What has changed in your teaching practice over the course of your career with regards to technology use and literature?
When I first began teaching, technology was something that was added to the curriculum as opposed to being an integral part of it. Now, with there being such a wealth of tools to select from, if there is something that can be communicated more effectively with a tech-based tool, I use it, or set my students up to use it – but only if it is supplemental (Lamb, 2011). Changes in the way I select those tech tools for use in the classroom have been in response to shifts in capabilities and interest by students.
In terms of literature, my practice of collating a classroom library, selecting read-alouds, and acquiring texts for levelled reading has broadened considerably. I adore the proliferation of graphic and illustrated novel adaptations of existing texts for their ability to be a ‘gateway to the classics’ (Kingwell, 2019) – but also for the text-type features that students are subconsciously creating meaning from, and the different (often more specialised) vocabulary they are exposed to. I’ve developed confidence in trying texts out and either ‘going with it’ when they are received well, or pivoting to put them away without finishing if they are not found to be fit for purpose rather than persevering for the sake of sticking to plan.
The driving factors behind the changes in my practice are in part due to changes in the edu-tech and children’s literature landscape in terms of available tools, but also in response to the core change of a downward shift of knowledge acquisition and experiences that occur at a younger age than in previous generations.
Kingwell, M. (2013, December 4). Why read literature in the digital age? University Affairs. https://archives.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/why-read-literature-in-the-digital-age/
Lamb, A. (2011). Reading redefined for a transmedia universe: Once upon a time, reading was as simple and straightforward as decoding words on a page. No more. Digital age technologies have made such an impact on the way we interact with content that the old definitions of reading and books no longer apply. Learning and leading with technology, 39(3), 12-17. https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/1805/8636/39-3.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y