Multimodal Instruction
Oct. 19, 2020
Pedagogy Skills Lab
Shpresa Ahmeti
Tim Dalton
Workshop Goals
* attempt to direct a specific audience to the subway nearest you in multiple modes
[We’ll do this in breakout rooms, in randomly picked 2’s and 3’s]
* define multimodal learning in a multimodal way (audio, chat, Zoom whiteboard)
[We’ll do this in the main room, together]
* revise a task that assesses comprehension to be more multimodal (Google Docs)
[We’ll do this in the main room; if there’s interest/time, we can break out]
* self-assess/summarize your learning and use that self-assessment to….. (analog)
[You’ll do this privately, using non-digital means like journaling, talking, or mindmapping]
* select a reading or resource to explore as a “next small step” (Google Form, chart)
[You’ll take a short ‘quiz’ in Google Forms; we may share the responses as a chart]
Multimodal Instruction in Action: Take the “A” Train
Pair up and apply the information above to give directions to the closest subway in at least two different modes. As you work, consider and be prepared to share responses to these questions:
Pick one person to share out for your group. We’ll build on this discussion to define multimodal learning in a, sigh, uni-modal way.
How to be more multimodal
Students want to learn, in my experience of things, and are naturally drawn to bringing multiple modes of learning to many classes.
Hopefully Illustrative Kid Anecdote: “In Which My 7-year-old Plays ‘Zoom Tag.’”
(Subtitle: “...And Wherein Their Father is Mortified”)
(Not my kid. But objectively, adorable, no?)
How to be more multimodal (con’t)
Many best practices, like...
...all foster multimodal teaching and learning.
—> So does Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
UDL Guidelines & Multimodal Instruction (CAST.org)
UDL is multimodal to its core, offering a framework for multiple means of representation, of student action and expression, and of student engagement.
Engagement is especially crucial in remote learning!
Full UDL guidelines are available on the CAST website and linked to here.
UDL & Cognition: “The guidelines go outside, in” (David Rose)
Engagement: multimodal engagement aims to foster student self-regulation
Representation: multimodal representation aims to foster student comprehension
Action & Representation: multimodal action and representation aims to foster student executive function
UDL aims to develop internal cognitive processes:
Whatever your brain is like, your brain is where these processes live.
Next “Steps”
#1: The Tango of Instrumental and Intrinsic Engagement (U of Alaska; Kahu; Dixon)
#2: The Bandwidth-Immediacy Bachata (Stanford)
#3: The “This is So Awkward” middle school dance of “thinking through writing” (NCTE — see 2.3)
#4: Embracing The Robot: “In an online environment, redundancy is often better than elegant succinctness.” (Ko & Rosen, print only)
Which of these pedagogical “moves” might be one you could try in a class of yours?
Self-Assessment & Summary of Learning
Take five minutes to self-assess/summarize your learning. You’ll do this privately, using analog tools like journaling, talking to a roommate, pacing-and-thinking, doodling, or mindmapping.
Use that summary to select a concept to explore as your “next small step.” This short ‘quiz’ is a Google Form; if time, we may share the responses as a chart. Multimodal to the end!
Questions & Comments
Click here for a Doc that captures some of our questions, comments, notes, chats & next steps.
See the Works Cited and Slide 36 for further reading.
And once more….
THANK YOU!
Works Cited/Further Reading (for all your spare time)
1. “Understanding and Teaching Writing: Guiding Pricniples.” NCTE. Published Nov 14 2018. Accessed Oct 19 2020. https://ncte.org/statement/teachingcomposition/
2. Airoldi N. , Peterson B., Webb D. Junior High School Athletes Excel in Scholarship, The Personnel and Guidance Journal (originally published June 1967) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2164-4918.1967.tb04774.x
3. Aguilar, Christian, Andrew Howard, Ahmad Wright “All In Together Now: Inclusive Grading Practices in the Writing Classroom.” TYCA-NE: Lighthouse in a Storm: Shining the Beacon on Student Success, Oct 24-26 Oct 2019, Westin Portland Harborview Hotel, Portland, ME. Workshop.
4. Akai-Dennis, Naoko. “The Translingual Approach: Equitable to Underrepresented and Underprivileged Students?” TYCA-NE: Lighthouse in a Storm: Shining the Beacon on Student Success, Oct 24-26 Oct 2019, Westin Portland Harborview Hotel, Portland, ME. Presentation.
5. Berger, Ron., et al. Leaders of Their Own Learning : Transforming Schools through Student-Engaged Assessment . 1st ed., Jossey-Bass, 2014.
6. Baker-Bell, April. Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy. Routledge, 2020.
7. Brandt. Deborah. “Sponsors of Literacy.” CCC. 49.2 (1998): 165-185.
8. Caine, R. N., & Caine, G. (1994). Making connections: Teaching and the human brain. Menlo Park, Calif: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED335141.pdf
9. Dixon, M.D. (2010) Creating effective student engagement in online courses: What do students find engaging? Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10(2), 1 — 13.
10. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
11. Guptil, Amy. Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence. SUNY Open Textbooks, 2016. https://textbooks.opensuny.org/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence/
...Works Cited/Further Reading
12. Hall, Tracey E., et al. Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom : Practical Applications . Guilford Press, 2012.
13. Hamraie, Aimi. “Accessible Teaching in the Time of COVID-19.” Mapping Access. Published March 10, 2020. Accessed August 6, 2020.
14. Inoue, Asao B. (2019). Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Writing Classroom. Perspectives on Writing. The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/labor/
15. The Organization of Behavior. Hebb, D.O. (1949). The Organization of Behavior. New York: Wiley & Sons
16. Kahu, E.R. (2013). Framing student engagement in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 38(5), 758-773.
17. Klingner J. Tversky B. Hanrahan P. Effects of visual and verbal presentation on cognitive load in vigilance, memory, and arithmetic tasks Psychophysioogy v. 48(3) 2010 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01069.x
18. Lambert, Megan Dowd. Reading Picture Books with Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking about What They See. Charlesbridge, 2015. Print.
19. Matthew, Patricia. “Teaching While Black.” The New Inquiry. February 18, 2014. Accessed August 6, 2020. https://thenewinquiry.com/teaching-while-black/
20. McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics : [the Invisible Art] . 1st HarperPerennial ed., HarperPerennial, 1995.
21. Mihut, Ligia. "Linguistic Pluralism: A Statement and a Call to Advocacy." Reflections: A Journal of Community Engaged Writing and Rhetoric, vol. 18, no. 2, 2019, pp. 66-86.
22. Olander, Louis et al. “An Introduction to Universal Design.” http://udlforteachers.com/about/
23. Stanford, Daniel. “Videoconferencing Alternatives: How Low-Bandwidth Teaching Will Save Us All.” IDDBlog, Published March 16 2020, Accessed October 19, 2020. https://www.iddblog.org/videoconferencing-alternatives-how-low-bandwidth-teaching-will-save-us-all/
“Tuck, E., Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 1-40.
24. van der Kolk, Bessel. The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma. Penguin, 2014.