Johnson, L. L., & Smagorinsky, P. (2013). Writing remixed: Mapping the multimodal composition of one preservice English Education teacher. In K. Pytash & R. Ferdig (Eds.), Exploring multimodal composition and digital writing (pp. 262-280). (2024)

Digital Textuality, Writing, and New Media

Anglistik, 2015

Roles for new technologies in language arts: Inquiry, communication, construction, and expression

… of research on teaching the language arts. New …

Multimodality and technology

Beyond Process Theory – How New Technologies Are Changing the Way We Write and Communicate

New technology is changing the way we teach and the way students learn. The process of writing a text can be fundamentally different with the use of modern word processing tools such as " Quip " or " Google Docs ". These apps and websites allow students to share their writing with each other and their tutor thus enabling synchronous and asynchronous collaboration. In addition, space is provided for an online chat-box creating a new channel of communication and thus a further level of analysis. These tools mean that a tutor can help and encourage students while they write a text not have to wait until they have finished a first draft. This paper will consider the effect modern technology is having on the theory and process of writing and how it is changing the relationship between the students and the tutor. A " Post Process " approach will be examined which places more emphasis on collaborative writing and provides an opportunity for the tutor to co-construct texts with the students. The use of online dialogue as a means of encouraging communication between students and the tutor will be discussed and illustrated with examples from a research project of EAP students at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi. New technology is changing the fundamental process of writing and communicating. An increasing amount of human interaction now occurs in a text-based form online either on mobile phones, mobile devices or computers. The information can be transmitted instantaneously but it can also be stored, reviewed, edited and rewritten. With the development of mobile technologies communication and learning can take place " anytime and anywhere " [1]. This is having a significant effect on the process of learning and specifically writing for EFL learners. In addition to making it easier for students to share documents with each other, receive feedback from the teacher and make multiple edits, mobile technology also facilitates student collaboration and collaboration with the tutor to co-construct a text. If writing is a " historically dynamic process " [2] that is always changing and developing then it is important to be able to reinterpret and integrate new perspectives into writing theories. A popular approach in EFL teaching is " Process Writing " which can be seen as a reaction against product oriented or traditional rhetoric. It emphasized the process of writing not the product and broke the writing process down into several stages – planning, drafting, peer review, tutor feedback, redrafting and final product. This process approach was beneficial for the second language learner as it allowed for a review of grammar and lexis as well as content and organization. However in the 1990's Process writing itself came under attack. It was criticized for producing a " Theory " of Writing with its own set of generalisations that should be correct most of the time [3](Olson in Breuch 2002). A Post Process Theory developed that emphasized that writing was not a body of knowledge that could be taught. Other factors were also important such as the situation where the writing takes place, the audience it is meant for and the dialogue that occurs between students and the tutor. However, as Matsuda [4] points out, this does not necessarily mean the end of Process Theory. It is best understood if seen as an extension or development of a process-oriented pedagogy where more emphasis is placed on the communicative interaction between students and the tutor. Writing should be seen as a social construct not an individual one. The tutor should " actively collaborate " with the student to co-construct the text. This collaborative approach is supported by Vygotsky's [5] socially constructive perspective of learning which argues that human development is essentially based on social interaction – we learn from each other, specifically, from a " more able " other. This is now referred to as " scaffolding ". Such scaffolding can also occur among peers when collaborating in pair or group work. [6] [7]. Research has shown that collaborative work between students can significantly improve their writing skills [7][8][9][10]. Modern technology facilitates this collaborative approach by allowing students to work

What Changes when Technology is Good Enough?

As we overcome the instruction paradigm and face the need to promote a student centered model of teaching and learning, educational software are already easier to use, allow interactivity, promote the disjunction of time and space and make possible different modes, like image, sound and video to be incorporated in educational materials and environments. Drawing on multimodal literacy perspective of learning and pedagogy, this paper focuses on the subject New Technologies Applied to Education taught in a teacher initial training program. It discusses the effects of the use of Moodle and other technology learning tools in the construction of a student centered environment of learning. Specifically, this research closely observes four domains of student’s (inter)action: Moodle activities (forum, and wikepedia), student’s hands on work group outcomes (educational web, blog and webquest) and the signature’s blog (tintafrescavlog.blogspot.com), the latter a non evaluative activity. Results show that when technology’s possibilities come from being virtual into being actual, social relations established among teachers, students and knowledge are restructured and, within this context, student’s learning capability goes much further than the teaching one. It is argued it has come the time to rethink education so as to allow students not only to consume, but also to produce and distribute semiotic resources, taking a more active and critical role in their learning process.

Empowering the point: Pains and gains of a writer's traversals between print-based writing and multimodal composing

Linguistics & Education, 2019

This study investigates an adult writer's multimodal composing and traversals across linguistic, symbolic and visual modes in a research article and PowerPoint slides. Adopting a process-oriented approach, and drawing upon analytical perspectives from 'academic literacy' and the concept of 'the transmodal moment' informed by social semiotics, this study involved analyzing multiple types of data, including drafts of research articles and slides, notes of conversations and interviews, and email exchanges, to track shifts in chains of semiosis. Findings show that before the writer became familiar with the interface design and the multimodal potential of the software, the literacy practices of print-based research articles were transferred to the PowerPoint slides. In the ensuing attempts to redesign the slides, the writer gradually developed knowledge about the multimodal systems of meaning in PowerPoint software and composition, which in turn empowered him to advance the argumentation and achieve greater clarity in the research article. The results suggest that knowledge about the semiotic potential of technology platforms is crucial for multimodal composing, and the semantic expansions taking place through trans-modal chains between traditional and new literacy practices can help writers to develop a deeper and richer understanding of both written and multimodal texts. Crown

Tracing the Turn: The Rise of Multimodal Composition in the U.S

Writing about Digital and Interactive Media

Writing About Screen Media, 2019

Digital and interactive media require rethinking the research and analysis process. These new forms open up disruptions in user access and mod- ifications. They transition from linearity to modularity in navigable data- bases across transmedia platforms. This chapter guides writers through a process of how to think and write about these new forms. It suggests architecture, navigation, interface, automation, design, data, structures, and patterns as key analytical modes. It offers a writing system: use the 90/ 10 workflow, immerse deeply, handwrite notes, specify, research context and compare, interpret significance, make connections, outline by word count, read out loud, revise, and copyedit.

Technologies of Reading and Writing: Transformation and Subjectivation in Digital Times

Educational Theory, 2016

Multimodal Style and the Evolution of Digital Writing Pedagogy

The Centrality of Style