When I was redesigning, I used Task 1 as the basis for my redesign. The order of discourse “ and other related discourses shape and are shaped by each other” (The New London Group, 1996, p. 74). I used the Task 1 discourse to guide myself in my discourse for Task 7. My discourse was influenced by my initial discourse. I looked at Task 1 to gather the purpose of the intended task. After gathering the intended purpose of the task, I labelled what I initially did for Task 1 using Figure 1 from The New London Group (1996). In Task 1, I used visual and linguistic design. Hence, for Task 7, I refrained from using either modes of meaning. Instead, I focused on one of the requirements, which was audio design. From that, I decided to use music, which was one of the elements listed to showcase the purpose of Task 1. In Task 1, the purpose was to reflect/describe how the contents of our bag showcase our personality/who we are. So for this, I took the main purpose (showing who we are) and created a music piece instead as my tool using GarageBand. In Task 1, my bag showcased my simplistic personality. So I decided to create a simple musical piece using one of my cultural instruments that I use to play when I was younger (Guzheng). Combining both my cultural upbringing and my personality allowed me to showcase who I was in a different mode while still achieving the outline goal (showing who I am).
Based on this weeks module, there are two potential benefits of mode-changing. One is hybridity which “highlights the mechanisms of creativity and of culture-as-process” (The New London Group, 1996, p. 82). Another is intertextuality which “draws attention to the potentially complex ways in which meanings […] are constituted through relationships to other texts […], text types […], narratives, and other modes of meaning […]” (The New London Group, 1996, p. 82). For hybridity, it allows for people to create new practices and conventions by taking previously established modes and combining to suit their propose. This allows for creating new boundaries and conventions (The New London Group, 1996, p. 82). For intertextuality, text from other previous works can be used in a certain context where people are able to get the meaning based on the historical use of it. For things, mode-changing pushes people to be creative and use their past experiences and knowledge to develop meaning. It enables people to include their cultural upbringing and their own thoughts into it. It allows for people to showcase their individuality and thoughts.
One of the challenges of mode-changing is that it may require motivation in order for the benefits of mode-changing to occur. “There is ample evidence that people do not learning anything well unless they are both motivated to learn and believe that they will be able to use and function with what they are leaning in some way that is in their interest” (The New London Group, 1996, p. 85). Just because someone engages in mode-changing does not mean they enjoy the process and actually learn anything meaningful if it does not serve them.
Reference:
The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review 66(1), 60-92.