to Cyberspace, D-world, e-learning. Giving schools and libraries the cutting edge, 2007 IASL Conference, Taipei, Taiwan.

Daley, P. (2014, November 6). Anzac and Gallipoli are the novelist’s terrain as much as the historians. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/australia-books-blog/2014/nov/06/-sp-anzac-gallipolli-novelists-terrain-as-much-as-historians

Dickenson, D. (2014). Children and reading: literature review. University of Western Sydney, Australian Government, and Australia Council for the Arts.

Donnelly, D. (2017). Multi-platformed historical fiction: Literacy, engagement and historical understanding. SCAN 36(3), 43-47.

Earp, J. (2015, March 3). The power of a good book. Teacher. https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/the-power-of-a-good-book

Fulton, A. (2021, November 17). Re: 1.2: Affirmative action – examples of practice [Online discussion comment]. Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_58477_1&conf_id=_115076_1&forum_id=_259135_1&message_id=_3855912_1&nav=discussion_board_entry

Gaiman, N. (2013, October 16). Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

Gorgon, B. & Marcus, A. (2013). Lost in transliteracy: How to expand student learning across a variety of platforms. Knowledge Quest, 41(5), 40-45.

Howard, V. (2011) the importance of pleasure reading in the lives of young teens: Self-identification, self-construction and self-awareness. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 43(1), 46-55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000610390992

Ipri, T., & Newman, B. (2017). Beginner’s guide to transliteracy: Where did the term transliteracy come from? Libraries and Transliteracy. https://librariesandtransliteracy.wordpress.com/beginners-guide-to-transliteracy/

Jorm, M. & Robey, L. (2020, December 7). Libraries as literacy leaders. National Education Summit. https://nationaleducationsummit.com.au/new-blog/librariesasliteracyleaders

Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science 342(6156), 377-380.

Krashen, S. D. (2011). Free voluntary reading. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Lysaught, D. (2021a, July 19) ETL401 assessment 1: What is the role of the teacher librarian? All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2021/07/19/etl401assessment1/

Lysaught, D. (2021b, August 29) ETL401 3.2 the role of the teacher librarian: LIBERating our perceptions.  All You Read Is Love.

https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2021/08/29/3-2-the-role-of-the-teacher-librarian-liberating-our-perceptions/

Lysaught, D. (2021c, July 19) ETL402 half-session reflections: The function of historical fiction in secondary schools. All You Read Is Love.

https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/category/etl402/

Lysaught, D. (2021d, December 26) ETL402 3.1 strategies to leverage a love of reading. All You Read Is Love.

https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2021/12/26/etl402-3-1-strategies-to-leverage-a-love-of-reading/

Lysaught, D. (2021e, December 31) Top reads 2021. All You Read Is Love.

https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2021/12/31/top-reads-2021/

Lysaught, D. (2022a, January 3) ETL402 5.1 practical idea and digital text to support literary learning. All You Read Is Love.

https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/01/03/etl402-5-1-practical-idea-and-digital-text-to-support-literary-learning/

Lysaught, D. (2022b, January 10) ETL402 6.1-2 teaching and promotion strategies for using literature. All You Read Is Love.

https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/01/10/etl402-6-1-2-teaching-and-promotion-strategies-for-using-literature/

Lysaught, D. (2022c, January 17) ETL402 6.3 responding to literature: The read aloud. All You Read Is Love.

https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/01/17/etl402-6-3-responding-to-literature-the-read-aloud/

Lysaught, D. (2022d, January 17) ETL402 6.2 curriculum-based literary learning: Year 9 English power and freedom. All You Read Is Love.

https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/01/17/etl402-6-2-curriculum-based-literary-learning-power-and-freedom/

Manuel, J., & Carter, D. (2015). Current and historical perspectives on australian teenagers’ reading practices and preferences. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 38(2), 115-128.

Poyitt, B. (2021, November 29). Re: 1.2: Affirmative action – examples of practice [Online discussion comment]. Interact 2.

https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_58477_1&conf_id=_115076_1&forum_id=_259135_1&message_id=_3855912_1&nav=discussion_board_entry

Rodwell, G. (2019). Using fiction to develop higher-order historical understanding. In T. Allender, A. Clark & R. Parkes (Eds.), Historical thinking for history teachers: A new approach to engaging students and developing historical consciousness (p.194-207). Allen & Unwin.

Shaw, B. (2021, December 22). Re: 3.1: Strategy to leverage a love of reading [Online discussion comment]. Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_58477_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_115076_1&forum_id=_259138_1&message_id=_3855937_1

Smith, A. K. (2019, October 14). Literature has the power to change the world. Here’s how. Books At Work. https://www.booksatwork.org/literature-has-the-power-to-change-the-world-heres-how/

Stower, H. & Waring, P. (2018, July 16). Read like a girl: Establishing a vibrant community of passionate readers. Alliance of Girls Schools Australia. https://www.agsa.org.au/news/read-like-a-girl-establishing-a-vibrant-community-of-passionate-readers/

Taylor, T., and Young, C. (2003). Making history: a guide for the teaching and learning of history in Australian schools. Curriculum Corporation.

Wadham, R. L., Garrett, A. P., Garrett, E. N. (2019). Historical fiction picture books: the tensions between genre and format. The Journal of Culture and Values in Education 2(2), 57-72.

Whitten, C., Labby, S., & Sullivan, S. L. (2016). The impact of pleasure reading on academic success. The Journal of Multidisciplinary Graduate Research 2(4), 48-64.

Wu, Y., Mallan, K., & McGillis, R. (2013). Reimagining the world: Children’s literature’s responses to changing times. Springer.

Young, S. (2012). Understanding history through the visual. Language Arts 89(6), 379-395.

 

 

Creative Commons License The infographics in this post are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

ETL402 6.3 Responding to Literature: The Read Aloud

Select one of the strategies for sharing or responding to literature and identify a subject learning area that you could apply it to. Share your thoughts on why you think this strategy could support literary learning in that discipline and provide a starting point for implementing it.

I love a good read aloud. The read aloud strategy was a great way for me to not only ensure that the students in my classes actually read the novel we were studying in English but also gave me an opportunity to engage them with the content and construction of the text through social learning.

Even high school, students who had never willingly read a book independently would listen, follow along, and engage with the discussion around the novel throughout the read aloud activity, and this would set them up nicely to examine the text in the ensuing modified literature circles activity. They’d say it was “cringe” when I’d do the voices, but secretly they enjoyed it (especially Gollum in The Hobbit, or if a character swore!).

ETL402 6.2 Curriculum-Based Literary Learning: Year 9 English Power and Freedom

Consider a literature unit that you have taught. Provide a brief description and identify the theoretical stance taken. Share the highlights of this unit.

In my previous life as an English teacher I’ve had the privilege of being able to teach many literature units! Socio-cultural theories of learning underpin my approach to teaching in general, and as such I’ve always tried to consider the learning needs of my students and tried to create learning opportunities which rely on learning in a social context.

One unit which comes to mind was our Year 9 unit on the concept of Power and Freedom. When teaching this unit I generally elect to study the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I love using role-plays and simulation, and throughout the unit we play a ‘game’ where students are in a dystopia of sorts and have to obey ’10 Commandments’ to earn points. At the end of each week the students with the highest number of points gain the ability to change the rules (within reason and with my permission of course!) and getting other special treatments (silly things like being called ‘Exalted One’). Each year I’ve taught this unit it’s been a interesting way for students to connect with the novel and recognise the key concepts around power, freedom, and dystopia that I’m trying to teach. Factions form, students start negotiating with each other to pool points, coups are planned … it’s great fun.

I also often use a modified version of literature circles to help students form personal connections and interpretations of the novel. We’d read a section in class (if time allowed), then complete personal response questions:

  1. What do you think this was about (literally, thematically)?
  2. What did you like or dislike about it?
  3. Did anything confuse you? Were there any words or phrases you didn’t understand?
  4. Did you notice any patterns, techniques or connections which helped you make meaning?

While the unit parameters, time and access issues meant that I didn’t have the ability to give students free choice of text, they still took on roles (I used Summariser, Word Wizard, Character Captain, Literary Luminary, and Connector), examined the text in their ‘expert’ groups, then returned to their literature circles (or book clubs as I called them) to discuss and extend their understandings as a group. We then shared their findings through a whole class discussion. It was a far more effective strategy than the old comprehension chapter questions that I’d experienced as a student!

ETL402 6.1-2 Teaching and Promotion Strategies for Using Literature

Reflect on your personal theoretical stance on the teaching of literature and how this is evidenced in your practice.

Reflect on your own and your professional colleagues’ knowledge of literature. Identify an occasion when you successfully connected a book with a child or group of students and how your knowledge of the book facilitated this process. Identify possible opportunities for a teacher librarian to respond to this research within the library and beyond to support teacher colleagues.

There are three theories regarding the teaching of literature. Transmission theories posit that the teacher transmits learning to the students, who are empty vessels willingly waiting to receive this information. While this approach can be useful for the direct, explicit instruction of certain aspects of literature (e.g. the definition of a literary device) the focus on the teacher at the expense of student involvement can limit engagement and higher order thinking. Student-centred theories put the focus back on students, allowing them greater control over their learning and thus more motivated to learn. However, student-centred theories are not without their flaws, since they fail to account for the social aspects of learning. Socio-cultural theories of learning fill this gap, arguing that learning takes place within specific social contexts and to serve specific needs. 

In my own teaching practice there is a definite focus on socio-cultural theories. Student ownership and engagement, adjustments to their zone of proximal development, and building strong relationships within the learning community of our classroom have been key elements that I have tried to implement in my own practice over the past decade. As such, I have been a strong proponent of literature circles in my time as an English teacher and have found that they can elevate the quality of literary understanding. This module has explored some other interesting strategies, some of which I’ve heard about before, some of which are new. I’m inspired to try a number or adjust of them in the context of the new understandings I’ve developed as a result of this unit: 

  • Publishing staff and student works in a school magazine (Reading Today [RT], 2010)
  • Writing competitions supporting curriculum outcomes (RT, 2010)
  • Silent and wide reading activities (Krashen, 2011; Fisher & Frey, 2018)
  • Read-alouds (Krashen, 2011; Jewett et. al., 2011)
  • Book displays (Krashen, 2011)
  • Food incentives (Krashen, 2011; Jewett et. al., 2011)
  • Recommendations or ‘blessed books’ (Krashen, 2011; Jewett et. al., 2011; Fisher & Frey, 2018)
  • Book clubs involving respected staff to model positive reading habits (Beach et. al., 2011; Jewett et. al., 2011; Fisher & Frey, 2018)
  • Book bento boxes (Bales, 2018)

I think that it is crucial for teachers to have a strong knowledge of children’s and young adult literature. However, the increasingly complex nature of teaching and escalating workloads often mean that staff have little time to read widely in these formats. This is where a well-read teacher librarian who prioritises this activity can show their value and provide displays and book lists to enable staff and students to make effective reading choices. Indeed, it is impossible to read all potentially engaging texts on one’s own, and this is where recommendations by trusted content creators such as Facebook book clubs, librarians on Instagram, GoodReads, practitioner blogs, and other publishers come in handy. Following hashtags such as #LoveOzYA, #booktok, and #WeNeedDiverseBooks can also benefit time-poor teachers looking to connect their students with meaningful, relevant literature.

Last year I can think of three separate occasions where I was in a position to have a positive impact on the reading choices of my students. The first was a Year 9 student who is already a voracious reader and had just devoured the Scythe series; I recommended the Obernewtyn Chronicles and the Throne of Glass novels, both of which spurred entrance into an additional fandom for this student. The second was a student in Year 7 who was looking for something to read for the Premier’s Reading Challenge. After a quick conversation I ascertained that her interests might be excited by Westerfeld’s Leviathan series, which presents an alternative steampunk version of WWI from the perspectives of a girl disguised as an British airman and the exiled son of the assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The third, and most rewarding, example was when I connected a disengaged Year 10 student (who had been forced to repeat) with The Story of Tom Brennan, and his English teacher told me later than he’d been talking about it in class. I was so proud of him and it was such a fantastic moment to see the impact that my recommendations could have on our students. 

It really comes back to the first two Australian Professional Standards for Teachers about professional knowledge: 1. know students and how they learn, and; 2. know the content and how to teach it. While we might not be teaching traditional content in a conventional classroom, our content is literature and we have to know our stuff and our students to effectively support our school’s learning needs. 

 

Bibliography:

Bales, J. (2018, September 24). Book bento boxes. JB on not Just Books [blog]. https://jenniebales.wordpress.com/2018/09/24/book-bento-boxes/ 

Beach, R., Appleman, D., Hynds, S., & Wilhelm, J. (2011). Teaching literature to adolescents. Taylor and Francis.

Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2018). Raise reading volume through access, choice, discussion, and book talks. Reading Teacher, 72(1), 89-97. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1691

Jewett, P. C., Wilson, J. L. & Vanderburg, M. A. (2011). The unifying power of a whole school read. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(6), 415-424. https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.54.6.3 

Krashen, S. D. (2011). Free voluntary reading. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

A culture of reading (2010). Reading Today [RT], 27(6), 38.