What is multimodal composition, and does it mean we have to give up the alphabet?
As a creative writer, I'm interested in online writing and reading. But as a teacher, I was a bit mystified about the fancy stuff I didn't know how to do, the ways in which modes of digital production--audio, photo, video and web--might fit into my teaching of writing and my thinking about my own work.
I had the opportunity to attend the Digital Media and Composition institute in June 2007 at Ohio State University, and I found my views on writing, teaching, and composition all challenged and changed.
To start, I explore some of my initial assumptions and fears about the use of these multiple modes of composition (otherwise known as multimodality).
I also created "How Do I Write?: An Exploration of Writing Process," a digital photo essay from the perspective of a text-based creative writer attempting to stumble into the digital era;
and a short movie called "Tools."
(I'm Sonya Huber, of the Dept. of Writing & Linguistics, Georgia Southern University, shuber (at) georgiasouthern.edu. My area of teaching and writing focuses on creative nonfiction, and you can find resources and background on this genre at my resource website, Truth and Faction.)
A list of assignment ideas will also follow.
Scholarly Support for Multimodal Work
The Digital Media Project at Ohio State University
Digital Media and Composition Institute
Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy
Media Commons: A Digital Scholarly Network
The Changing Nature of Literacy: An Interview with Valerie Lee
Other Resources for Multimodal Work and Composition
Audacity: Free Audio Recorder and Editor
Bound By Law: Tales from the Public Domain
Poems that Go: A new media poetry journal
Poetry and Song: The Process of Composing Poems, Lyrics, and Songs
What's Going On? Listening to Music, Composing Videos
Stuff in this Site...
{ Assumptions } (made with Dreamweaver and a digital camera)
{ "Digital Suspicions" Flash Movie} (made with Flash and a digital camera)
{ "Tools" Movie } (made with Apple iMovie and a digital video camera)
{ "How Do I Write?" Project } (made with Dreamweaver and a digital camera)