Tag Archive for online

“Multimodality as a Frame for Individual and Institutional Change”

citation
Arola, Kristin; Sheppard, Jennifer, & Ball, Cheryl E. (2014, Jan. 10). Multimodality as a frame for individual and institutional change. Hybrid Pedagogy. Retrieved from http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/multimodality-frame-individual-institutional-change/

abstract
This article provides some historical, institutional, and theoretical context for a multimodal pedagogy, as taught by the three authors in three different universities, which forms the basis for their guidebook, Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making Multimodal Projects.

"visualizing composition"

Ball, Cheryl E., & Arola, Kristin L. (2010). visualizing composition (2nd ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press. http://ix.bedfordstmartins.com [password required]

description [the ‘cover’ blurb]

ix visualizing composition is a concrete introduction to the fundamentals of multimodal composition. Each tutorial moves through the following three steps:

  1. Define. Illustrated definitions help you visualize principles of layout, design and composition: element, contrast, purpose, text, framing, audience, alignment, context, emphasis, color, proximity, organization, and sequence.
  2. Analyze. Guided readings of real-world texts—such as photographs, movie clips, comics, and animation—model how writers of different texts put theory into practice.
  3. Respond. Interactive assignments invite you to make your own rhetorical choices—determining font face or color, image hue, and the placement and organizational of visual and textual elements—and to write about the impact those choices have.

Note: This is the second edition of ix, the CD-ROM Arola and I co-authored in 2004. In this version, 9 of 13 tutorials (broken down by terms associated with rhetorical design choices) have been completely revised, with new and more multimodal examples and analyses.

"Talking Back to Teachers: Undergraduate Research in Multimodal Composition"

citation
Ball, Cheryl E., et al. (in progress). Talking back to teachers: Undergraduate research in multimodal composition. In Debra Journet, Cheryl E. Ball, and Ryan Trauman (Eds.) The new work of composing. Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State University Press.

abstract
This chapter is composed of 14 voices—12 undergraduates, 1 graduate student, and 1 faculty member (Cheryl E. Ball, contact author) from a multimodal composition class at Illinois State University. In a three-part chapter, we speak to the perceptions of undergraduate students’ technology use presented by scholarship, attendees at the Watson conference, and on our campus. The first section, presented as a video, reflects on conference attendees’ discussions of students who weren’t representative of the majority audience (professors and graduate students) at the conference. The second section, also presented as a video, asks how pedagogy needs to change to accommodate an increase in digital technology and what kind of cooperation is necessary between students and their teachers so both parties can effectively communicate to and learn from each other. The third section, presented as a MySpace page, argues that educators should incorporate social networks into their pedagogies because they offer a different way of composing. The sections will be presented together on the class blog, https://ceball.com/classes/239, where the index page will become a static Introduction to the chapter and each section will be presented as a page off the index. The benefit of hosting the site (for now) on the 239 class blog is so that readers can explore behind the scenes of our learning experience as we produced digital scholarship this semester.

status

  • 12/08: proposal accepted for the collection
  • 07/09: student projects revised
  • 10/09: collection accepted by press
  • 11/09: final chapter draft being readied for editors

accompanying materials

see also

"Multimodal Composition Practices: Overviews and Impacts on Tenure & Promotion"

citation
Ball, Cheryl E. (2006, July). Multimodal composition practices: Overviews and impacts on tenure & promotion. Virtual Reality & Real Life (VR@RL) Conference [Online].

abstract
In this online asynchronous session, I presented results and discussion from the CCCC Survey on multimodal practices, with particular emphasis on the section about tenure and promotion issues for scholars working in digital media.

accompanying materials

"What Defines Computers and Writing as a Discipline?"

citation
Selfe, Cynthia; Kemp, Fred; Inman, James, & Ball, Cheryl E. (2006, February 18). What defines computers and writing as a discipline? Computers & Writing Online Conference.

abstract
In a roundtable keynote, presented in a synchronous MOO (multi-user, object-oriented chat/game platform), the four presenters address multi-layered questions: Is Computers & Writing truly a discipline? What distinguishes it from the related disciplines of Composition & Rhetoric or Technical Communication? What is the research and theory that inform its teaching and practice? The panelists take questions from the audience as well.

accompanying materials

"Visiting Scholars in Digital Media: Cheryl Ball"

citation
McCorkle, Ben [Producer]. (2007, June 5). Visiting scholars in digital media: Cheryl Ball [Video]. Ohio State University. http://tinyurl.com/dmac-interview-ball

abstract

Short interview (12:29) with Cheryl Ball (Illinois State University), part of the ongoing series featuring Visiting Scholars in Digital Media and Composition at the OSU Department of English. Outline: I. On a digital tenure portfolio. II. Defining the terms in digital writing studies. III. Explaining this work to students. IV. Why I attend the DMAC institute. V. Advice for new multimedia teacher-scholars.

accompanying materials

"Digital Media and Digital Scholarship"

citation
by Doug Dangler. (2008, February). Digital media and digital scholarship [Podcast]. Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing: Ohio State University.
http://cstw.osu.edu/podcasts/mp3/ball.mp3

description
A 60-minute audio podcast interview by Doug Dangler (Associate Director for the Center of the Study of Teaching and Writing at OSU) about my work with digital media scholarship.

accompanying materials

Quoted in "On Texts, Tech, and Teens"

citation
Guess, Andy. (2008, April 25). On texts, tech, and teens. Inside Higher Ed.
http://insidehighered.com/news/2008/04/25/teens

description

Screenshot from Inside Higher Education article where I am quoted

Screenshot from Inside Higher Education article where I am quoted

Interviewed for a news article about the Pew Internet and American Life report on “Writing, Technology, and Teens,” which includes statistics of student/teen use of social networking and texting as part of their writing lives.

accompanying materials

"What is Multimodal Composition?"

citation
Interviewed by Fred Kemp & Rich Rice. (2008, September 5). What is multimodal composition? [Podcast]. Smarttcast. http://www.smarttcast.com/cheryl_ball.m4a

description
This 60-minute audio interview, hosted by Drs. Fred Kemp and Rich Rice of Texas Tech University, contains a Q&A about multimodal composition.

accompanying materials

Quoted in "Writing 101: Visual or verbal?"

citation
Lupton, Ellen. (2009, January 13). Writing 101: Visual or verbal? Voice: AIGA Journal of Design. http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/writing-101-visual-or-verbal

description
Interviewed by renowned graphic designer and teacher, Ellen Lupton, on the role of design in first-year writing classes. Voice is the online newsletter of the professional association for design.

accompanying materials