Also of import is that educators in these spaces can then "equip [students] with the analytical tools that can help them understand--and respond to--the historical, cultural, social, and political factors that influence their lives and their experiences" (Selfe, forthcoming, p.10). In other words, the learning implications connected to multimodal pedagogies have the capabilities to reach far beyond the classroom.   This movement from classroom to society speaks to the possibilities that multimodal composition pedagogies may have in better preparing students for full participation in a global society. In explanation, an in-depth review of Ohio's standards and their corresponding benchmarks reveals overarching goals for student literacy in global society (ODE, 2002). Specifically, the Ohio Department of Education's philosophy includes the intent that students become "literate members of a diverse society with the ability to communicate effectively in daily life;" furthermore, students should be prepared "to adapt to the ever-changing literacy demands of a highly technological society" (ODE, 2002).  

To the point of literacy, multimodal composing assignments challenge students to acquire (beyond traditional literacy) what Kathleen Blake Yancey (2007) calls "textured literacy"--"the ability to comfortably use and combine print, spoken, visual, and digital processes in composing a new piece of writing". And while this particular article argues that multimodal composition pedagogies may consist of both cutting-edge and trailing-edge technologies, Yancey's definition coupled with the Ohio Department of Education's mandates suggest that multimodal composing assignments may help Ohio's English teachers achieve state goals of technological literacy among students. Yancey (2007) suggests that "[w]hen writers start out early moving back and forth between different tools and composing processes, this way of working becomes normal and comfortable to them." Therefore, the integration of technological/multimodal pedagogies in high school English classrooms and earlier may do much to help set the stage for students' utilization of their acquired "textured literacies" in future realms, such as college or the work place.

Aside from the standards-meeting, meaning-making, literacy-building possibilities of multimodal assignments stands the fact that multimodal work can be just plain fun. As Yancey (2007) points out, "[c]omputer technologies can enhance student writing in ways beyond, or even unrelated to, a given products' intended purpose--not the least by drawing reluctant students to writing through the lure of a medium considered fun and 'cool'." Moreover, the medium is familiar to the today's generation of students for whom "film, television, computer and online games, and music constitute the current vernacular" (Daly, 2003, p. 34).    Obviously, this point should not be misconstrued as to imply that high or low-tech multimodal pedagogies should be instituted in classrooms simply because of their "fun factor"; instead, that engagement and enjoyment accompanies the pedagogies as a residual effect. At the same time, since the State of Ohio calls for English instruction to be implemented in an "interactive and engaging" fashion (ODE, 2002), multimodal pedagogies happily meet that end.