Links for Class on 11/20/08
Thinking about using multimodality in your composition class? Here are some links worth considering.
A great link to start with is How to Go from Computer Confused to Software Savvy by Missouri State M.A. Linden Mueller (Currently a Ph.D. student in Linguistics in Germany). After that, visit Cheryl Ball in Bloomington for a look at what her undergraduate Multimodal Composition class has done. One who always is on the edge of the new-adopter’s curve, Will Richardson of Weblogg-ed shares his Pageflakes page, a great way to compare different media in a virtual patchwork quilt of feeds. Take a look at the general Pageflakes site also, and note how it immediately customizes itself for your location.
I admit, Pageflakes may feel a bit much for a first try at the multimodal teaching life. Other things to consider are adding graphics, photos, sound, or video/movie clips. As a teacher you need to be mindful of fair use (NCTE has a new fair use guideline in their Code of Best Practices available on their revamped site beginning tomorrow morning). The easiest way by far to do that with new media is to learn about Creative Commons licensing. there is even a Creative Commons Flickr search, so finding media is easy–just make sure you give credit where credit is due, and in the way the license specifies. That’s enough for now. If you come up with some additional multimodal/ new media links you find useful, blog it and add a comment to this post giving the permalink.
