Multimodal-ala-Mode: Teaching Multimodality (Michael and Aaron)

Digital Literacies and 21st Century Skills

In this premiere episode of The Class Act Podcast, hosts Mike Lombardo and Aaron Hung dive into multimodal literacy and what it means for today’s classrooms. They explore multimodality in education, drawing on ideas from Kress, Gardner, and include an in depth discussion on visual literacy and digital media. The discussion highlights how images, video, sound, and design have become central to communication and learning, challenging schools to expand their traditional definition of literacy. Through examples like Instagram and web design, this episode discusses how and why teachers should help students engage with visuals, and explores methods for teaching multimodality.

References
Association of College & Research Libraries. (2011). Visual literacy competency standards for higher education. American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/visualliteracy

Gardner, H. (1991). The unschooled mind: How children think and how schools should teach. Basic Books.

Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. Routledge.

Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Lemke, J. L. (1998). Multiplying meaning: Visual and verbal semiotics in scientific text. In J. R. Martin & R. Veel (Eds.), Reading science: Critical and functional perspectives on discourses of science (pp. 87–113). Routledge.

Leaver, T., Highfield, T., & Abidin, C. (2020). Instagram: Visual social media cultures. Polity Press.

Murphy, C., Dudley, E., & Pachy, N. (Hosts). (2023, March 15). Multimodal literacy (No. 12) [Audio podcast episode]. In C. Jones (Producer), Talking ELT. Oxford University Press. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fvnbR6lqKc