Resource+4

= Resource 4 =

By Amanda Caminiti =**Resource **=

Student work sample (PowerPoint presentation)  Scirone, C. & Lawrence, R. (2009). Australia's unique wildlife. [student work sample]

Brief description of the resource The resource I have selected is a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation based on ‘Australia’s Unique Wildlife’. This presentation was created in 2009 by two year four students in an inner west Sydney school as a final assessment to their ‘Australian Wildlife’ unit. Within the presentation, detailed factual information specifically on the Duck Billed Platypus and the Koala Bear is provided. The factual information covered within the presentation is as follows: 1. Why is Australia’s wild life unique? 2. What is a Duck Billed Platypus/ Koala Bear? 3. Where does the Duck Billed Platypus/ Koala Bear live? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">4. What does the Duck Billed Platypus/ Koala Bear look like? <span style="display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">5. How does the Duck Billed Platypus/ Koala Bear move? <span style="display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">6. What does the Duck Billed Platypus/ Koala Bear eat? <span style="display: block; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">7. The birth of a Koala bear <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It is through this factual information that the structure and function of the Duck Billed Platypus and Koala Bear is outlined. This resource is also a clear example of a rich multimodal text as it incorporates written text, visual images, sound effects and voice over throughout the presentation (voice over was removed due to privacy concerns). <span style="color: red; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">What is the relevance of this resource to the focus outcome? <span style="display: block; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: center;"> **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The Focus Outcome ** <span style="border: 3pt solid windowtext; display: block; padding-bottom: 1pt; padding-left: 4pt; padding-right: 4pt; padding-top: 1pt;"> __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Science and Technology __ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">Living Things **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">LT S2.3 **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Identifies and describes the structure and function of living things and ways in which living things interact with other living things and their environment <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"> (Board of Studies, 1997) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This resource is relevant to the focus outcome as it provides students with factual information on two living animals, these being the Duck Billed Platypus and the Koala Bear. It is through this factual information that students are provided with solid descriptions on the structure and function of these two living animals, as well as information on how these animals interact with their environment (this clearly meeting the focus outcome). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It is through this resource that students will be provided with further information on the structure and function of a Koala and the ways in which it interacts with its environment to supplement the information they have already gathered over the unit. Although the resource also provides information on the Duck Billed Platypus which is irrelevant to our specific focus on Koalas, I still feel that this is a valuable resource as it provides students with a second example of how to present their information in a manner suited to a PowerPoint presentation format. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It is thereby through this resource that students will be provided with a solid example on how to clearly and accurately include all the relevant information they have gathered on Koalas in their individual PowerPoint presentation so that all aspects of the focus outcome can be successfully addressed. <span style="color: red; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">What aspect of literacy could be explored using this resource? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The aspect of literacy explored using this resource is multimodality. This is due to the resource providing a clear example of what a multimodal text is, what it is composed of in order for it to be classified as multimodal and how these elements work together to create meaning. According to Kress (2003) society is no longer able to treat written literacy as the sole, the main, let alone the major means for representation, communication and meaning p.35. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In accordance with this view, Healy (2004), suggests that today’s society relies heavily on multimodal texts for meaning and understanding as they incorporate all or a combination of the five design elements, these including linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial design p.20. It is thereby through this PowerPoint resource that students will be provided with a clear example of a rich multimodal text, as a number of these design elements were incorporated onto each slide (e.g. written, visual, and audio modes). It is thereby critical that students are exposed to this resource so that they are provided with a solid example of what to include on their own PowerPoint presentation at the end of the unit in order for it to be classified as multimodal. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">However, as outlined by Callow (2010, slide 13), in order for a multimodal text to be effective, ‘modal coherence’ should be implemented. This according to Callow (2010, slide 13) allows the meaning from each mode to ‘match’ so that the meaning of the overall text is enhanced. In accordance with this view, the resource selected clearly represents modal coherence, as the sound effects, images and written text on each slide ‘match’ in meaning (e.g. a written description of how a platypus swims, a visual image of a platypus swimming and a sound effect of someone/something swimming- slide 7). __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">References __ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Board of Studies (1997). //Science and technology k- 6 syllabus//. NSW: Board of studies. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Callow, J. (2010). Lecture 6: Multimodality [PowerPoint slides]. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Healy, A. (2004). The critical heart of multiliteracies: four resources, multimodal texts and classroom practice in //Text next: new resources for literacy learning// (pp. 19-35). Newtown, N.S.W: PETA <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Kress, G. (2003). //Literacy in the New Media Age.// Routledge: London. (Chapter 4: Wikis: Easy Collaboration for All)