In this article, Jody Shipka explores how composition instructors can adapt and improve their teaching methods by shifting their focus from monomodal projects to more innovative, multimodal techniques. She argues that "the norm for student work is equated with linear, argumentative, thesis-driven print texts that are passed forward in class and geared primarily, if not exclusively, to an audience of one (the instructor)" (282). In this article, she examines how to shift this norm to help students adapt to a changed composition landscape.
Shipka hopes to improve upon the outdated monomodal composition system by helping her students "(1) demonstrate an enhanced awareness of the affordances provided by the variety of
media they employ in service of those goals; (2) successfully engineer ways of
contextualizing, structuring, and realizing the production, representation, distribution,
delivery, and reception of their work; and (3) become better equipped
to negotiate the range of communicative contexts they find themselves encountering
both in and outside of school" (284). These goals reflect the differences between her multimodal practices and the linear, alphabetic practices of the past.
In general, Shipka proposes these changes because she believes monomodal/traditional assignments limit students' creativity, predetermine their goals, and force them to use only one type of technology. She argues that multimodal projects are better because they are goal-oriented and flexible, so allow students to think rhetorically and make their own decisions about the direction of the project.
It's interesting to consider your thoughts on Shipka's arguments in light of our infographic assignment. I wonder how classrooms can find the balance between having an "intellectual free-for-all" and following Shipka's outlines for improving the outdated monomodal composition system (Shipka 285). Can a truly appropriate balance be implemented in the classroom?
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