Ethan Smith - Non-Print Media Fall 22

 Digital composition is something that is growing in importance and will continue to do so as we advance further into our technological timeline. Growing up in a technological society, the youth of today is forced into developing fluency in using technology for every aspect of their lives from learning to entertainment typically deals with technology in some aspect. Being able to produce proficient digital composition will prove to be exceedingly valuable when transitioning into the workforce, proving an ability to efficiently utilize modern forms of communication.  In the article,  When Our Students Voice Their Truths: "This I  Believe" Multimodal Essays in Action, we read about public figures such as Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai, X Gonzalez, and Amanda Gorman. What all of these people have in common is that they all fought against public issues as teenagers. Examining these people and how they were able to use their voices to spark such a great change within so...

Blogging and podcasting are two prevalent forms of media consumption amongst all ages. This includes those in secondary schools. Though many students indulge in these things regularly, I do not believe that blogging and podcasting are being properly integrated into most curriculums. Why is this? I believe that when paired with the correct assignments as well as a safe classroom environment, blogging and podcasting can act as a productive outlet for students to share their personal opinions and engage in intellectual debates with each other in a low-stress fashion.  In the article Can we blog about this?: Amplifying Student Voice in Secondary Language Arts,  the author talks about students establishing "their own preferences about writing," and I believe that allowing students to write to their strengths is something that needs to happen much more in American public schools. Allowing students to write to their strengths will allow a more efficient production of high-quality wo...

 While videos are now commonly used and accepted within the classroom, video games and virtual reality as learning tools are still very new to the scene. In unit five of this course, my peers and I dove into the use of these new learning tools and how they can be integrated into a learning environment. In the article Fostering Multimodal Analyses of Videogames: Reflective Writing in the Middle School, we saw how literacy and learning practices are represented within video games. For example, when playing a video game the player will be presented with many decisions that they will need to make. These decisions will often need to be made quickly, and each decision made impacts the game in a different way. This requires the player to always be thinking about the future and what path they want to take in their game. Multimodality holds a great presence within video games as well. Aside from dialog between other players or characters in the game, players receive stimuli in the form of v...