Sunday, June 30, 2019

Weeks 3-6: Reading & Postings

HOMEWORK for Weeks 3-6: Reading & Postings

What is useful for my multimodal and pedagogical work at Laney College and beyond?  What tools and skills will I take back to my classroom?  How will I compose/remix into my creative writing projects?

**Kress (16-20; 23-24) excerpted:
Here's a CHART to get a visual picture of Hot and Cold Media

Media
Hot
Cold
Definitions
Hot Medium/High Definition
State of Being Filled with Data
Cool Medium/Low Definition
Very Little Visual Information

Low in Participation
Speech (because so little information)
High Participation (filled by listener or completed by the audience)
Effects on the user:
EXCLUDES
INCLUDES
Examples
Radio
Movie
Photograph
Phonetic Alphabet/Typography


Paper
Lecture
Book
Telephone
Television
Cartoon
Hieroglyphic/Ideogrammic written characters

Stone
Seminar
Dialogue



















Humm, I have more questions than answers!
---I am left wondering if this chart applies to my multi-lingual/multicultural college age students, ages from 17 to 77.
---Is there screen logic in writing cross-culturally?  (Think emojis)
---Screen logic (does) have a role with images and in writing?
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**McCluhan (7-9; 22-23) excerpted:
Aah hah, the new environment of writing.
---All I have to say is that my eyes get tired looking at the computer screen!
---"Literacy" in Japanese is loosely translated to:
   リテラシー
Riterashī

From Wikipedia:
The modern Japanese writing system uses a combination of logographic kanji, which are adopted Chinese characters, and syllabic kana. Kana itself consists of a pair of syllabaries: hiragana, used primarily for native or naturalised Japanese words and grammatical elements, and katakana, used primarily for foreign words and names, loanwords, onomatopoeia, scientific names, and sometimes for emphasis. Almost all written Japanese sentences contain a mixture of kanji and kana. Because of this mixture of scripts, in addition to a large inventory of kanji characters, the Japanese writing system is often considered to be one of the most complicated in use anywhere in the world.

 -- I feel like people all over the world are learning Japanese through EMOJI.
Archimedes Thoughtful by Domenico Fetti (1620)
Archimedes (Wikipedia) 
---Literacy as social, cultural, and personal (p.24)
(From Understand Media: The Extensions of Man (1964) on page 15: Archimedes once said, "Give me a place to stand and I will move the world."  Today he would have pointed to our electric media and said, "I will stand on your eyes, your ears, your nerves, and your brain, and the world will move in any tempo or pattern I choose."  We have leased these "places to stand" to private corporations).
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***Alexander, et al.:  Thursday, July 4, 2019 -- Class on the 4th of July
Article Discussion Activity
Teaching with Technology:  Remediating the Teaching Philosophy Statement (2011)
1. Do you think “humor” and "humility" belong in a teaching with technology philosophy statement? Why or why not? What are the benefits and limitations? Will your authority be challenged? In what ways?
2. The article was published in 2011 with case studies from Fall 2007 at Michigan State University. What questions would we ask the authors in 2020? In 2030? In 2040 and beyond? 
3. How has the rise of the smartphone, YouTube, and other communication technologies and platforms changed the way we teach and interact with students? Are they examples of effective tools that provide the "great equalizers" (think the "free" public library and "free" education) due to increase accessibility or will the haves and haves-not divide continue? Ditto on the speed of learning and attention spans. Increase or stay the same or further divide? Who "controls" these devices and how they are used?
Extra Bonus Questions:  What would we (teachers/artists/administrators/concerned citizens) address and write in the 2.0 version/reload/remix using the Alexander, et al article as a jumping point?  Give some topics, issues, and controversies relevant today and in the future for our students and our teaching environments. Are we looking at a future of self-drivable cars, online learning led by robots, and what else?
Extra Extra Bonus Questions:  In the past, the teaching philosophy statement was coined "A Diversity Statement." This one-page statement was required in the minimum qualifications section, and we all included it in our job application or dossier to teach at the California Community College System.  Is "diversity" the same as "philosophy"?  Why or why not?  What is gained or lost? 

 Powerpoint -- See attached PPT Slides 
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***Shipka: A Multimodal Task-Based Framework for Composing (2005)
In a 2005 NCTE essay, Shipka provided a case study of five college-age students’ work that engaged and showcased a multimodal task-based framework.  Student-practitioners learned-by-doing in and outside the classroom.  They repurposed and re-visioned: a bag of tokens (Lindsay), a “scare” floppy disk (Prakas), “with-object” photos on Web pages and a video (Maggie), a mirror IQ test (Karen), and video commercials (Michael).  They took creative, non-linear approaches to their projects and became choreographers/engineers of various resources for their assignments. In addition, most remarkably, a female student (unnamed) eloquently wrote her project goals for Mona Lisa Smile (a chapter booklet of 1950s version of womanhood) along with a comprehensive and highly detailed heads up statement that provided "instructors with ways of navigating and assessing student work" (p.290).  
Here are some quotes from the text that popped out re: "MADE NOT ONLY IN WORDS" --

p. 278  At a time when many within composition studies have begun questioning the field’s “single, exclusive and intensive focus on written language” (Kress 85), and its exclusion of the wide variety of sign systems and technologies students routinely engage, we might also begin asking how the purposeful uptake, transformation, incorporation, combination, juxtaposition, and even three-dimensional layering of words and visuals – as well as textures, sounds, scents, and even tastes – provide us with still other ways of imagining the work students might produce for the composition course. (Think About: How to do an Activity-based Multimodal Curriculum with an Online Class; Reduce Plagiarism? Who's the Audience?) 

p. 292  A multimodal task-based orientation requires a great deal from students, to be sure. Making the shift from highly prescriptive assignments to multimodal tasks is challenging for students unaccustomed to thinking about and accounting for the work they are trying to achieve in academic spaces…have underscored the importance of establishing an atmosphere in which students are able to prove that, beyond being critically minded consumers of existing knowledge, they are also extremely capable, critically minded producers of new knowledge. (Think About: Individual or Group Work? Do Students Fall Behind if Project Too Big? How to Evaluate Invention and Production Processes?)

 pp. 301-302 WPA Outcomes Statement -- Finally, students are still "doing" process and learning about revision...And, of course, in the ongoing (re)development of lives. (Think About: Writing an Essay for the NCTE on the "What Mask Are You Wearing?" Project at Laney College) 

 The elements of Shipka's framework that I can use -- I like the "heads up" statement.  I'd revise it to be shorter, employ a multimodal method, perhaps present in small(er) groups with written peer reviews or on a BLOG where student reviewers and the instructor add comments to the BLOG.  Some food for thought!  
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***Writer/Designer Ch.2: Analyzing Multimodal Projects -- Is There a Right Answer? (p. 27)
Arola et al provide a comprehensive approach to "visualizing composition" which includes design choices vis-a-vis audience, purpose, genre, context and other features.  The authors highlight cross-cultural social customs (p.30) for consideration.  For example, when I go to the Web site for Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, I first see a serene green garden with empty chairs.  Then, I see a focus and emphasis on news and headlines events: www.waseda.jp/top/en 
The case study of Washington State University Web site from 1997, 2000, and 2010 offers a convincing visual snapshot of an evolving communication strategy.  In 2019, I see a WOW! “captivating” improvement: https://wsu.edu/  
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****Banks: LOOKING FOR UNITY IN THE MIDST OF MADNESS: TRANSFORMATIVE ACCESS AS THE ONE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN RHETORIC AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES

Adam Banks cries out in Chapter 1 to “examine Black experiences in complex ways” (p.4).  He calls for “a far richer analysis” (p.5) because “technology access is the issue that can spark scholarly and practical dialogue within and across disciplinary lines that have to date been difficult to cross” (p.9).  He argues for “a multidimensional view of rhetoric and technology access” (p. 7) due to false choices.  A few critical questions/themes/issues proposed: 
1.     “The whitinizing of cyberspace” (p.1) – not whitens?  not whitening?
2.     “Third way” answers to systemically racist exclusion” (p.2)
3.     “Power of the spoken word and Black orators” (p.3)
4.     “Debate over Ebonics” (p.7)
5.     “Students’ Right to Their Own Language” (p.7)
Page 10 sparked my interest: “More than mere artifacts, technologies are spaces and processes that determine whether any group of people is able to tell its own stories on its own terms…Without systematic study of our relationships with technologies and technological issues, we remain subject to those technologies and the patterns of racism and racial exclusion that still govern American society.”
(I'd like to go back to my question from 7/4 about the "Digital Divide"). How has the rise of the smartphone, YouTube, and other communication technologies and platforms changed the way we teach and interact with students? Are they examples of effective tools that provide the "great equalizers" (think the "free" public library and "free" education) due to increase accessibility or will the haves and haves-not divide continue? Ditto on the speed of learning and attention spans. Increase or stay the same or further divide? Who "controls" these devices and how they are used?
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***Writer/Designer Ch.3: Thinking about my "multiple" audience (readers or recipients) for Santa Fe Japanese American Prison Camp project such as "Stakeholders, Clients, Teachers or Audiences" (p.55) and Students.
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***DePalma: Tracing Transfer across Media:  Investigating Writers' Perceptions of Cross-Contextual and Rhetorical Reshaping in Processes of Remediation (2015). First, I have some minor red flags that surfaced with this qualitative study. N=9 which was a small sampling size. 8 identified as female;1 male participant (Would it be best to even out gender such as 4 and 4? How about their self-identified ethnicity? Spread out? Is this a random sampling?). Next, the college-age students were enrolled in the same course (Could there be a conflict of interest since DePalma was BOTH researcher and teacher at the same time?  Would it be best to specify a role?  As researcher? As teacher? For the same assignment, students were doing the projects for a final grade? Or participating in a research project? Therefore, results could be skewed or leaning to one side?).

At any rate, "What evidence sounds most persuasive?"  I liked the meta-awareness aspect of the study.  On p.623: ... it encouraged students to integrate their literacies in meaningful ways (e.g. Parallels existed with Noreen's musical talents; Reshaping of Anna's visual work into a script/digital story tailored to audience; Jessie's photographic skills; Elizabeth's religion/biblical studies) because "Using metacognitive approaches that encourage students to reflect on when and how they might draw from their prior print-based writing knowledge when remediating print-based texts into new media texts is valuable, because they provide students with the scaffolding and confidence needed to undertake seemingly unfamiliar aspects of new media composition" (p.633).  In order words, "It's like butter" (p.630).  The questions on p.636 were comprehensive (and useful and thoughtful). Lastly, on p.637, I appreciated the NOTES from van Leeuwen.  I define semiotic resources as "the actions, materials and artifacts we use for communicative purposes...together with the ways in which these resources can be organized" (285).  Semiotic resources are the available modes (i.e., aural, visual, gestural, linguistic, technological, material, spatial) that writers use to make meaning. (Consider using this informative definition for my M.Litt. project on "Can The Japanese Spiritual World Be Staged @Bread Loaf?").                         
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***Writer/Designer Ch.4: Working with Multimodal Sources is a long chapter due to the extremely important content:

FINDING CREDIBLE SOURCES -- ETHICS -- PERMISSIONS -- CREATIVE COMMONS -- CITATIONS -- CREDITS !!!

BECAUSE WRITING CAN BE MORE THAN WORDS ON A PAGE

Page 57 starts off with a hilarious comic with two dogs talking about their presence on the Internet while one is typing in front of a computer: "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." (Love the puns -- not sure what dog lovers would say!).

On page 75:  "Citation options vary as much as the genre and its features do.  More likely than not, those citations look nothing like MLA-style citations."

Can you cite a cereal box?
                  
               Answer:  Yes, You Can!                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Womak: Teaching Is Accommodation:  Universally Designing Composition Classrooms and Syllabi (2017)

After reading this provocative, eye-opening, and engaging article that retheorizes accommodation, I now must go back to the classroom and revise ALL of my syllabi for the classes I teach (to extend inclusion, cooperation, and positivity) and to create solidarity through we!  Womack provides clear examples, friendly and inviting language, design features, "flexible course plans" (p.501), visual principles (p.505) such as color, and other suggestions to incorporate into a syllabus. (Also, Brenda Brueggemann, a Bread Loaf Professor in Vermont who is deaf, is generously referenced).  On page 495, Womak gives a US Department of Education statistic of "11% of students in the United States undergraduate population report having a disability."  I would argue that in a place like urban Oakland, California, that statistic is most likely higher -- if we include dyslexia, dementia, PTSD  (and all of the non-reporting due to shame and/or limited access to a DSPS evaluation) AND the age range of 17 to 77 in the California Community College system -- then, maybe it's more like 30-35% but not in every class.  And, I am not sure I agree with "expand deadlines" (p.516) unless there's an emergency (Final grades are due on a certain date and need to be uploaded online.  If those deadlines are missed, then there's a Late List and additional paperwork to process -- YUCKY!).  I like the idea of using less punitive language in the syllabus and during lecture -- except that consequences seem to work. (This article is not going in the recycling bin -- it will stay on my "TO DO" clipboard for Fall 2019).
I understand that power in the classroom can be shared.   

Here are some examples of students' work with a Moviemaking Project.  We start with a brainstorming exercise in small groups.  Students pick their own groups.  Next, we draft a first page on a PowerPoint template to get organized (Please note that I give a specific date when the next draft is due -- it turns out that date is helpful and clear! AND, the living document is on Google Drive to Share as we meet up in the computer learning lab to get it all done!).  Next, the storyboard and script. Students use iMovie and other programs:

 Some of the final products for the Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving Themes:


 For more student film projects, visit the YouTube Channel:                                
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***Ball: Assessing Scholarly Multimedia:  A Rhetorical Genre Studies Approach (2012). What are the take-aways?  Keywords:  assessment, Dynamic Criteria Mapping, genre, Kairos, scholarly multimedia, values, webtexts. After reading this straightforward and relevant article for our multimodal class this Bread Loaf summer in Santa Fe, I have a new framework and definition for the "What Mask Are You Wearing" project -- scholarly multimedia.  Also, another big take-away: The fibromyalgia Prezi provided a journey that mirrors the disease's "no path" presentation.  The unfolding of the pain such as trigger points on the woman's body both front and back views allowed the reader to "struggle to find order and potential closure in this piece" (p.74) and "would be confused, but that was part of the point" (p.74). 
AWAYWITHWORDS 
enact
values-based analysis
show the power of invention across multiple modes
think of a visual metaphor

                                                       What are the take-aways in terms of assessment?  The peer-review letters are convincing -- I might use the template?  Participation and "trying" are valued, but revision and resubmission are also signs of motivation to learn.  (The on-going conversations to get clarity about what can be improved in a project or tightened up or take to another level -- and for the student to not be defensive about the feedback -- that is part of the learning process and taking control of one's education).  If a student would like to take the time to rework and to incorporate the suggestions I gave in both written and oral statements, then I reward that behavior in class.  A+
do it with excellence!
Web pages with links, animations, images, audio, video, scripting languages, databases, and other multimedia and interactive elements, including but not limited to written text (p.62).

I wonder, how can we assess Donald Glover's Childish Gambino on YouTube using the "Parameters" on page 66?  (Probably need to add audience responses in "creative realization" parameter?  He has over 4.6 million subscribers). That's a lot of "bean counters" and is his "digital work...dismissed as bells and whistles"? (p.65).   
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