New literacies: Multimodal and social orientation of ‘new’ in secondary science classrooms

Abstract

The “new” of new literacies are multifaceted social practices to make and share meanings with new communication tools and technology. Despite gaining considerable research focus in recent times, there is scarce evidence of new literacies as instances of practice in secondary science classrooms. In this article students’ engagement in classroom literacy practices has been explored to find out how far literacy practices are indicative of new pedagogical approaches in meaning-making, in response to the digital, multimodal, social, and participative orientation of new literacies rather than conventional literacies. This research is situated in an interpretive-qualitative research paradigm and uses a case study approach. Three science teachers and their classes were study participants. This study concludes that in the New Zealand secondary science context, pedagogical approaches represented only that of “being digital” with conventional literacies. The new literacies as new ways of thinking and doing to make and communicate meanings can be realized if knowledge and expertise are shared through social interactions in online media and peer- to- peer collaboration equally. Classroom environment as a new avenue can serve to build ongoing relationships with extended communities of learners.