Designing online writing classes to promote multimodal literacies

Abstract

In this entry, we argue that to promote multimodal literacy in online writing classes, instructors should address the following five practices in their course design: • Incorporate multimodal assignments and appropriate scaffolding tools; • Use multimodal instructional tools to teach and model multimodal composition; • Provide multimodal feedback to students' compositions; • "Teach" technology through the use of media labs; • Encourage reflection as a significant part of students' learning process. In so doing, we discuss each practice in depth, addressing the reasons and benefits for incorporating each, as well as advice about how to implement them. By implementing these practices in their online courses, instructors can successfully design classes that promote multimodal literacy.

Students’ perceptions of emergency remote teaching in a writing course during COVID-19

“…Moreover, one particularly important type of skill acquisition that occurred during the emergency remote teaching period was related to technological literacy. Bourelle et al (2017) assert that to promote multimodal literacy, online writing classes should teach technology and incorporate multimodal assignments and appropriate scaffolding tools. In this study, 92% of students expressed that they felt well equipped to succeed in the course with the technology they had access to at the beginning of the online period, yet several students expressed that a major benefit of the online period was being able to hone their computer skills even more (e.g., learning how to use Canvas studio recording tools for asynchronous presentations).…”

Using Multimedia for Instructor Presence in Purposeful Pedagogy-Driven Online Technical Writing Courses

“…First, as online technical writing instructors, we must pay close attention to how we design and organize our online courses so that students can clearly navigate them and understand the instructions to effectively complete the course across platforms. To do so, we can use user-centered design principles and usability testing to understand how our students navigate our courses with accessibility in mind (Blythe, 2001; Borgman, 2020; Borgman & Dockter, 2018; Bourelle et al., 2017; Grady & Davis, 2005). One way that we do this in our classes is to ask students to use screen capture video to demonstrate how they navigate our online courses and identify any accessibility or navigation issues they have in the course.…”