Some information about my English Class:
A distinctive characteristic of Georgia Tech’s Writing and Communication Program is its focus on multimodal communication—what we call WOVEN communication. Therein lies a challenge: the multi- in multimodality is comprised of different modes that students need to analyze and practice. However, a risk occurs when we treat the modes as discrete: when we have a writing assignment, an oral assignment, a visual assignment, and perhaps even a nonverbal assignment as a way to meet the letter rather than the spirit of multimodality, our students might miss the synergy that characterizes most effective communication.
Excellent course design includes lessons that focus on each mode individually but equally emphasizes activities and assignments that showcase the ways in which modalities are integrated. Put another way, we understand multimodality as the synergy of written¬–oral–visual–nonverbal communication, whether in print or digital form, whether face to face or at a distance. Even when we have an activity or assignment that focuses on writing or orality or visual displays, we need to help our students understand how all the modes are at play even when they are not spotlighted. To help students to reflect on this synergy, WOVENText, the e-book for English 1101 and English 1102, has a custom chapter called “Multimodal Synergy.”
When we consider individual modes, we generally use an approach summarized in the following five subsections.
Written
Oral
Visual
Electronic
Nonverbal
