Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 16.2
A cluster of shapes around the emergence of a new perspective
Through combining a content analysis of the “maps” for the emergence of new
perspectives with critical event recall we have explored the extent to which this tool
affords creative reflection on multiple perspectives and so could be seen as a tool
that supports that widening of dialogues (Wegerif et al., 2009).
ICT and Dialogue Between Media
Meaning can be explored using a variety of media. According to the dialogic across
difference perspective I have outlined above, dialogues are not simply an exchange
of words. They consist of a relationship between voices or perspectives motivating
a flow of meaning. This flow of meaning is focused and articulated by signs and
communications technologies but is not reducible to those signs or technologies.
Exploring the dialogue between meanings in different modes has the potential to
broaden dialogues, by giving access to new kinds of perspectives and to deepen
dialogues, by encouraging one mode to reflect on another. For example asking stu-
dents to reflect on musical representations of different arguments can give access
to the emotions that are often implicit behind neutral seeming words in texts and
so both broaden and deepen the dialogic space. This can be illustrated through a
recent project in a school in the UK where the use of ICT was central. This was
a creative workshop combining together music composition, dance movement and
art-work using light to produce a response to an initial poem entitled “Light Shifts”.
The multi-modal result, presented in a powerpoint, is a powerful expression of
