Purpose of Motivation in Instruction with Digital and Multimodal Literacies

Introduction

As I mentioned in my earlier post, this blog’s purpose is to discuss the impacts of new literacies on student motivation. In this blog post specifically, I explore pedagogical theories that explain the purpose of student motivation and engagement in learning and instruction. Then I provide the teacher’s role in supporting student motivation and engagement in the classroom. Next, I discuss the relationship of student motivation and engagement and the implementation of new literacies. Finally, this blog will discuss the implications of new literacies and their relationship with student motivation and engagement that educators must consider.  

Theory and Motivation

There are two guiding theories of pedagogy that much of our teaching is based upon:  constructivism and social constructivism.  In constructivist theory, it is mentioned that students are active participants in their learning and that supporting autonomy can lead to authentic learning opportunities (Dobler and Eagleton, 2015, pp. 22-23). Dobler and Eagleton expand on this idea to explain that students become, “empowered and engaged in the learning process” (2015, pg. 23). This empowerment allows students to create ownership of their learning and to connect new knowledge to their own personal experiences and associations. Constructivism in the classroom should provide students with opportunities to explore, connect, and create with all forms of literacy:  traditional, digital, multimodal, etc. 

Social constructivism places student learning in a social context. Learning occurs when students’ knowledge-building is scaffolded with guidance and collaboration from adults or more-knowledgeable peers (Dobler and Eagleton, 2015, pp 24-25). This idea of collaboration and communication as constructs of learning propose that our students can be motivated to gain new information through active supports in the classroom, and by allowing students to work together in order to be engaged in their learning. As digital and multimodal texts have become increasingly available to our students, we as educators now have more opportunities to provide them with experiences that allow them to explore new literacies, both in and out of the classroom. 

The Educator’s Role

Supporting student motivation and engagement in the classroom using theory as a guide for best practice is one key role that every educator takes part in.  Johnson (2014) discusses the idea that students typically perceive new information as just gathering facts as opposed to opportunities for their own personal inquiry (pg. 121).  Teachers have the ability to influence and change this perception in students.  To allow students to create and generate questions about what they are learning can positively affect their motivation, interests, and engagement in their own learning (Johnson, 2014, pg. 121).  Both theories mentioned earlier suggest that teachers can encourage motivation and engagement in learning through providing opportunities to explore, create, question, collaborate, and communicate.  All of this can be done in a classroom or digital setting in which teachers provide modeled learning and guidance of new information.  

New Literacies and Motivation

Next, let me define and explain new literacies.  Johnson (2014) states that new literacies involve skills known as the 5Cs:  creativity, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and comprehension that allow students to generate questions, navigate, locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communication information through the means of digital and multimodal forms that are continually changing and influence our lives (pg. 4).  So, what does this mean for student motivation?  Digital and multimodal literacies are a part of our lives, and our students will encounter digital and multimodal texts in and out of the classroom.  Teachers can possibly help students to engage and be motivated in instruction through the use of digital and multimodal texts through the pedagogical practices that support constructivism and social constructivism.

Implications and Considerations

In one study by Liu and Xiaoqing (2019), the researchers questioned the effects of digital and multimodal texts on fragmented reading.  Fragmented reading occurs when readers become distracted or disconnected from the meaning of texts.  This is especially concerning when engaging in digital texts because of the use of hyperlinks, ads, and the sheer amount of content and information that the internet has to offer.  In this study, they found that students who participated in the reading of digital texts that promoted fragmented reading, their overall understanding was lower than when the texts were presented congruously, or linearly and organized. However, students who did exhibit higher engagement did have more success in making connections and meaning from the texts.  This study outlines the importance of the teachers’ role in providing experiences with digital and multimodal texts that can be supported with autonomy and appropriate guidance in order to support their students’ engagement, motivation, and learning. 

Lastly, in a longitudinal study by Lui, et al. (2019) it was explored how the creation of a social learning community within a digital storytelling setting could support learning, engagement, and motivation of students.  The researchers state that implementing digital storytelling practices promote students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and positively impacts their learning engagement.  This activity reflects the theories mentioned before through the creation of a social learning community in which peers and teachers interact with one another, and students are also given the opportunities to autonomously create and share their personal stories and learning.  

Both of these studies show that there are ways that new literacies can affect learning in our classrooms.  It is important to understand what implications that digital texts can have on our students learning and meaning making, and to apply practices that can best support them.  We can also see that digital and multimodal texts can be seen as a resource to provide our students with engaging activities to encourage their motivations for learning.  

References 

Dobler, E. & Eagleton, M.B. (2015). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet Inquiry, Second Edition.  Guilford Press.

Johnson, D. (2014). Reading, Writing and Literacy 2.0: Teaching with Online Texts, Tools, and Resources. Teachers College             Press.

Liu, Y., & Gu, X. (2020). Media Multitasking, Attention, and Comprehension: A Deep Investigation into Fragmented Reading.             Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(1), 67–87.

Liu, C.-C., Yang, C.-Y., & Chao, P.-Y. (2019). A Longitudinal Analysis of Student Participation in a Digital Collaborative                        Storytelling Activity. Educational Technology Research and Development, 67(4), 907–929.