Most students (and teachers) think of multimedia writing as synonymous with digital writing. I approach multimedia writing differently, relying on the notion that multimedia refers to writing in multiple media and modes. Since digital and multimedia are frequently conflated, I wanted to establish my alternative definition on the first day, challenging students preconceived ideas. So, borrowing from Ann Wysocki's Writing New Media, I provided students with crayons and paper and asked them to answer the question--what is multimedia writing? They were surprised, to say the least but, in an attitude that would be characteristic of the class, they remained open-minded and completed the assignment in good nature.
In assigning this, I was asking students to work with what was probably the first type of media they had ever written with, a medium that is as far as possible from digital writing as one can get. It challenged the very subject of the course. It asked them to think critically in ways that they had not been before.
The question--what is multimedia writing--is one that we would return to throughout the semester. I consider it to be the unifying theme--asking students to think critically not just about individual texts but about the very subject of the class. Overall, it's a fairly unusual approach. As one of my students, Erin Christopher, indicated in a blog post:
Never in my college life, have I taken a class where the course name
itself has brought about such discussion, confusion, conflict, and
debate. (blog entry, 10/30/2007)
The sentiments expressed here by Erin are reflective of the majority of the students in the class. They were surprised, sometimes resistant, and eventually most were a little sick of answering that question. Still, they handled it good-naturedly and their blog entries and our class discussions were both fruitful and intriguing.
The crayon assignment was part of a larger assignment that asked them to experiment with different media. Directions and samples follow.
