Multimodal Composition

At this moment, I can’t say I have much experience with digital storytelling or any other forms of multimodal composition. I’ve watched videos on YouTube and have seen book trailers but beyond that, my experience is limited. After further exploring the various types of multimodal composition out there, the two that I was most fond of was the digital poetry and text animation, and the interactive timelines and maps.



(digital storytelling - Bing images)


Within the classroom, I might have students create digital compositions in order to better engage with texts they’re reading. Rather than have students write summaries or book reports they could create interactive timelines for the events of the book, digital poetry could take the place of the traditional pen to paper poetry. Digital compositions might be used as a writing assignment on their own to help students better understand the writing process. As mentioned in “Digital Storytelling in a Place-Based Composition Course” by James Chisholm and Brandie Trent, “digital storytelling mediates students’ learning of traditional literacy skills including decoding, comprehending, and engaging in the writing process as they allow the writer to experience the power of personal expression” (309).

In “Reimagining A Writer’s Process Through Digital Storytelling” by Troy Hicks, Kristen Turner, and Jodi Stratton, we saw how the process changed but that it also forced her think beyond the text in order to find ways to make her video more compelling. During Jodi’s reflection of her time working on this piece she notes how the use of different transitions gave her story more depth; for example, “Whenever there was a page turn, it was symbolic of a new chapter occurring,” (Hicks, Turner, Stratton 179).



digital storytelling - Bing images


If I were going to use digital compositions to promote civic engagement, I might have students select a topic and create a composition to advocate for that topic. Another idea could have students actually go into the community and volunteer somewhere or get involved in some other way and document what they did, what was the problem they were trying to solve and how did they help.

I don’t consider myself to be an especially creative person but I can see the benefits of using multimodal compositions for any number of activities and assignments within a classroom. Knowing this inspires me to try to come up with ways that I could incorporate these compositions into my own classroom someday.

This is a really interesting video and website on E-poetry from Leonardo Flores who appears to be an expert on the topic

I ♥ E-Poetry: Discovering Digital Media Poetry | Leonardo Flores | TEDxUPRM - YouTube

I ❤️ E-Poetry – Short form scholarship on born digital poetry and poetics. (iloveepoetry.org)







Comments

  1. Olivia ParkerMarch 10, 2021 at 4:45 PM

    Hi!
    I'm interested in the types of digital poetry you have produced/been introduced to! It's not something that I have come across, personally, so I'd love to learn more about it! Did you enjoy it? Did you find it was any different from traditional poetry? What was your general experience?
    Thanks and great job!
    Olivia

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tyler SchaefferMarch 12, 2021 at 1:24 PM

    Hey Kelly,
    I too have very limited experience working with multimodal composition, but I liked how you talked about incorporating it into your classroom. By, possibly replacing the older stuff with new possibilities made possible my multimodal composition, traditional essays and summaries may be pushed to the side for interactive timelines or digital poetry. I'm curious to see how it pans out in your classroom.

    ReplyDelete

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