Making Media Theory Practical for a Classroom of Multi-Level Learners

1. Multimodal Communication & Convergence in Education via New Essay Textuality, Remediation, and Threading: Making Media Theory Practical for a Classroom of Multi-Level Learners Carrie Fitzpatrick Alvernia College, PA carrie.fitzpatrick@alvernia.edu Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom

2. Multimodal Communication & Convergence in Education via New Essay Textuality, Remediation, and Threading “We are entering an era when expression can be more participatory and alive. We have the opportunity to distribute and experience rich sensory signals in ways that are different from looking at the page of a book and more accessible than traveling to the Louvre” (p. 1). Nicholas Negroponte, Being Digital (1995) Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom

3. Objectives Exercises/Projects • Provide students with opportunities to develop and experience “rich sensory signals” • Enhance learning and comprehension by applying theories to practical classroom projects • Supply technical experience/practice for simple to advanced technology learners • Eye of the Beholder Exercise • Threaded Research Paper/Project • Electronic Portfolio or E-Book Project Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom

4. Eye of the Beholder Exercise • Relevant Theory: • Jay Bolter’s Remediation • Edgar Dale’s Cone of Experience Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom

5. Eye of the Beholder Exercise • Exercise Description: 1. Students are placed in pairs. 2. Each student takes a digital photo of his/her partner and conducts an interview. 3. Using any available hardware/software, students create visual representations (ex: collage , caricature) of their partners in a 5x7 or 8x10 frame. An Eye of Beholder example created by a student with novice level technical skills. This student learned how to conduct an interview, use a digital camera, and experiment with Adobe Suite. Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom

6. Threaded Research Paper/Project • Relevant Theory: • Carolyn Handa’s Network Theory • Myka Vielstimmig’s New Essay Textuality & Multi-Authoring/Multi-Ownership Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom

7. Threaded Research Paper/Project • Note: Since students are encouraged to integrate various media forms, the end product could be published as an informative web site or (depending on the quality of the work) the data could be submitted for publication in an online journal. • Note: Some students have difficulty with the idea of giving up ownership of their work to the group. • Project Description: 1. Class must be divided into groups of three to four students. 2. Each group selects a research topic appropriate to the course content. 3. This information is then threaded through the group, one by one, via email. Each student adds and edits information before sending it to the next person. 4. At the end of each complete loop, the group conducts a peer revision session (online or offline) on the entire document. Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom

8. Electronic Portfolio (Individual) or E-Book Project (Collaborative) • Relevant Theory : • Candace Spigelman’s Textual Ownership • Jerome McGann’s Radiant Textuality • Lev Manovich’s Language of New Media Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom

9. Electronic Portfolio (Individual) or E-Book Project (Collaborative) • Exercise Description: This assignment is best suited as an end of semester project. Students choose to create: a.) an individual electronic portfolio for future job interviewing, or b.) a collaborative classroom e-book archive, which includes descriptions and samples of student work for future courses to utilize. Student e-folio for a future job interview. Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom

10. Sources Bolter, J., and Grusin, R. (2000). Remediation: Understanding New Media. (1st Ed) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Edgar, Dale. (1969). Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching, (3rd Ed) Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Handa, Carolyn, ed. (1990). Computers and Community: Teaching Composition in the Twenty-First Century. Portsmouth NH: Boynton/Cook. Manovich, Lev. (2002). The Language of New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. McGann, Jerome. (2004). Radiant Textuality: Literature after the World Wide Web. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Negroponte, Nicholas. (1995). Being Digital. New York: Knopf. Niguidula, David. (2004). Introduction to Digital Portfolios. Retrieved: November 2003. From: http://home.att.net/~digitalportfolio/dp_intro.html Sandholtz, J., Ringstaff C., and Dwyer, D. (1997). Teaching With Technology: Creating Student-Centered Classrooms. New York: Teacher's College Press. Selfe, C. L. (1999). Technology and Literacy in the 21st Century: The Importance of Paying Attention (Studies in Writing and Rhetoric). Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. Spigelman, Candace. (2000). Across Property Lines: Textual Ownership in Writing Groups. Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. Vielstimmig, Myka. (1999). "Petals on a Wet, Black Bough: Textuality, Collaboration, and the New Essay." Passions, Pedagogies and 21st Century Technologies. Eds. Gail E. Hawisher and Cynthia L. Selfe. Utah: Utah State Univ. Press. Special thanks go to Onelia Alvarado, Kate Ehlinger, and Michael Vitiello for sharing the screen captures of their student work. Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom

11. And now, for some dialogue…. Download this deck at http://convergence.byu.edu Carrie Fitzpatrick carrie.fitzpatrick@alvernia.edu Making Media Theory Practical for the Classroom