Mul$modal Wri$ng: UsingMediainAcademicWri0ng

Cooks and Teachers

What is Mul$modal Wri$ng? • Wri0ngthatintegratesdifferent“modes,”suchaswri:en

prose,images,color,video,documentdesign,andsound

• Mul0modalwri0ngmaybepresentedphysicallyordigitally

• Focusondigitalmul0modalwri0ng,butmul0modaltextsmay

becreatedwithoutdigitaltechnology

• Mul0modalwri0ngcanbedonewithpencilsandpaper,if

that’sallyouhaveavailable

Engaging Students in Learning

Webinar Goals

•  Increaseunderstandingofmul0modalwri0ng

• LearnhowitcanbeusedintheEnglishlanguageclassroom

• Understandtheadvantagesandchallengesofusing

mul0modalassignments

• Learnmoreabouthowtodesignandevaluatemul0modal

wri0ngassignments

Examples: Blogs

Examples: Collages

Why Use Digital Mul$modal Wri$ng?

• Helpsstudentstodevelopdigitalliteracyandcri0calanalysis

• Promotescrea0vityinwri0ngandideadevelopment

• Enhancesmo0va0on

What skills do students need to be successful as digital writers?

Advantages for Students: Cri$cal Analysis

• Developsearchstrategies

• Understandfoundinforma0on

• Organizetheinforma0onlocated

• Evaluatetheinforma0onforusefulness

• Analyzetheinforma0ontoadaptittopersonaluse

Advantages for Students: Crea$vity and Idea Development

• Languagelearningisacrea0veprocess.

• Agoodlanguagelearnerdoesn’tjustrepeatwhatothershavesaid,orwritewhatothershavewri:en.

• Wewantstudentstobecrea0ve,toexpresstheirownideas,

andtocomeupwithfreshapproachestoexpressingthose

ideas.

“Crea0vity…contributestowhatshouldbeourul0mategoalaseducators:inspiringstudentstobecomecurious,engaged,andinterestedintheworldaroundthemandwithinthem.”

–LauraPreble,teachhub.com

Advantages for Students: Increases Student Mo$va$on • Crea0vityincreasesstudentmo0va0on

• Languagelearningispersonalized

• Forstudentswithdifferentlearningstyles,mul0modality

respectsthesestyles,whetheraural/oral,visual,or

kinesthe0c

What advantages are there for teachers who use mul$modal wri$ng?

Advantages for Teachers: Workload

• Studentstakeresponsibilityforfindingmaterialtosupport

theirwri0ng

• Studentsbecomeindependentlearners

• Studentscreatemoreinteres0ngprojectstoassess

Advantages for Teachers: Learn with the Students

Important:

• Noneofuseverknowseverythingaboutcurrent

technology;wecanlearnwithourstudentsaboutnew

toolsandtechnologies.

Challenges and Opportuni$es #1

Someteachersareuncomfortableknowinglessthantheirstudentsdo,orlearningalongwiththem.Howcanwebelessconcernedaboutstudentsknowingmorethanwedoabouttechnology?

Challenges and Opportuni$es #2

Technologyisconstantlychanging,soourlearningneverends.Howcanweseethisasposi8veratherthannega8ve?

Planning a Mul$modal Assignment: The KISS Principle

(KISS–Keepitsimple,stupid!)

Inventory Your Own Skills

Thinkaboutwhatyouknowhowtodo,orwhatyouarecomfortablelearning.

Planning a Mul$modal Assignment: Students

Learnaboutyourstudents’skills• Askthemdirectly–youmaythinkyouknowwhattheyknow,buttheymightsurpriseyou• Useawri:enoronlinesurvey

Planning and Design

Threetypesofassignments:

• onesimple:usingpictureswithstudentwri0ng

• onemoresophis0cated:annota0ngamap

• onecomplex:crea0ngavideo

Planning: The Topic

• Op0on1:Choosethetopicforyourstudentstowriteabout.

• Op0on2:Helpguidestudentstotheirtopicchoices.

• Op0on3:Allowstudentstochooseatopic.

Lower-Level Students

Chooseatopicwithwhichtheyarefamiliar,andwhichtheycanwriteaboutwithconfidence.Examples:

- Apersontheyadmire

- Aplaceintheircity/towntheyenjoy- Animportanteventintheirlives

- Afoodtheycanprepareorthattheyenjoy

Upper-Level Students

Givethemmorefreedomtochooseatopic,orguidetheirtopicchoice.

Planning: Teaching/Learning Objec$ves

• Whatshouldyourstudentslearnintheprocessof

comple0ngtheassignment?

• Whatshouldtheyproduceinordertodemonstratethis

learning?

Objec$ves: Examples

Studentswill…

• understandhowimagescanassistmeaninginwri0ng.

• chooseappropriateandmeaningfulimagestouseintheir

ownwri0ng.

• editimagesforsizeandplacementintheirwri0ng.