Going Multi-Modal

Hi everyone—

My project’s finally done, and as I told my sister, it only took me 15 hours to finish a 60-second video. Somewhere near hour 12, it hit me that while I showed several activities that could be considered multi-modal, when I tried to build images, those images more often than not featured reading good-old fashioned alphabetic text as opposed to any alternative types of text. In the opening clip, I surf the internet—clicking, but still reading a form of print; view a map—read an alphabetic text to explain the little lines and geometric shapes; use a cell phone—access by putting in number and texting is, of course, all composing and reading alphabetic characters. No matter where we academics go, the written word follows.

My inability to create the sophisticated work I wanted to compose made me think about the multi-modal assignments that I’ve made in composition courses—web sites, public service announcements, visual arguments, audio essays. While the students have composed with new tools—everything from PowerPoint to Flash—in the end, for me it’s all about the ways words and images interact with and represent ideas. Even the few assignments which forbid students to use text with images asked for a written explanation of what the student hoped to accomplish and how they structured the visual so that images replaced words as the medium of exchange. And usually, just like me, they turn up slightly short of conveying the complex ideas that they have in their heads.

All the meta-writing the students do justifies the assignments, in my view, but colleagues both in and out of English don’t see the background texts—proposals, progress reports, justifications, evaluations—they just see the multi-modal products, and don’t hesitate to tell me that “Art can do a better job. You shouldn’t waste valuable time when these people can’t even write a decent paper for their academic classes.”

READ: you’re playing around with simplistic projects when you should be doing your job—teaching them to evaluate and produce essays.

I have no intention of giving up my “play.” I’ve come a long way from my graduate school thinking (1979-1984) that academic discourse is the only true goal to accomplish in a writing course. And I’ve always maintained that having fun is essential to learning. But as an emeritus faculty member, doing post-retirement teaching which is unconnected to tenure or promotion, I have the freedom to look annoyed with those colleagues and go on my merry way. I’m glad that there’s such an emphasis on educating “the others” (shades of LOST) at DMAC.

I think this is the point that I’d look straight in a student’s eye and gently say, “I think you’re starting to ramble here.” Forgive me. I’m new to blogging, and it’s late. But the video is finished!