Multimodal Learning Experiences

Why Multimodality?

What is Multimodal Composition?

Current multimodal practices in education are derived from the work the New London Group did in the 1990s on multiliteracies. Observing the growing influence of technology and the need to incorporate it into educational experiences, this group of scholars theorized a “pedagogy of multiliteracies” that expands the notions of text and composition to include multiple modes (multimodality) of expression. Their pedagogy includes a focus on multiple languages (codes) and cultural ways of knowing, which supports a critical intercultural approach to literacy. While the New London Group is credited for bringing multimodality into the western pedagogical sphere, it’s important to note that non-alphabetic (what western scholars have traditionally thought of as “text”) composition and/or the combination of multiple modes of expression is a communicative process that has been used throughout many cultures for centuries. Examples include the oral, musical, and symbolic practices of West African griots, and the oral, visual, and gestural practices of Native American cultures (and indigenous cultures globally).

In her 2012 article “New Times for Multimodality? Confronting the Accountability Culture,” Professor Marjorie Siegel makes the case that multimodal education is essential for students to “develop the broad repertoire of literacy knowledge and practices they need to successfully participate as citizens of local and global communities characterized by constant change and increasing diversity” (672). Although the New London Group theorized multiliteracies as a pedagogical approach over two decades ago, the use of multimodal composition in community college literature classrooms has been slow to take hold. In fact, versions of multimodality are more frequently used in E-12 educational contexts. In the section below, I explore how multimodality can be used in community college literature classroom settings to de-center whiteness (in terms of both content and approach) and create a more engaging, culturally affirming, and empowering literary reflection and analysis experience for all students.

Identifying and Deconstructing Dominant/White Supremacy Culture in Literature Classrooms

In order to educate for systemic change, educators must interrogate the power structures inherent in the academic systems in which we operate. Literature classrooms are infused with characteristics of white supremacy culture, including but not limited to rigid thinking/thinking in polarities and worship of the written word. Employing more expansive ways of engaging with literature than the traditional academic essay allows is one way to interrogate and undo these rigid power structures. Instead of assessing students using traditional methods (e.g. high-stakes assessments, formal academic essays), I create opportunities for them to reveal new understandings about a text to themselves and the rest of the class. I do this by using multimodal composition approaches, focusing on process, and encouraging students to engage with multiple ways of knowing – thinking, feeling, sensing, visualizing, etc.

In “The Hidden Wholeness,” Parker Palmer writes about the “Western commitment to thinking in polarities” (63), which could also be viewed in terms of white supremacy culture (sometimes referred to as “implicit v. explicit white supremacy,” or simply “white culture”) that undergirds many of our systems and epistemologies/”ways of knowing” in academia. When I first learned about the construct of white supremacy culture in the early 2000s, I was in the midst of my first M.A. (in francophone studies, with an emphasis on postcolonial studies and critical race theory). As I was encountering these theories and grappling with how I had been socialized into white supremacy culture, I was also witnessing it firsthand within my academic program in the form of binary thinking, perfectionism, worship of the written word and Cartesian logic, the urge to (and being encouraged to) disprove every argument, fierce individualism and competition, etc. I could identify it, but I struggled to find an alternative way of existing within academia with no practical models to turn to. Palmer offers us a way out of this socialization through the framework of paradox, which allows those of us who have been socialized into white supremacy culture a way to organize our reactions when we feel that tension he describes between thinking and feeling, the personal and the public, etc. Practically speaking, the language he uses is also helpful and accessible, in terms of providing an on-ramp for this type of thinking, for educators who are not as familiar with the white supremacy culture framework.

One of the ways that I am working within this tension and striving to undo white supremacy culture in my literature classes is by challenging traditional notions of assessment. Instead of focusing on several high stakes assessments per semester, I encourage students to engage in constant multifaceted, multi-sensory, multimodal reflection on what they are reading and the connections they are making with the course texts. This work is highly student-driven, and the creation and assessment (as discussed below) of these projects offers me the opportunity to be in conversation with the students and better understand how they are perceiving the course texts and connecting them to one another and their lived experiences.

Multimodal Literary Explorations

Transmediation as Classroom Practice

In the field of semiotics, transmediation is widely understood to mean the process of taking understandings from one sign system (or code) and moving them into another sign system to make meaning. This multimodal approach can be used in a literature classroom to empower students and open up new ways of understanding how narrative(s) and power work together.

Through the following series of questions (found in the introduction to Transmediation in the Classroom), comparative and international education professor Ladislaus M. Semali articulates the critical possibilities associated with this approach: “First, what is the relationship between what the students know and the signs they encounter in their classrooms about race, class, gender, disability, and sexual orientation? What meaning do they make of these semiotic systems? Second, how are the signs representing race, class, and gender combined into codes?”(1). As we think about how to employ transmediation in the context of a community college literature course, we could add the question: “What is the relationship between what the students know/their lived experiences and the signs they perceive in literature about race, class, gender, disability, and sexual orientation?”

In Teaching the Literature Survey Course, education professor John Staunton provides a practical and highly adaptive model for engaging in transmediation in a literature classroom. For each class meeting, he asks students to bring works of art or music (this could be expanded to other categories) that resonate thematically or formally with the literature they are engaging with for that week. Using their object as a starting point, students lead the class conversation about the relationship between the sign they have chosen and the signs present in the piece of literature assigned for that week. Practically speaking, this is a way to encourage student participation and engagement with the text in a way that interests them. It’s also a way to de-center traditional western (lecture-based) methods for teaching literature and engage students from diverse cultural backgrounds in this process of creating meaning together.

As Staunton describes, this approach has allowed him the flexibility to pivot quickly to respond to current events. When there was an incident of racialized violence on his campus, instead of staying “pedagogically silent,” he used it as an opportunity to introduce a new set of signs into the class that reflected the history of racialized violence in the United States (223). Since students were well-practiced in transmediation approaches by that point in the semester, they were able to fully participate in this process of collective meaning-making. Consistently doing the work of transmediation in a literature course provides a model for students to engage in this process while creating their multimodal projects, and in their lives beyond the classroom.

The Literary Smashbook

In her article on using smashbooks in general education classrooms, Professor Carol Westcamp describes the smashbook as follows: “I had been reading about the smashbook, a new movement in art and scrapbooking communities, which combined aspects of the art journal with aspects of a scrapbook and even the traditional writing journal. On the simplest level, a smashbook is a book in which the author somehow adheres (using tape, staples, glue, or some other adhesive) various items and then makes annotations or even small journal entries regarding the affixed item.” If students wish to create digital smashbooks, they could use Padlet, or an Instagram or Tumblr account. The smashbook format is appealing to me, because it encourages students to think in a more holistic, multimodal way about engaging with literature.

In addition, I am always searching for reflective and composition activities that disrupt the academic writing status quo. In our current higher education context, academic writing is an important code for students to master, but it is just that – one code of many. The smashbook allows students more flexibility and freedom as they seek out signifiers and compose in different ways. It’s also important to recognize that, based on their previous educational experiences, some students have already been socialized into rigid and formulaic ways of thinking and writing about literature. As such, students need guidance on how to engage meaningfully with the smashbook format and not dismiss it as “less serious” that traditional academic writing assignments. To help scaffold the work, I follow Westcamp’s advice of including prompts for the students to respond to in their smashbooks periodically throughout the semester. Below you will find written guidelines for a literary smashbook, as well as a smashbook page I created that gives insight into my pedagogical considerations.

Literary Smashbook Project

Guidance: Throughout the semester you will compose in a literary smashbook (either physical or digital). This is an opportunity for you to engage with the literary works in a holistic, multimodal way. You will share selected entries of your literary smashbook (your choice) with me during our check-ins two times per semester (or more frequently during office hours if you choose).

You are not expected to do academic writing in your smashbooks. Sentence fragments, individual words, text clippings, images, videos, memes, spoken entries (and any other mode of expression you choose) are all valid forms of expression.

Your smashbook entries are an opportunity to try out some ideas you might want to include in your transmediation activities, discussion posts, or multimodal projects. Think of it as your space for reflecting and working through ideas.

I will periodically provide you with prompts to get you thinking about what you might want to include in your entries. These prompts are meant to be helpful, not limiting; you may choose to not compose on the prompt and compose on another topic instead.

Please aim to include at least 5 entries in your smashbook throughout the semester. You will share selected entries of your literary smashbook (your choice) with me during our check-ins two times per semester (or more frequently during office hours if you choose).

Smashbook prompts:

How are you experiencing the critical lenses and course themes? Do any words or images come to mind as you reflect on them? Do they remind you of anything you’ve read or discussed in other courses?

Who holds power in The Tattooed Soldier? Where does this power come from? What words and images come to mind as you reflect on how power is portrayed in the novel?

Who is doing the “telling” in There There? How does culture inform this process? Have you ever told your own story in public (writing, speaking, etc.)? How did it feel? What words or images do you associate with the process of telling?

How does geographic location and culture inform who has power in The Stars and the Blackness Between Them and/or Dream Country? Who is telling the story? What role does dialect and code(switching) play in this novel? What imagery resonates with you the most as you reflect on the first part of this novel?

Reflect on the two texts you chose for your “reader’s choice” week. How do these texts relate/enter into conversation with other texts you read this semester. What are some words, images, or sounds that come to mind as you reflect on these texts?

Multimodal Synthesis Projects

At multiple points throughout the semester, I ask students to synthesize the course themes and texts we have been engaging with into a multimodal project to share with the class. Below you will find written guidelines for three different types of multimodal synthesis projects. I have also embedded samples using the technology for each project that give insight into my pedagogical considerations.

Multimodal Synthesis Project #1: Literary Criticism and Power Format: Digital Wall

Guidance: You will create a Padlet that uses one of the critical lenses as a guide for examining the role of power in The Tattooed Soldier.

Create a free account at www.padlet.com.
Create a Padlet (you are free to choose whichever format, background, etc. that you would like). The Padlet can either be public or you can protect it with a password (if you do, make sure to provide the password to our class community when you share your Padlet on the online discussion forum and upload it to the assignments folder).
Choose one of the critical lenses to examine the role of power in The Tattooed Soldier.
The expectation is that the overall word count (your own words) for the Padlet will be around 1500 words. This can include words that are spoken v. written. Use direct quotes from the text, your own analysis, photos, images, hotlinks, sound files, and/or videos to enhance the information you are providing. Please use at least two secondary sources for this project.
Provide a roadmap for your sources. You can link to them or cite them using MLA style.
Copy and paste the Padlet link (and password, if you have chosen to go that route) into a Word or text doc and upload it into the assignment folder (located in the “assignments” tab under “assessments”).
Share your Padlet to the Multimodal Project #1 discussion forum in the thread with your name on it. View and comment on the Padlets of two other people in your thread.

Multimodal Synthesis Project #2: The Power of Narrative/Telling Format: Infographic

Guidance: You will create an infographic that examines the intersections of power and narrative/the act of telling in There There.

Create a free account at www.piktochart.com (or another infographic formatting site of your choice).
Create an infographic using whichever format that you would like.
Define your understanding of the intersection of power and narrative (or the act of telling). Include this information on the infographic.
Identify direct quotes from There There that exemplify this definition. Use photos and graphics to enhance the information you are providing.
Please use at least one secondary source for this project (in your definition section).
Include a “works cited” section at the end of the infographic.
Download the infographic from Piktochart and upload it into the assignment folder (located in the “assignments” tab under “assessments”).
Share your infographic to the Multimodal Project #2 discussion forum in the thread with your name on it. View and comment on the infographics of at least two other people in your thread.

Multimodal Synthesis Project #3: Power and Identity Format: Slide Deck/Interactive Presentation

“Why slide decks?” Presentation

Guidance: Using the slide deck/interactive presentation software of your choice, you will engage in a literary analysis of the intersection of identity and power in The Stars and The Blackness Between Them and one of the other novels we read for class. You will use at least one critical lens in your analysis.

Choose one (or more) critical lens to analyze the intersection of identity and power in The Stars and The Blackness Between Them and one of the other novels we read for class.
Define your understanding of the intersection of identity and power. Include this information in the presentation
Identify direct quotes from The Stars and The Blackness Between Them and the other novel you chose that relate to this definition. Use the lens(es) you’ve chosen to analyze each novel and make connections between them.
To present your analysis, create an engaging presentation (use whichever format/elements you would like). Use direct quotes from the text, your own analysis, photos, images, hotlinks, sound files, and/or videos to enhance the information you are providing.
Please use at least three secondary sources in this project.
Provide a roadmap for your sources. You can link to them or cite them using MLA style.
Paste the “share” link for your presentation in a Word doc and upload it into the assignment folder (located in the “assignments” tab under “assessments”).
Share your presentation link in this Multimodal Project #3 discussion forum in the thread with your name on it. View and comment on the presentations of at least two other people in your thread.

Multimodal Assessment

Reflective Discourse/”Trade Talk”

An important part of assessing the impact of multimodal experiences on student learning is empowering students to reflect on both process and product (in this case, their multimodal projects). Marjorie Siegal suggests that “trade talk” can be a way for students and their instructors to engage in verbal inquiry around “when modes are combined, how do the different modes relate to one another – for example, as representational, or ironic, each carrying different meanings of knowledge?” (678). “Trade talk” can be embedded into each class experience as a way of reflecting on transmediation. This regular practice empowers students to be able to do the same when it comes to assessing their own and their peers’ multimodal projects.

During transmediation practice, instructors can encourage students to come up with their own “trade talk” prompts or questions. I’ve provided some below that could be used during in-class transmediation or when reflecting on multimodal projects.

Describe your thought process behind choosing this particular object/sign (painting, song, meme, etc.) to enter into conversation with the text we read for today?
Consider the (sub)cultural context of the text we read for class and the objects/signs you brought to class today. How do these cultural layers add to the meaning we are creating right now? How do the cultural associations embedded in these signifiers and signifieds complicate/enrich the meaning-making process?
What does this combination of signs reveal about how power functions in the text or in society?
What new understandings have been revealed by combining these modes?

Co-Creating Guidelines and Rubrics

Involving students as active participants in the assessment of their own multimodal projects helps to disrupt the entrenched academic power structure of instructor as “all knowing” and student as “there to receive knowledge.” This engagement starts with inviting students to be part of the assignment and rubric creation. Depending on their socialization, students might not yet be comfortable with this process. One way to approach it could be to use the project guideline drafts provided above as a jumping off point for student input, or the instructor could provide students with a general theme for the multimodal project and invite them to brainstorm assignment guidelines.

Likewise, students can co-create the rubrics used for multimodal project assessment. This could take the form of a class rubric that is used for all projects, or the rubrics can be individualized to focus on specific students’ interests or project goals. These rubrics can be used to support formative or summative assessment. For example the rubric could be used to structure “check-ins” during the creation of the multimodal project. After the students have finished and shared their projects, the instructor can meet individually with each student and use the rubric to guide a collaborative conversation to assess the overall effectiveness of the project. These approaches empower students to assess their own work and fosters a collaborative, growth-centered mindset.

Sample Rubric:

I am able to express/talk/write about how power appears in and intersects with the text(s). Yes, I can do this./I am still working on this./What I still need in order to be able to do this is...
I am able to express/talk/write about how culture shapes the characters’ experiences in this text. Yes, I can do this./I am still working on this./What I still need in order to be able to do this is...
I am able to identify codes present in this text and discuss how they relate to culture and/or power dynamics. Yes, I can do this./I am still working on this./What I still need in order to be able to do this is...