EDUC 5385 Multimodal Literacies
Multimodal Literacies examines the changing face of literacy in our physical and networked worlds, exploring contemporary literacy shapes, sites and practices. The course invites diverse theoretical and pedagogical perspectives on multimodal literacies, and contemplates ‘new literacies’ and multimodal practices in 21st century (multi)literacy education.
Multimodality, (New) Media Ecologies, and Materials
Over the past quarter century, we have witnessed revolutionary sociotechnical transformations in media environments and everyday communicative practices – from hypertext (ca 1965) to algorithmic/ machine learning systems like Generative AI. This course examines the opportunities of ‘multimodality’ and new media tools, asking what and how we know is reshaped, re-mediated and altered by emerging technologies and affordances of cultural production.
These sociotechnical shifts have, in diverse ways, outpaced formal schooling systems. Though cultural and linguistic pluralism are respected (and new media in principle welcomed) in the Ontario curriculum, the complex structures of educational institutions continue to channel student populations into a framework and expectations predicated on modernist, 20th Century ideals (frameworks grounded in print-literacy and propositional knowledge), as well as standardized forms of ‘info-centric’ assessment that demand compliance to traditional literacy modes and practices.
At the same time, contemporary school children are born into a society where digital devices and multimodal media are increasingly central to the question of what it means to be ‘literate’ today. Indeed, more and more of our time is spent working, learning, and playing with media (online and off), and it’s increasingly important that we understand the epistemologies and practices that are re-shaped and re-understood through the use of emerging (multimodal) tools and media forms.
The stakes of our discussions go beyond ‘innovation’ and formal educational systems to address critical questions about participation, equality, and democracy — and the creative capacity of anyone — in an increasingly networked society.
Course Aims
- Explore theories and practices of multimodality: from multiliteracies and social semiotics perspectives to post-humanist and new materialist orientations to learning through inquiry and making.
- Investigate contemporary issues surrounding technology and changing forms of textuality.
- Critically examine the affordances and opportunities of new media, multimodal tools, and physical knowledge for literacy practices and skilled making, considering issues such as access, authority & authorship, distributed cognition, serious play, gaming, identity, and participation in emerging critical/creative cultural practices.
- Enact pedagogical possibilities and opportunities of contemporary multimodal literacies – and the risks of new multimodal technologies that may create dependencies on systems and de-skill children, youth and adults (including students and teachers).
- By the end of this course, you will demonstrate practical skills in theorizing and applying ‘multimodal literacies’ across different (digital and non-digital) media environments.
Instructional Philosophy: We will explore multimodality and multimodal literacies through critical engagements with texts/cultural artefacts AND through ‘hands-on’ production, making, and design (i.e., learning through ‘production pedagogies‘). Your regular participation in real and virtual class discussions/critiques is essential to this course, and you will be invited to advance your own interests and purposes and goals through course activities and projects.
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