2010 Updates
Much has happened since I began writing about student-produced
multimedia texts in the fall of 2007. As I have worked my way through
the coursework for my PhD in Rhetoric and Composition, taking such
courses as Digital Rhetoric and Electronic Writing and Publishing, I
have expanded my understanding of visual rhetoric. I have also learned
how to deal with copyright issues and teach my students how to
negotiate fair use and utilize digital media under the Creative Commons
license. Now that I have completed my coursework, I am preparing for my
comprehensive exams, and the up-to-date readings on my lists have also
further informed me of the concepts behind media convergence,
infrastructure, social design and the pedagogy behind using digital
media in the composition classroom.
With each semester I have also refined the particulars of the
multimedia project’s design and the organization and timing of the
project. I have also gone from teaching at a large university in a
suburb of Atlanta, to teaching at a smaller college located in a rural
area of north Georgia where I have negotiated issues of technological
access and the digital divide.
In the fall of 2009, I obtained IRB approval to conduct a pilot
research study on the use of multimedia as student text in my freshman
composition courses. Conducting this research has allowed me to think
more critically about the purpose of the multimedia project and see the
strengths in the project’s organization as well as where it needs
improvement.
I received some of the best videos to date in the fall of 2009, despite
the challenges of technology access and the initial limitations of
working with students who were, in some cases, beginning the project
with very minimal computer literacy skills. I believe that my in and
out of class preparation for the project in the form of lectures and
homework assignments, as well as my organization of the assignment
contributed to the overall success of the students as can be seen in
the number of quality videos produced at the end of the semester.
The continued enthusiasm, sense of engagement, dedication and hard work
on behalf of the students continues to contribute to the projects’
overall value and success. The local cable company has even agreed to
air several of the student videos in a story about local students
creating civic-centered video projects that highlight important
problems and solutions within their communities. I have also presented
on various subjects related to the project at regional conferences and
have scheduled workshops at my institution to instruct faculty in how
they might incorporate multimedia projects in their own courses across
the disciplines. As such, I have also created some of my own academic
videos as a way of demonstrating how multimedia can be used within the
academic forum as an extension of the writing process.
The multimedia project continues to be a worthwhile and rewarding
element of both my own scholarship and my teaching process. The
students’ excitement about the project has certainly outweighed their
apprehension about embracing new technologies and overcoming the
inevitable obstacles they must face when adapting their written
proposals into video essays. There is also ample interest in the
project among the academic professionals I have encountered in
conferences, within my PhD program, and in general conversations I have
with teachers across disciplines and grade levels. I plan to continue
my research and continue to develop and hone the project’s parameters
in the coming semesters. The tentative title of my dissertation will be
Student-Produced Multimedia Texts as an Extension of the Writing
Process. I hope to develop my research methods and continue to advocate
student-produced multimedia texts as a valuable asset in the
composition classroom and beyond. >>