FYC is at a turning point. It is moving from a static class that restricts students to typing words into a document to one that enables students to make meaning by combining the written word with pictures, videos, blogs, graphic design, audio recordings, and art. No longer can you claim that composition is the "same as it ever was."
Definition and examples
Multimodal composition is a term for something that most of us do every day: communicate using multiple methods, or modes. For composition instructors this means giving students choices that were largely not embraced by English departments even ten years ago. In my 1102 class that I am co-teaching, the professor gives students opportunities to create their final project using PowerPoint (visual essay or presentation), Flipsnack (magazine issue), Wix/Google Sites (website), YouTube (video with script), and the traditional research paper using Word or Google docs.
More than one path to multimodal composition
There are too many free resources to mention here, but students should not have to pay to access web-based software programs that enable multimodal creation. However, robust software programs like Adobe Creative Suite are available to Kennesaw State students as part of their technology fees. Though students can also pursue low-tech multimodality by inserting videos, pictures, and graphics into their Word documents. This is an example of staying in the traditional model (Word) but engaging with many modes (audio, photos, graphics) to create. Multimodality can be as simple as that.
Wait, does this mean English teachers must teach technology?
No, though brief lessons can give students the basic components of creating in alternate modes. Students are quite adept at learning new technologies; it is something they have been doing for years leading up to starting college. Knowing this should take some of the burden of teaching technology off of the teacher.
The benefits of multimodal composition
Teachers do not need to shy away from multimodality. By embracing it, teachers can create two significant links that resonate with students. Multimodal composition connects FYC with the world that students operate in and the world that they will live in as graduates entering their careers. Students communicate and make meaning in various ways socially: social media, texting, gaming, email, and talking. Likewise, as graduates they will communicate using email, letters, memos, audio, graphic design, photography, and much more.
Using multiple technologies and modes builds a bridge to learning goals that should be embraced in FYC. Though some instructors may be apprehensive about this, today's FYC programs focus on more than typing into a Word doc. Blogs, e-magazines, PowerPoints, YouTube videos, and graphic novels are just a few of the ways that traditional assignments can be reinvented without losing meaning or lessening the focus on writing. All of these examples should include a minimum writing component that equals what would be required in a traditional paper. With any mulitimodal composition, writing must still be a central part of the project - FYC is a writing class no matter how many modes students use.
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