If you’re anything like me, then when you saw the title of this post you probably said, “What the heck are multimodal compositions??” Well fear not young reader, I am here to tell you.
Multimodal compositions can include audio, video, drawings, photographs, and literally any visual element that can support the text in some purposeful way. Blogs (like this one), collages, comic strips, podcasts, and more are all examples of multimodal compositions.
But why does this matter? This matters because, as Browyn Williams so eloquently put…
“We must recognize that English Departments no longer sustain culture behind impenetrable walls of print. Culture…now produces texts in multiple, often overlapping forms…students need to know how to write to learn and write to inform and persuade in these forms as well as they do in print.”
As technology is evolving, it has become a more and more important part of our learning and everyday life. Gone are the days of simply using a textbook as your only educational resource, because now people use youtube videos, drawings, podcasts, and more in order to fully understand concepts, complete projects, and more.
I am a visual learner, so these multimodal projects are actually extremely helpful to me. Although long research papers are full of fantastic information, I find myself not being able to get through most of it. I get bored just reading pages upon pages of text and am therefore not able to really retain all of the information.
Pictures and youtube videos however, are able to really grab my attention and help me to fully understand the concept of what is trying to be discussed. I am starting to really realize the importance of this because I have to transfer my research paper over to a multimodal piece. This has caused me to have to really think critically and outside the box because I can’t just copy and paste my paper, but rather, have to create an interesting visual piece that communicates the same thing that my 10 pages of text did. This has proved to be a bit challenging, but I think it’s a really important part of my learning process. This is because, the more channels that I can use to compose and exchange meaning, the more resources I can have at my disposal for being a successful communicator, and that is what is really important.
Image:
Image 1: http://giphy.com/gifs/internet-computer-technology-CTX0ivSQbI78A
Image 2: http://giphy.com/gifs/i-dont-care-my-brilliance-KFWSltHdEaBQ4