Student Interview #1 (Transcript)
As you will see, this student enjoyed the multimodal composing process. He saw it as a chance to "have fun" and use skills he enjoyed using outside of the classroom, inside the classroom. This student also made the connection between multimodal composing and traditional, alphabetic composing. As he explains in the video, the process of completing the multimodal composing assignment assisted him in focusing and developing a "clearer" idea of his argument.
Student Interview #2 (Transcript)
This student clearly did not like the multimodal composing process. As you will see in her interview, she notes feeling uncomfortable and overwhelmed in terms of using the technology needed to complete the assignment successfully. This student also has missed connections between the multimodal assignment and her research paper assignment, stating "you're not doing anything with writing." Such statements remind me that although it's important to promote "playing" with technology, it's equally important to remember that we must foreground such assignments to our students, to explain their purpose and relevance in the reading/writing classroom. We cannot always assume they will make these connections on their own as the student in Interview #1 did. Additionally, this student also mentions that she would prefer working with teacher as close guide, "you tell us what to do and then we try it," such an attitude may be the result of traditional schooling, which is geared towards what Paulo Freire has termed the "banking model" of education. Subsequently, teachers must remember to assist students in working more creatively and perhaps nudge them in the direction they need to think critically about material. As this student notes, alotting more time for completion of multimodal assignments might help alleviate these issues.