As part of the 21st Century Literacies: Multimodality and Writing Across the Curriculum year-long initiative (Title III: High Impact Practices grant), Cheryl Ball, Associate Professor of Digital Publishing Studies at West Virginia University, and Anita Charles, Director of Secondary Teacher Education at Bates College, participated in events focused on incorporating multimodal learning in writing courses and courses across the university curriculum.
Event One
Public lecture–September 28, Wishcamper 133 (5 to 7 pm), Portland Campus
“Writing is Designing for our Future”
Cheryl Ball, West Virginia UniversityEvent Two
September 29, Friday (2 to 4 pm) 326 Luther Bonney, Portland Campus
“Multimodality and Multiliteracies”
Anita Charles, Bates College
Chery Ball, West Virginia University
“Writing is Designing Our Future” — Professor Cheryl Ball
Digital communication is mainstream, with everyone from babies to great-great-grandparents are consuming and also producing digital media content for family, friends, businesses, organizations, and even schools. Understanding why digital media is taught in writing classes in higher education is important for student-scholars as well as teachers, administrators, and the public. As the academic consortium the New London Group said, teaching students to be literate across multiple media helps the next generations to “design their social futures.” This talk discussed the current research and pedagogical approaches of digital media composition in writing-intensive classrooms in higher education and address questions about why we are bothering in the first place.
