I recently attended a workshop taught by John Logie of the University of Minnesota. Professor Logie shared with us experiences with implementing multimodal learning assignments into his upper level undergraduate courses. We began by exploring three tools that can help instructors wade into this territory: Prezi, Padlet and PechaKucha.
The main takeaway from Professor Logie’s remarks was that instructors don’t have to think about multimodal assignments as being in opposition to linear writing. By considering the possibility of these kinds of assignments we can meet digital natives in spaces where they feel most comfortable. He asked us to consider several questions:
1. Will your students be open to multimodal assignments? Be prepared for them? Why/why not?
2. What practical limitation do you or your students face with respect to pursuing multimodal assignments?
3. Given these potential limiting factors, identify an existing assignment that could serve as a basis for a remediation assignment and begin sketching how it might work in the classroom.
The other participants in this workshop enriched my overall experience. I sat with the Head of our library’s Reference Department, as well as three graduate students who teach in the University’s writing program, and the Director for the Center for Teaching and Excellence on campus. Our perspectives were diverse and it was fascinating to discuss with instructors how we as archivists or librarians could support their exploration into creating multimodal assignments.
One of the graduate students I sat with brings her class to my department each semester and we work with the students to start them thinking about how to use manuscripts when writing research papers. Her topic is great- the history of alcohol and food in American history. Instead of having students write a response paper about their experience in our Special Collections Department, the instructor and I are now considering ways to alter the assignment to experiment with one of the tools Professor Logie suggested.
If you have suggestions for how archivists and librarians might facilitate this kind of assignment re-tooling, please share!