Moving From Writers to Designers: Fostering 21st-Century Composers Through Digital Multimodal Composition

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 1:45 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Resisting Curricular Flattenings Through Expansive Literacy Structures and Interventions (Table 11)

Abstract

This research aims to explore the digital multimodal composition experiences of a group of diverse 5th-7th grade youths in a summer literacy program in the United States. Informed by theories of multiliteracies (The New London Group, 1996) and multimodality (Kress, 2000), this research considered digital multimodal composition as a fruitful space for learners to use full semiotic resources to creatively express their passion and engage audiences. Using comparative case study and multimodal analysis, this research tracked focal students’ designing process and dissected their multimodal texts to unfold rich digital expertise and how students gradually developed deeper understanding of multimodality. This research not only highlights learners’ meaning-making resourcefulness but also points out a differentiated approach to scaffold learners’ multimodal composition.

Author

• Hongye Zeng, University of Maryland