21st Century Learning:
Critical Multimodality Literacy
Early Years Learning Framework for Australia:
Literacy incorporates a range of modes of communication including music, movement, dance, story telling, visual arts, media and drama, as well as talking, listening, viewing, reading and writing. Contemporary texts include electronic and print based media. In an increasingly technological world, the ability to critically analyse texts is a key component of literacy. Children benefit from opportunities to explore their world using technologies and to develop confidence in using digital media (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR], 2009, p. 41).
The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (DEEWR, 2009) defines literacy as incorporating “a range of modes of communication including music, movement, dance, storytelling, visual arts, media and drama” as well as “the ability to critically analyse texts” (p. 41). The contemporary definition of literacy marks a shift in focus, from the idea of literacy as a neutral and autonomous model, to a non-linear multimodal approach.
Yet, little is known about whether and how preschool teachers promote critical multimodal literacy. I am curious to find out about (i) the perspectives of preschool teachers in facilitating critical multimodal literacy with young children in the years prior to school, through picture books, which are well recognised for their power to help young children consider social issues such as diversity and poverty and (ii) what factors that enable and constrain their capacity to do that.
I hope the findings could motivate curriculum designers and teachers to adopt critical multimodal literacy in the years prior to school.
Visual cloud of research aims and significance.
Project roadmap
The thesis project will commence from January to October 2022. To keep track of the project’s milestones, I had put in place a high-level roadmap at the start to keep my focus on key goals. This document is a living document; it starts off with minimal specifics but will continue to take it forms along with the project progression. Edits and revisions, including those for draft copies and supervisory meetings will take its place based on the needs and progression of the project.
The three key milestones stated in the high-level roadmap are: (I) submission for literature review in March 2022; (ii) Research Frontiers (RF) 2 conference – presentation of the research project to the members of the Faculty of Arts in June 2022; and finally (iii) Thesis submission in October 2022.
Future accessibility to data
It is important to safe proof my research data for my future self and especially from any intruders, to protect the confidentiality of any research findings and details of participants. Keeping in mind that the storage options will depend on the sensitivity of my data, which may potentially be influenced by factors beyond my control, the Data Management Plan is therefore, an agile living document, to be edited and updated through the course of my research project to preserve optimal confidentiality.
The Data Management Plan:
Safeguards and controls - Data will be stored on and backed up to Data infrastructures sanctioned by Macquarie University where I will be writing my thesis.
Digital repository or online archive - iCloud and Google drive will be used as the primary infrastructure to store and archive my research writings on Word documents: electronic copies of drafts, reference lists, and final copies of documents. Auto-save function will be turned-on permanently.
Multiple backups – Similar research writings on Word documents will be stored and backup on hard disks for long term accessibility.
EndNote referencing software will be downloaded to my computer to increase my research integrity and transparency – the Endnote Desktop library will be saved and backup at the end of each usage session, each day, to ensure I do not lose any work. I can do this by creating a compressed EndNote Desktop library, which incorporates my regular EndNote library file (.enl) and its associated Data folder (.data) into a single file (.enlx). Each time when a new compressed EndNote Desktop library is created, the older compressed .enlx file will replace the newly compressed .enlx file.
Digital tool integration to sustain my work efficiency:
Organisation
To manage my research workflow in an effective manner, I plan to use Trello, a web-based project management tool to help me organise my ideas, to-do’s checklists, quick notes, workflow, deadlines, and task tracking. Its dashboard view will be useful for me to organised task management, communication, and keeping track of my project milestones.
Social media
Twitter – I will refer to Twitter as a social media platform to ‘search’ for information related to my research project using its hashtag function, to share information about my research, to network with colleagues and researchers around the world.
Writing
Working effectively with my supervisor is critical to my research. For this purpose, I will utilise both the EndNote and the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite to develop a healthy and efficient working method. Both tools allow me to optimise the confidentiality of my work and update my work progress efficiently to the Supervisor through its cloud storage.
Referencing software
EndNote referencing software will be downloaded to my computer to (i) transfer and store references from electronic databases and library catalogues, and (ii) to manage bibliographies and references when writing the thesis in Word documents.
Read and annotate PDFs in EndNote – to organise my readings and annotation, I will be using the digital tools in EndNote, such as highlighting, sticky notes, and comments. All these actions can be conveniently saved. Additionally, I can also search for any of my sticky notes or comments within EndNote.
Visualising data
Communicating results through images and graphics is crucial when working on a research paper thesis, poster or for a conference presentation, blog posts, and Twitter communication. I plan to include data visualisation to emphasise the key elements of my research, add aesthetic, and visual appeal to its communication for public or general audiences. Some of the web-based, data visualisation tool I will be using to create flowcharts, diagrams, word cloud, and more, includes: The Data Visualisation Catalogue and Voyant tools.