I mentioned on the 8th (yea, I was too out of it to blog last night due to a sever allergy attack) that I needed to find my passion in my new field. Well, I probably didn't put it in those exact words, but it meant the same thing. Every time I come to DMAC (Digital Media and Composition) hosted by OSU and lead by Cynthia Selfe and Scott DeWitt, my passion for multimedia literacies is renewed. I know it is where I need to focus, but as usual, I have my doubts that I have the talent and the know-how to make it happen. So, the only way to get the talent and the know-how is to focus on it and make it happen.
To that end, for tonight I read Jennifer Sheppard's "The Rhetorical Work of Multimedia Production Practices: It's More than Just Technical Skill." I found myself repeatedly nodding in agreement with Sheppard as I read her article. This article is not one that was written in the late 90s or the early 00s. No, it was written in 2009. So why is it that we, as compositionist, are still fighting the same battles we were when multimedia literacies hit the scene? Why is it that instructors outside of the computers and composition community view the teaching of digital texts "as simply a matter of imparting technical skill rather than facilitating development of diverse and significant literacies" (123)?
Sheppard's article does not focus on using any one medium to produce multimedia compositions, but discusses the necessity of looking closely at the rhetorical purposes behind everything one does in a multimedia piece. She argues that "careful attention to practices of production can demonstrate the critical negotiations writers/designers must undertake as they compose multimedia texts" (122). The process is not simply learning the software and then using it; it is creating a piece with careful rhetorical purposes and implementing, or learning, the skills necessary to create that piece.
This is a great article to read to begin to understand the complexity of multimodal composing. She discusses one of the projects that she took on and how the decisions she made affected the outcome of the project. She further describes some best practices when implementing multimodality into the classroom.
Bottom line is this.... multimodal composing is an intense process. It requires a high degree of critical thinking skills and knowledge of design as well as writing. Why is it that I am always choosing things outside of the box, so to speak. Had I followed through with Victorian Literature or stuck with the so-called standard composition and rhetoric I wouldn't be filling like an outsider always looking in. Or maybe I would be. I'm not much of an in-the-box kind a gal.
To that end, for tonight I read Jennifer Sheppard's "The Rhetorical Work of Multimedia Production Practices: It's More than Just Technical Skill." I found myself repeatedly nodding in agreement with Sheppard as I read her article. This article is not one that was written in the late 90s or the early 00s. No, it was written in 2009. So why is it that we, as compositionist, are still fighting the same battles we were when multimedia literacies hit the scene? Why is it that instructors outside of the computers and composition community view the teaching of digital texts "as simply a matter of imparting technical skill rather than facilitating development of diverse and significant literacies" (123)?
Sheppard's article does not focus on using any one medium to produce multimedia compositions, but discusses the necessity of looking closely at the rhetorical purposes behind everything one does in a multimedia piece. She argues that "careful attention to practices of production can demonstrate the critical negotiations writers/designers must undertake as they compose multimedia texts" (122). The process is not simply learning the software and then using it; it is creating a piece with careful rhetorical purposes and implementing, or learning, the skills necessary to create that piece.
This is a great article to read to begin to understand the complexity of multimodal composing. She discusses one of the projects that she took on and how the decisions she made affected the outcome of the project. She further describes some best practices when implementing multimodality into the classroom.
Bottom line is this.... multimodal composing is an intense process. It requires a high degree of critical thinking skills and knowledge of design as well as writing. Why is it that I am always choosing things outside of the box, so to speak. Had I followed through with Victorian Literature or stuck with the so-called standard composition and rhetoric I wouldn't be filling like an outsider always looking in. Or maybe I would be. I'm not much of an in-the-box kind a gal.
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