A Multimodal Scrapbook About Multimodal Literacy
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Use these multimodal resources to inspire comments and replies about your own multimodal learning experiences and how you might design multimodal learning and composing for your students.
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With all due respect the the resources we have collected here, a careful reading of each of them is not our intention.
Instead, we want you to look quickly on the left side of NowComment’s 2-pane set-up and find a few things that resonate with your own learning and your plans for students.
Once identified, go to the right side and, in both comments and replies, describe how something you created in a recent workshop or seminar is an example of multimodal literacy and learning.
Then begin to think with your peers about how this might be applied in your classrooms this year.
1. Teachernerdz. “Angela Stockman about Multimodality in Writing.” Twitter, Twitter, 17 July 2021, https://twitter.com/teachernerdz/status/1416364810325962752?s=20&t=DGpklSugmbdQpAvp4xV85Q.
Procedural knowledge versus content knowledge
I agree with this, Destiny. It’s sort of why whenever I have to set up furniture or fix something on my car, for example, I got to YouTube. If I simply want to explore a particular subject, I got to Wikipedia.
What I like about platforms like NowComment and YouthVoices, however, is that it can be both instructional and exploratory with different forms of media all at once.
I usually do both in order to learn about the desired topic in depth, I would read articles to become well informed but I would also watch youtube videos as I am a visual learner. Each outcome has its benefits as you mentioned you could have instructional and exploratory. Both produce knowledgeable content in their own way and everyone learns differently..
Hi Destiny.
I do the same thing. if I want to learn how to do something or need basic information I check Youtube. Now if I need a deeper understanding I Just Google and search for a truth source.
After watching each video and posting on the Scrapbook, I notice that each aspect of multimodal is to be used by a specific student. But as Baback demonstrated, all linguistic aspect must be included, text, visual, sound, spatial, etc. If we only view Teachernerdz, we tend to believe that we are going back to the cave age times when only sounds and visual images was the mean to tell story and to communicate. Great post Jennifer.
Whether it’s installing a car seat (even though I have the manual) or getting a quick synopsis of a book, I go for a video format whenever it is available.
Nowadays we live in a world where technology has become vital in our daily routines. I believe that learning how to use technology and the amount of time we spend using it is crucial but also I understand that in this modern times it’s ok to take advantage of what it can offer. So like you I would access internet and use technology when I need to.
We have done many multimodal work. Which have been interesting. For example It is important for a teacher to use an appropiate multimodal for the lesson. In my case I will use a digital multimedia for a better communication. Since many of our students are visuals.
Multimodality in writing, provides other modes of expression aside from reliance on writing. This benefits greatly Ell students because it gives them options to express their knowledge using new digital tools to support English acquisition while reinforcing their native language. In lesson planning, multicultural relevant pedagogy becomes oriented to the needs of the student’s life. As one of the speaker suggests, students engaged in meaningful work is more likely to foster the ability and power to define the world and secondly to shape the world to act in desired manner.
2. Coppola, Shawna. “Writing, Redefined in a Nutshell, a Comic Strip by Shawna Coppola.” Stenhouse Blog, 26 Aug. 2019, https://blog.stenhouse.com/writing-redefined-in-a-nutshell.
This is cool. In any discipline it’s important to get students to view writing as an outlet for shaping their own relationship with the world.
It is also cool that this was presented in the form of a comic strip. It added a neat dimension to it.
Instead of the answer being “no!” to the question “can we…” it should more often be “yes!”
Maybe this is why late elementary and middle school kids are just over the moon about graphic novels.
I agree with you Jessie that it is important to get students to view writing in a way that can help them shape and be relatable to themselves. I believe if students find a way to connect with writings in a personal way their interest in writing will grow.
Engaging students would be the ideal outcome for better writing. After reading all your posts it reminded me of why I like to write. I feel that through writing, one is able to reflect and put on paper the ideas, thoughts, or questions one has. Furthermore, even more so when it’s engaging or relatable. For some students, writing can be an outlet and find commonalities with other students if writing is also shared.
There is just as much preparation for a video as there is for an essay, and just as much writing, with additional steps of recording, editing, and uploading the video! However, a rant video usually feels more accessible to students than an essay.
Apart from the engaging visuals, I like how it touches upon different ways writing can be better to help students express themselves. It touches upon real problems of why very few students identify themselves as writers and it’s because writing becomes limited, narrowing down the capability of students exploring varieties of topics in a deeper way. It showcases various methods that could be effective for the student’s writing.
I totally agree, Brittney. But with the added perk that creating an image, video, audio, etc. text with multiple modes is really writing! I think that some in education have not really considered this idea quite yet, but the way and what we (and our future students) read in today’s world is beyond printed text. =)
3. Babak, Larissa. “A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures.” YouTube, 6 Apr. 2015, https://youtu.be/lMOMf1uNdYk.
Tell us more.
The blocks referred to what I would call actions. I felt like it was a good set of restrictions to keep students from becoming overwhelmed with all possible blocks. At the same time it was a nice challenge to create a whole program using only the 10 blocks.
I enjoyed using scratch, I felt like it gave me the ability to be free and express myself especially with the About Me project which I believe students would truly enjoy as they get to express who they are and then share their masterpieces created through scratch. I feel scratch gives students the ability to do endless creative things.
4. Ryan, Cathy. “Retelling Stories by Creating a Multimodal Text: Cummins Area School.” YouTube, Teaching and Learning in South Australia, 16 Sept. 2013, https://youtu.be/3yMT3pCEQIs.
I believe this is the most effective way of learning although not everyone learns the same. I feel for me visuals would always be important and I shall use visuals to teach my students as well. Although having a book in a physical form makes it more personal, digitals are not too bad as well.
We have already learned how to use Scratch to help students create and share their ideas, but there are many other possibilities, such as video or audio programs. Even a “basic” program like Microsoft Paint is one way that students can create and share their work.
5. Serafini, Frank. “Multimodal Literacy.” Faculti – Multimodal Literacy, 2 Dec. 2020, https://faculti.net/multimodal-literacy/.
Then you might appreciate these Access Lenses, illustrated by Jarrett as well: pic.twitter.com/len65L7blv
— Trevor Bryan (@trevorabryan) January 20, 2022
This is helpful, Marina. Thank you. I can begin to look at my own planning with respect to the various ways in which my students will respond to the material.
When I was in 9th grade I had an assignment for a biology class on taxonomy. Even my teacher expressed an explicit disinterest in taxonomy, as it is often fairly dry.
In order to make the project interesting for myself, I created a comic book, complete with characters and scenery, to take the reader on a journey through “Taxonomy Land.”
Looking back at the results, they were certainly crude, but I’m still proud of the concept to this day. I will post to this thread once I’m able to find the scan of it.
I think that Serafini’s take is pretty good, that different forms of sensory input are not only independent, but that they form a complex of interactions.
Writing only has meaning because it corresponds to other sensory phenomenon. And vice versa.
I think it may be worth consideration for educators, despite the obvious flaws in the experiment. I wonder if, in our classrooms, we can make some reasonable assumptions about how the majority of students learn.
6.
The Why, What, and How of Multimodal Literacies
Dr. Frank Serafini, Professor – Arizona State University
University of Wyoming Literacy Conference 2018
Foundational Questions
Why Should We Teach Multimodal Literacies?
What do We Teach?
How do We Teach It?
Multimodal(ity): A Brief Definition
- as an adjective to describe a particular type of text
- as a theoretical perspective
- as a framework for analyzing texts, events, & social practices
Multimodal Ensembles
- Texts that operate across multiple modes: (image, language, music, animation, etc.)
- Mode = a socially-shaped, material means for making meaning
- Some modes are temporal (language, music) and some are spatial (image, sculpture) and some are both (picturebooks)
Why Should We Teach Multimodal Literacies?
- The world told has become the world shown – Gunther Kress
- A Shift from Page To Screen
- From Monomodal to Multimodal Texts
- From Static to Interactive Texts
Assertion #1
The texts children interact with today have become more visual, digital, and multimodal.
I agree that text that children interact with today have become visual so we need to find ways to incorporate visual learning into what students read today.
Don’t forget the role that music can play in multimodal literacy
I agree, text are becoming more accessible to children’s interest. There is a great variety of text to meet children at their level and to encourage progress and learning. Again, technology plays a huge role in such improvement and it has become an important for educator to meet student’s goal with a better approach
Analogue-Based Multimodal Texts
Digitally-Based Multimodal Texts
Transmedial Texts
Assertion #2
Because of these shifts, we have to redefine what we mean by “text” & what counts as reading.
Redefining Texts
Text as Written Language
Text as Visual Object
Text as Multimodal Ensemble
Text as Cultural Artifact
The Case for Multimodal Literacy
- Since the texts readers read have become radically different, the strategies readers will need are radically different.
- We need to make a shift from supporting “readers” to supporting “reader-viewers”
- Understanding how texts work is as important as deciding what texts mean.
The multimodal literacy is connected to the use of technology. I noticed that that each mean of communication involve requires some mean of technology usage. I used created my first multimodal artifact using “Scratch” where I had to use code blocks to create a scene where the character was able to say what was written in text. Scratch is an excellent tools for the teaching of multimodal literacy.
What Do We Teach?:
A Multimodal Curriculum
Re-Envisioning Reader Competencies
Re-Thinking Analytical Perspectives
Assertion #3
We have to help students develop new competencies for designing, producing, navigating, and
interpreting multimodal texts.
Developing Multimodal Competencies
- Call attention to various aspects of multimodal texts that often go unnoticed.
- Teach reading-viewing strategies in the context of making sense of the texts students encounter each day in and out of school.
- Help students understand how different modes work individually and collectively across multimodal texts.
Learning Processes (van Leeuwen )
- Understanding Texts
- Engaging Personally with Texts
- Connecting to Texts
- Engaging Critically with Texts
- Experimenting with Texts
- Reflecting / Reconsidering
Assertion #4
Students need a variety of analytical perspectives from which to consider and interpret
multimodal texts.
Analytical Perspectives
- Help readers approach visual and multimodal texts in different ways.
- Serve as interpretive frameworks to help readers understand what to attend to.
- Provide a vocabulary or metalanguage for discussing various elements and features ofvisual and multimodal texts.
3 Analytical Perspectives
- Perceptual – Noticing, Navigating, Naming Elements of Multimodal Texts
- Structural – Grammar and Conventions of Visual Images & Multimodal Texts
- Ideological – The Socio-Cultural Contexts of Visual Images and Multimodal Texts
Additional Theoretical Perspectives
- Art History and Criticism
- Media and Cultural Studies
- Systemic Functional Linguistics
- Visual Grammar
- Picturebook Theories
- Visual Discourse Analysis
- Multimodal Analysis
- Multimodal Interaction Analysis
- Semiotics and Social Semiotics
Assertion #5
Multimodal pedagogy should be an optimal blend of explicit instruction and student
exploration and experimentation.
Multimodal instruction is a method I have used in my 3K setting, but I label it “differentiation.” For example, when students use a tablet to create they own story and then retell, is a way to differentiate the process of creating and telling story. I have a concern of implementing multimodal because in my opinion, some students will rely on one method of communication and will neglect one, the written text. If we want to prepare students well, they must be able to read text for understanding instruction or information that would make them thinkers.
For example, a Spanish class can be composed of heritage language learners and second language acquisition students. I have learned that teachers must differentiate instructions to be inclusive and support all students in the classroom.
Pedagogical “Points of Entry”
3 Points of Entry
- Art Movements: Various techniques and styles from the history of art criticism
- Visual Grammar: A grammar for images based on systemic functional linguistics
- Design Elements: Elements used as spatial and linguistic means for organizing texts
Art Movements
- Realism
- Folk Art
- Modern Art
- Surrealism
Questions to Ask
- How does the artistic style add to the theme, mood, or setting of the story?
- What aspects of the artistic movement can be used to better understand the narrative?
- How would your interpretations of the book change if the art style changed?
Visual Grammar
- Developed by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996)
- Based on Halliday’s (1977) framework of systemic functional linguistics
- Describes grammars and conventions of visual images based on the framework of grammars and conventions of language
Point of View (Positioning)
How viewers of an image are positioned.
Has socially determined meaning potentials.
Provides viewer with their “window on the world.”
May suggest certain power relationships.
Questions to Ask
- Where are the characters located in the image?
- Are objects or people above, below or straight on?
- Where are you positioned as the viewer?
- How does your position as viewer affect your interpretations?
Viewer Interactions
- How is the viewer being asked to interact with the characters in the image?
- Demand – requires active response to characters in an image.
- Offer – placed in voyeuristic position, viewers look at what characters are looking at.
Questions to Ask
- Are the characters looking at you or away from you?
- How does this affect your relationship with the characters?
- What are you being asked to consider?
- How would your interpretation of the image change if the characters looked at you ornot?
Visual Design Features
- Speech / Thought Bubbles
- Upfixes
- Impact Stars
- Motion Lines
- Reduplication
Questions to Ask
- What visual design elements did you notice?
- How did these elements help you make sense of the picturebook or other text?
- What functions do these elements serve? What do they do for the text and for us asreaders?
These links that you are posting, Marina, remind me of sketchnoting. For those unfamiliar, check out this website: https://www.verbaltovisual.com/what-is-sketchnoting/
Endpapers: Different Roles of Endpapers
- Connections to Story
- Thematic
- Part of the Narrative
Questions to Ask
- Are the endpapers the same in front and back?
- If they are the same or single colored pages, is there a thematic connection to thenarrative?
- If they are different, how do the endpapers add to the narrative?
Some Final Thoughts
- As texts continue to evolve into digital and multimodal ensembles, the strategies readers will need to be successful will have to evolve as well.
- Teachers need to expand their own interpretive competencies if they expect to support their students interpretive competencies.
- Texts are always encountered within particular social practices and contexts, and these practices and contexts influence how we understand them.
Professional Resources
Reading the Visual – Serafini
Reading Contemporary Picture Books – Lewis
Looking at Pictures in Picture Books – Doonan
Postmodern Picturebooks – Sipe and Pantaleo
How Picturebooks Work – Nikolajeva and Scott
Reading Images – Kress & van Leeuwen
Picture This – Bang
Literacy in the New Media Age – Kress
Practices of Looking – Sturken and Cartwright
Handbook of Visual Analysis – van Leeuwen & Jewitt
Visual Methodologies – Rose
Thank You!
www.frankserafini.com
7. O’Brien, Annemaree. “Creating Multimodal Texts.” Creating Multimodal Texts, https://creatingmultimodaltexts.com/.
creating multimodal texts
resources for literacy teachers
Introduction and how to use this resource
Storytelling in any format is about making meaning. While the essence of the stories we tell may remain the same, the ways in which we can now share these stories have changed dramatically with the development of digital communication technologies. Access to simple, easy to use media production tools and resources in conjunction with the potential for immediate and universal online publication has significant implications for literacy thinking and practice.
This website is an evolving compilation of resources designed to support the development of student multimodal authoring at all year levels. It features examples of different types of student multimodal compositions to demonstrate the rich variety of choices available, along with practical resources to support text production.
What does creating multimodal texts mean?
Creating is defined in the Australian Curriculum as ‘the development and/or production of spoken, written or multimodal texts in print or digital forms’ and is an embedded literacy expectation across all disciplines.
Multimodal is defined in the Australian Curriculum as the strategic use of ‘two or more communication modes‘ to make meaning, for example, image, gesture, music, spoken language, and written language.
What is a multimodal text?
While the development of multimodal literacy is strongly associated with the growth of digital communication technologies, multimodal is not synonymous with digital. The choice of media for multimodal text creation is therefore always an important consideration.
A multimodal text can be paper – such as books, comics, posters.
A multimodal text can be digital – from slide presentations, e-books, blogs, e-posters, web pages, and social media, through to animation, film and video games.
A multimodal text can be live – a performance or an event.
And, a multimodal text can be transmedia– where the story is told using ‘multiple delivery channels’ through a combination of media platforms, for example, book, comic, magazine, film, web series, and video game mediums all working as part of the same story. Transmedia is a contested term and Henry Jenkins is worth reading for more background. Jenkins argues that transmedia is more than just multiple media platforms, it is about the logical relations between these media extensions which seek to add something to the story as it moves from one medium to another, not just adaptation or retelling. Transmedia enables the further development of the story world through each new medium; for example offering a back story, a prequel, additional ‘episodes’, or further insight into characters and plot elements. (Jenkins, 2011). It also can require a more complex production process.
Development of multimodal literacy knowledge and skills
To enable our students to effectively design and communicate meaning through such rich and potentially complex texts, we need to extend their (and along the way, our own) multimodal literacy knowledge and skills. Skilled multimodal composition requires new literacy design skills and knowledge to enable students to make informed choices within and across the available communication modes to effectively construct meaning.
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Creating a multimodal text, a digital animation, for example, is a complex meaning design process requiring the strategic orchestration of a combination of modes such as image, movement, sound, spatial design, gesture, and language. The process of constructing such texts is also truly a cross-disciplinary literacy process, drawing on digital information technologies and The Arts (media, music, drama, visual arts, design) to bring meaning to life.
About this website
The multimodal text examples here describe different media possibilities – both digital and on paper and provide links to examples of student work and production guides.
Print-based multimodal texts include comics, picture storybooks, graphic novels; and posters, newspapers and brochures.
Digital multimodal texts include slide presentations, animation, book trailers, digital storytelling, live-action filmmaking, music videos, ‘born digital’ storytelling, and various web texts and social media. The level of digital technology requirements range from very simple options such as slide presentations through to complex, sophisticated forms requiring a higher level of technical and digital media skills. The choice is yours depending on your skill and experience, level of confidence, and the resources and tools available to you.
These examples of different types of student multimodal composition are provided as ideas and starting points, and may also provide models for introducing new forms of ‘writing’ to your students.
The technical construction of digital multimodal texts is always a significant consideration for teachers. Practical information about communication technology resources and digital media tools is provided where possible to support the successful implementation of multimodal authoring in the literacy classroom.
Please explore these resources as a starting point to develop ideas to suit your own situation.
How this website works
Practical
Production processes is an overview of the three production stages in creating a multimodal text.
Media resources provides links to a wealth of digital audio and image resources which can be used under creative commons licensing.
Copyright and Attribution provides information about how to ethically source and use digital materials responsibly.
Pedagogy
Modes and meaning systems explores the key meaning-making systems we can use to create meaning
Pedagogy provides a brief guide to teaching creating multimodal texts.
Visual literacy provides a closer look at one of the key meaning-making modes, with the aim to develop a shared metalanguage for talking about how visual meaning is constructed.
Reading multimodal texts provides resources for deconstructing and analysing how different modal systems work to create meaning in a text.
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I am a teacher of a 3-K program students where they work on developing every skill needed to perform well in their future education or social life. After viewing the deferent ways other educators implement multimodal with their students, I decided to use “Scratch” in my class to. help students develop digital literacy using, visual, text, and sound and voice in their project. This is great tool for any student at any age because it includes option for any school subject as well as any modality required in the multimodal approach.
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