As an educator, I have known that change in literacy pedagogy is imminent, inevitable, and necessary. Like the ancient Greeks at the advent of writing, though, I have feared this change meant the end of civilization as we know it.
What I took from these assigned chapters is that change is all of the above, except the end of civilization as we know it. I now see the potential for empowerment of the student, teacher, and society in the changes proposed by Cope and Kalantzis. Two key concepts common throughout these chapters are design and, of course, multi-modality or multi-literacies. An example of multi-modality in action is that figure 1.1 on page 26 helped me understand the inter-related and dynamic nature of design elements more clearly than printed words did. The concept of multi-modal approaches to learning or designing makes absolute sense, whereas we use all of our senses to make meaning. As the authors say, "Literacy is just one aspect of linguistic meaning" (217).
What do you think of the authors' idea of technology as the "demise of spatiality"? I suppose I have known that on an intuitive level, but I found it intriguing to contemplate.
