SUMMARY
Anderson makes the case for integrating “low-bridge” media technologies into classroom assignments so as to create a “studio classroom.” “Low-bridge” here means consumer-level and easily accessible technologies that are not professional-grade (websites, free software, etc). He advocates for the use of this technology with the claim that multimedia projects combine the five literacies (linguistic, visual, audio, gestural, spatial) to a sixth (multimodal) literacy. In using this multimodal literacy, he argues, citing Bruno Latour, we start to think less of the physical object of technology and start instead to think about our relationship with technology as an interchange, not as a life-ruining relationship nor as utopian, but as an extension and avenue for human interaction and change. Engaging in this way gives space for a seventh literacy, what Anderson calls “critical/civic literacy,” and encourages students to use digital technology to invoke direct change. Low-bridge technologies are key in this practice in the composition classroom because they develop a maker space where students are learning and problem-solving “behind the scenes” in a way that is not a simulation. This in turn contributes to students’ motivation to experiment and to integrate personal interests into the classroom, thus enhancing the potential for “flow.” Anderson then outlines three case studies from his own classroom’s use of these low-bridge technologies.
TAKEAWAYS
- PLAYLIST ASSIGNMENTS. Creative narrative playlists with websites (students use HTML)–combining alphabetic literacies like textual explication with new technologies like cropping/excerpting tracks from songs
- VISUAL ASSIGNMENTS. digital collage in PhotoPlus, slideshows in MovieMaker using Audacity tracks
- HOW-TO GUIDES. As instructors, I think it may be a proactive and helpful exercise to create some basic how-to guides, find links to previously made how-to guides, or to set up time to visit with ECDS during class time.
- METACOGNITION. Keeping with the class trend, these projects seem to always be accompanied by a reflective/metacognitive piece about the process of the assignment. As much as these authors claim to get away from traditional composition, it appears that there is a forever return to the alphabetical.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- GIVING HELP. How will we equip students who may not have confidence in their digital skill set to succeed in these tasks?
- CONSIDERING TIME. iven the time spent on these projects that Anderson references in his case studies’ responses, how will we balance out reading loads with doing loads both in and out of the classroom?
- A TEACH-ALONG “TECH-ALONG.” Anderson notes the importance of expanding our horizons, that “instructors, too, require skill challenges.” In a similar vein as reading along, would you ever “tech along” in a class with a software you hadn’t used?
- FINDING TECHNOLOGIES. A sort of crowd-sourcing question: what are some other low-bridge technologies you can think of for assignments? (Especially since this article references technology from a decade ago.)
