Prompt 2

In her article Sherk Meets Vygotsky: Rethinking Adolescents’ Multimodal Literacy Practise in Schools Kathy Mills attempts to make a few notions clear. Mills argues that there is a need to recognize that not all adolescents are digital natives nor do they interact with the internet or other such technologies on a regular basis. She demonstrates this through studies in both the USA and Australia of low income schools and the prevalence of computer and internet usage at home and school. She continues on to argue that there is a place for multimodal learning in the classroom but the learning must be scaffolded and be at the highest level of the students level of proximal development. An important part of including multimodal learning in the classroom is that not all the education should not be “situated in youths’ out-of-school literacy experiences” (Mills 2010. Pg 37), by this she means that while it is important to include some of the youths’ out of school experiences, teachers must still include other experiences that will help educate the students and make them productive members of society. For Mills the definition of multimodal is pretty basic, “the combination of two or more modes in representation – linguistic (written words), visual, audio, gestural and spatial” (Mills 2010. PG 35). It is important to keep this definition of multimodal in mind when engaging the born digital generation because most of the youth are in one way or another engaging in this kind of text. While some students may not be as exposed as other students – this is where the need to scaffold comes in – all students to some degree use multimodal text, most textbooks now combined printed work along with pictures, movies combine visual images and gestures with verbal language. It is almost impossible to escape from the multimodal text.

As for the composition of text – whether by the student, instructor or someone else – they use of multimodal text will continue to play and increase role of importance. This is largely because of the youths access to content tht is multimodal – books, tv, movies, graphic novels, the internet, ect – due to this, students are more comfortable and less intimidated by this type of text than say a text that only contained printed word. Students themselves may find it easier to produce text or assignments that are not primary print based; however, this could be because they often engage in multimodal text or because for them it is still a new and exciting process.

As future educators, the prospect of multimodal composition is both exciting and somewhat scary. As students become more versed in creating their own multimodal text the possibilities for them will be endless. Perhaps one day we will see the stranded pen and paper test replaced with a the students developing a short video explaining the main concepts of a chapter through a re-enactment with subtitles, or creating a stop motion video or composing and recording a song. This also means there is an infinite number of ways teaches can develop a text that will hopefully engage students in the learning process while at the same time not isolating the students home life or leisure time from the experience they have at school. The endless opportunities for both the students and the teachers also make the use of multimodal text and their creation scary, no one knows where the combination of modes of communication will end, or what might be next. For most the unknown is always scary, but the added element of having to learn new skills to stay ‘current’ in multimodal composition can also be a daunting task.

Suzanne Miller takes a similar stance as to the importance of multimodal literacy in her article English Teacher Learning for New Times: Digital Video Composing as Multimodal Literacy Practice as Mills did. She agrees that the use of multimodal text is an important part of the new education that today's students need. Miller defines multimodal as the “emergence of domains besides language at the center of everyday communication” (Miller 2007. Pg 62) and it is these domains that “bind adolescents together in a social culture through communication and meaning making” (Miller 2007. Pg 62). Throughout her article Miller states that teachers need to first learn how to include multimodal text, learning and assignments into the classroom in order to do this they themselves must first experience multimodal learning. Miller recognizes that the students of today grow up in social world where they are always connected to each other and the content they are creating, she argues that the way to educate these young people is through social means, have the students “connect curriculum to their lives outside school” (Miller 2007. Pg71) and do this by having them work together on non-print reliant projects. The creation of multimodal text can coincide with the current curriculum, for example both Mills and Miller use digital video composing to show this and compare the process to that of creating an essay, they found the two to be very similar. Lastly, the inclusion of multimodal text and assignments meet the students in their own realm of the world which gives them the added benefit of comfortable expressing their voices and allows for a greater number of students to engaging in the material.

It has become important to engage students in multimodal text because they “have grown up in a world surrounded and shaped by practices related to computers, the internet and mobile phones” (Miller 2007. Pg 62) but what this really means is that they have been surrounded with multimodal texts since birth and the need to employ multimodal activities to communicate will only continue to grow. Every aspect of their lives has involved some forms of multimodalities, they TV shows they watch, the websites they browse, the texts or emails they send with a picture attached are all examples of this. Further, as the students get older and enter the work world they will need to know how to read, understand, and interpret more than just the printed word; therefore schools should be preparing them for this reality. This reality also one where you do not need to know everything rather you need to know “how to find, gather, use, communicate and create new ways of envisioning assemblages of knowledge” (Miller 2007. Pg 64).

Many of the teachers from the older generation and to an extent new teachers also try to keep to the idea that literacy and assignments mean only printed text. To engage the digital native Miller argues that teachers must be taught how to design multimodal text and assignments that are meant to grab the students attention and interests. In the example, digital video composing was used, it was used and it showed that students had to “plan for visual images and audio narrative on a storyboard: import the footage into computer software, and then edit images and sounds into a coherent text by cutting pasting and manipulating – much like word processing” (Miller 2007. Pg 66). The composition of multimodal text needs to gain acceptance in academic circles so that teachers become willing to accept it as a learning tool and acceptable method of assessment. The composition of multimodal text or design-based performance encourages students to find and create meaning for themselves.

According to Miller, multimodal composition will allow students a way to engage in information can classes they might otherwise have ‘checked-out’ of long before the material was being taught. The use of multimodal text allows educators to continue teaching students while at the same time meeting them on a middle ground where they are more comfortable and experienced. The use of “design-based performances, they have embodied experience of engaging in purposeful orchestration of modes to create meaning” (Miller 2007. Pg 66). Further, before a teacher can create a purposeful multimodal text or design-based performance / assessment they must first learn how to design, create and scaffold these experiences for student learning to occur.

Miller, S. (2007). English teacher learning for new times: Digital video composing as multimodal literacy practice. English Education, 40(1) 61–83.

Mills, K. (2010). Shrek meets Vygotsky: Rethinking adolescents’ multimodal literacy practices in schools. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 54(1), 35 – 45.