Task 7: Mode-bending
Reflect on the potential benefits and challenges of engaging in mode-changing and your own redesign process:
I know that I wanted to use the same items as my original assignment, just to see how accurately I could have completed the task in this new format. The first thing that I did was go back and remind myself what was in my bag at that time (7 weeks ago). You can see this list here:
Items from the original “in my bag” assignment (highlighted items are the ones that are represented in the redesigned assignment):
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- printed copy of my teaching schedule for the current school-year (2021-2022)
- pencil case filled with multicolored felt tip fineliners
- eyeglasses case with a pair of glasses inside
- large planner, open to the first week of September
- paperback novel (Anne Rice’s “The Witching Hour)
- headphones
- pack of gum
- tub of strawberry lip-gloss and a half-melted Chapstick
- keyring with:
- attached cardholder containing a credit card, debit card, driver’s license, vaccination card, and Costco membership card
- one house key
- decorative “A” for Angela
- mini Save-on-More card and Canadian Tire points card
- metal charity coin for shopping carts from the BC Children’s Hospital
I then had to decide how to change this into a multimodal representation that was different from my original interpretation of the task, wherein I had recorded myself showing and discussing each item as though I was performing a YouTube influencer reveal. I found the chart/wheel provided by the New London Group (module page 7.3) extremely helpful and allowed me to recognize that my original video conveyed meaning in primarily linguistic and gestural ways. Once I identified that, I was able to choose other multimodal designs that appealed to me; specifically, audio and visual. I figured it was about time I tried my hand (hah) at an animated whiteboard program. The video embedded above is my redesigned project, made using a trial version of VideoScribe. I found the program to be very intuitive and relatively easy to work with, which was a relief because often when trying a new type of program I go through three or more to find one that can accomplish my goals without being unnecessarily overcomplicated.
One of the challenges I faced during this process was the realization that the length would need to be drastically shortened from my original video. Whereas my original was a whopping 17 minutes long, I felt that the VideoScribe version should come in somewhere around the 1 minute mark. This felt like an appropriate target length since the viewer would only be watching cartoon representations of each item being sketched; this is not as visually easy to watch for a long time without becoming impatient if it takes too long. In order to cut my time down, I tried to come up with a brief statement that expressed the core meaning of each item:
Glasses, to see the world around me
Keys, to enter and exit spaces
Headphones, to withdraw into my personal world
IDs, to prove I belong somewhere
Money, to purchase the many necessities of life
Chapstick, to protect my skin
A book, to escape into another world
A planner, to organize my life
And writing utensils, to record important information
At first I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to convey the full meaning of each item without verbally explaining them each at length, however, in the end I realized that this was actually a benefit of the redesign process. Cutting down the length required me to get to the core meaning of each item and being as concise as possible, which is a skill I have long known I need to work on (I tend to over talk or over explain). Moving forward, I think this style of information presentation could work well in a classroom setting, especially since The New London Group (1996) note that “[w]hen learners juxtapose different languages, discourses, styles, and approaches, they gain substantively in meta-cognitive and meta-linguistic abilities and in their ability to reflect critically on complex systems and their interactions” (p. 69). As an educator, I should be teaching in as many modes as possible, in order to reach the most students as I can. I’m glad we were given the opportunity to redesign this task and discover the potential benefits of thinking outside the box!
References
The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review 66(1), 60-92.