I found that completing this task to be quite engaging. Having to morph my first task (https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540f2021/2021/09/13/task-1-whats-in-your-bag/) into something completely different wasn’t an easy as I initially thought it would be, but in the end I found myself caught up in the fun of it.
To create this multi-modal task, I started by basing the task on the world on the learner (myself), or situated practice (New London Group, 1996). To completely shift away from a text based medium, I decided to take the time to visit 8 different locations around the Prince Rupert area which are connected to the 8 different items I chose from my bag. At these specific locations, I snapped a photo of each item along with my bag. What occurred to me through this process is that in some ways I am bringing these locations with me everywhere I go when I carry the items in my bag.
Through this process of mode-bending, I would argue I also took control of the overt instruction of the task (New London Group, 1996). In the written instructions of the task, Keri (our prof) asked us to change the semiotic mode of our first task, but with no explicit instructions about how or what those changes involved. That left with me with a lot of possibilities. As Dobson & Willinsky (2009, p.18) note “As digital literacy is leading to significant increases in the quantity and range of information that can be readily accessed, new technologies are adding to the convenience, speed, and accuracy with which readers can work with this wide variety of information sources”. What I see now is by leaving the task somewhat ‘open ended’, I forced me to be the one who would have to choose the specific design features of the new task. I, the learner, was the one who chose to include the photo elements because as we learned through the emoji task last week, when sharing through just generic text, a writer can lose something that may be visible via an image. I was also the one who chose to use video software to combine the images and to to add my own audio to the video. I felt that by adding my voice, the viewer would be able to gain a better connection to the video and the importance of the items in my bag. Finally, I also decided to add sub-titles within the video as well, for two reasons. The first was for accessibility reasons, something I learned from a previous MET class and which I do now for most all of my videos. I also added sub-titles as a connection to the original form of the task, which was written in text.
I also believe that critical framing (New London Group, 1996) occurred throughout this mode-bending task. By visiting these various different locations across the Prince Rupert area, I was able to portray the social contexts of the 8 different items within my bag, and further expand on their meaning to myself, as the learner, and you, as the reader/viewer. By adding the photo elements to the task, I was able to better give viewers, through my own lens, a better idea of my connections to the local fish hatchery, my Fire Department, my bus stop, and the local hockey arena.
Through this mode-bending exercise, I also believe that transformed practice (New London Group, 1996) occurred as my presentation completely changed from what I created for Task 1.I feel the meaning of the task changed dramatically, from a rather lengthy text based creation with a lousy photo, into an engaging video which includes multiple forms of media available for the viewer, and possibly gives them a better perspective of what my life in Prince Rupert is really like. As Dobson & Willinsky (2009, p.11) note “The advent of electronic textuality reminds us of this, inviting us to reconsider our presuppositions about reading and writing, which are infused with assumptions specific to print, to “re-formulate fundamental ideas about texts and, in the process, to see print as well as electronic texts with fresh eyes”
A last reflection on the task occurred to me while driving in between these different locations across town, was that I was doing exactly what I like to do with my own students, which is getting out of the classroom and exploring the outside world. The first task was completed sitting inside, behind a computer screen, typing in a stable environment. The mode-bending task still required me to type out information (editing the sub-titles), but it forced me to move around from the different locations across the area and get out and enjoy nature.
I am also left with a question from this task. How many modals are too many? When watching the final product of my presentation, in some ways I wonder if its too much media coming at the viewer. Not only does the viewer have to pay attention and analyze the different photos within the video, but also focus on my voice and the text within the sub-titles. I found myself somewhat scanning through it all to try and soak it all in.
References
Dobson, T.M. & Willinsky J. (2009). Digital literacy. In D.R. Olson and N. Torrance (Eds) The Cambridge handbook of literacy (286-312) Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review 66(1), 60-92.