Mode-Bending: What is in Your Bag?
The New London Group (1996) signifies modes of meaning other than Linguistic modes. These include Visual Meanings, Audio Meanings, Gestural Meanings, Spatial Meanings, and Multimodal Meanings. In the redesign process of the what is in the bag task, I considered visual and audio modes of meaning. I used the iMovie program to combine these modes. The video features individual photographs in a slideshow format with instrumental music and a voice recording in the background. Rather than explaining what each individual item represents, I decided to focus on a few of the important elements we were asked to reflect upon in task 1. To make the video more appealing, I decided to format the slides, so that the images move from top to bottom, instead of remaining static.
Benefits of Mode-Changing
- Incorporating a variety of modes can enhance engagement with the material
- In the classroom, mode-changing can support students understand difficult concepts
Challenges of Mode-Changing
- It can be challenging to purposefully select a combination of different modes to best communicate a message or tell a story
- Learning how to use these modes of meaning requires training and practice
The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review 66(1), 60-92.