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The unexpected challenge this week was to keep this task solely audio. The number of ideas I had that was all video-based stumped me.
In this week’s reading, The New London Group (1996) presents the idea of multiliteracies and design. “The outcome of designing is a new meaning, something through which meaning-makers remake themselves” (p. 76). We were asked to revisit the original post, what’s in your bag?
I reviewed the instructions for that task to remind myself of the original intention. The task was both an introduction to the class and a reflection of the various essential texts in our lives.
So, what did I want this picture to portray? How was I going to redesign this task to create an audio representation without simply describing the picture?
Figure 1 (p. 83) discusses multimodal designs and examples of some design elements. I focused on the top third, which highlighted linguistic and audio design. I included sound effects at the beginning that was a solitary sound of an individual putting pen to paper. I recorded this effect while brainstorming the script, and I felt it was a fitting representation of how I plan everything in my life.
Next, I looked at the linguistic design that spoke about delivery, vocabulary and metaphor. Just as I felt alone working from home in May, I am repeating that feeling of shedding my work life for the summer. The parallels are interesting. So, that’s how the idea became realized. I would tell a story about someone who finds the forgotten bag and share their observations about who I am and how it could be that a so essential container for ten months of the year could be overlooked during a pandemic or just for summer vacation.
Just for reference if we are able to include it.
Reference
The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-92.
Kristin – I really enjoyed this! Your play on “finding” the bag was brilliant. I am really struggling with this task, so I came for inspiration (or validation?) of my plans. I loved the blend of your words and the sounds – that’s the plan for mine so I hope it turns out just as well as yours!
– Meg.
I really liked the perspective you took to analyze the items in your bag and reflect on how they tell a story about you. The role you played as a detective uncovering aspects of your life, like the well-worn designer bags, created pause for thought about how this impacts a person’s character or values. The quality of items as reflective of self-esteem or self-worth? How people care for their objects as a symbol of caring for oneself…
Hi Kristin,
This is such a cool approach to the mode-bending task!
I like your call-backs to the original task where you mentioned how you moved from downtown Toronto to where you are now. I like how the shifts from a fast-paced environment and need to keep up trends are reflected in how you describe your worn designer items and phone model.
For a moment I thought, aren’t bags supposed to worn since we use them? But then I remembered that some people have multiple designer items or just buy new ones. I think your analysis of “this person used to like designer items” is one you share because you know yourself vs. how someone else might interpret their presence.