I struggled with this task a lot this week. With the very brief assignment description on Canvas, I just didn’t know where to start. Luckily I had already read the New London Group (1996) article last semester, so the re-read made their concepts and ideas easier to understand.
When I didn’t know how to approach this task, I was drawn to Figure 1 from The New London Group (p. 83) of the metalanguages to describe design elements and modes of meaning. Knowing this task was to be auditory, I used a few sounds effects and a snip-it of music, but felt the need for something else.
As I looked around while I was sitting in my “bag”, I was drawn to the colours surrounding me. I decided that would be the perfect compliment to my podcast-style recording.
I hope you enjoy the cheeky nature of my post and that it gives you a bit more insight into who I am!
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The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review 66(1), 60-92.
Hi Margaret,
I also struggled with this task! I like how your audio version of this task changes to use language that is so much more visually and emotionally descriptive than the original picture and written post. Was this an intentional choice, or something you did unconsciously?
Hi Brian!
Thanks for the comment. I did choose the explanation carefully as I was trying to accomplish a visual representation of the items in my bag, without just listing them off. So I thought colours would be a great way to create a visual and describe the items! I’m glad you enjoyed it! It’s also interesting for me to think about how I would normally speak compared to how I choose words and language when completing an assignment. I just started this program in January, so I’m still trying to grasp the “academic” speak when writing my posts.
Hi Meg,
Fantastic! I love the idea of a decoy bag! I get the feeling that you have a quirky sense of humour. I can connect immediately to your “real” bag . . . I could also feel and see your truck – the sounds and vibrations of the motor really added to the picture. Great idea using colours but now I wonder what colour your bag is? Never mind, I just snuck a peek back at your first post – now I understand the deep throaty rumble of you bag. 🙂
Hi Rebecca! Thanks for the comment – it’s a very expensive bag but I love it! 😉 I was trying to find a way to make this task audio, but also incorporate additional multimodal elements as audio, so colours came to mind. It worked really well because colours provide such a visual – just saying there is a wallet in my gives nothing to the listener, but saying it’s pink which is my favourite colour evokes a greater response. After much thought and stress about this task I was super happy with how it turned out!