This week, I transformed the “What’s in Your Bag” task from a visual mode to an auditory one, and took inspiration from the New London Group’s (NLG) concept of multiliteracies as well as old radio competitions that had listeners guess what an object was based on the sound. By removing the visual component, I explored how sounds could convey meaning and identity, reimagining literacy as something that extends beyond reading and writing. As such, the exercise broadened my understanding of literacy and challenged me to rethink how I represent and interpret objects. In doing so, it helped me to make connections to the NLG’s concept of transformative design, which “involves making new use of old materials” (NLG, 1996).
In my redesign, I considered the sound each item in my bag produces and what it reveals about its purpose and significance. For example, the tapping of my laptop’s keyboard symbolizes the text that I can create to communicate my ideas, while the jingle of keys represents physical mobility. By combining narration with these auditory cues, I created an experience where listeners could make an inference about the objects’ identities and their connection to my life in a way that might differ from a viewing of a photograph. Consequently, parallels can be seen to New London Group’s assertion that literacy should extend beyond traditional language-based approaches to include diverse communication forms (1996, p. 60-61).
One of the key benefits of this activity was broadening the definition of what it means to be “literate.” In particular, shifting to an auditory mode created an accessible medium for individuals who might struggle with traditional visual literacy. It also prompted a deeper reflection on how objects are tied to identity and cultural context. For instance, the sound of keys might represent something entirely different in a community where driving is less common or where doors are left unlocked. However, at the same time this auditory mode presented new challenges. In particular, speech and sound is inherently linear, whereby the listener must access the medium in the order that the noise is made or words are spoken (unlike a photograph where an observer can begin by focusing on any part or parts of the picture). Furthermore, it was also difficult to translate every object from my visual image to an auditory one, which meant that some items were left out of this version (e.g. my remote clicker). This highlighted the limitations of relying solely on audio and the importance of multimodal literacy.
References
The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review 66(1), 60-92.