ON DEMAND: Designing, Scaffolding, and Evaluating Multimodal Assignments (15 mins)

Abstract

“Literacies are not static” (Selfe 84). Teaching towards the future means helping students acquire critical literacy in content which relies on multiple communication modes such as visual and auditory or linguistic and spatial. Many faculty feel underprepared to assign multimodal projects or unsure of the pedagogical value of exploring multimodal literacy within the context of their discipline.
In my 15 minute video, I will tackle the biggest concerns that faculty have regarding multimodal assignments including the pedagogical basis for assigning multimodal projects, the role of digital and analog technologies in multimodal work, strategies for scaffolding multimodal work, assigning multimodal work that is ethical and accessible, how to keep student diversity and privacy in mind in multimodal assignment design, and possibilities for evaluating multimodal projects.
Linked to my presentation, I will provide participants with an activity packet in which they can explore potential ideas or revise existing ideas for multimodal assignments in their classes. Participants will begin by thinking about the kinds of multimodal content that is produced and consumed by and for members and organizations related in their disciplines. Participants will select one idea from this list and proceed through a series of activities designed to help them think through how they would design an assignment for their students to produce this kind of discipline-specific multimodal project. Participants will be encouraged to think about the options of digital and analog technologies, consider how they might scaffold this assignment to include parameters for using ethically sourced materials and producing accessible content, and to evaluate their assignment idea in light of our diverse student populations and in light of student privacy issues.