Meaningfully Different

Meaningfully Different

It was Wednesday, Regina's favorite day, but she was NOT having a good day. AT ALL. She woke up late and missed the bus. Her father offered to drop her off at school before he went to work, but they had to stop for gas. By the time they reached school, the bell had already rung. Regina missed Homeroom entirely and was already late for her first class, English.

When Regina entered her English classroom, Ms. McGonagall had already started class. On the board, her teacher had written two words that Regina dreaded the most: GROUP PROJECT. Regina did not like group projects; she preferred to work alone. Each group was assigned a specific story element. They were supposed to present a detailed analysis of the element in relation to the novel they were reading in class. Regina already knew that she would end up doing most of the work--she was a good writer, after all.

As if working in a group was not bad enough, Ms. McGonagall announced, rather smugly (or at least that's what Regina imagined), "By the way, I have already pre-assigned your groups." Regina groaned. She buried her face in her hands and hoped--no, PRAYED--that she would at least be grouped with her friends Gretchen and Karen. "And for Group Three, Character Analysis, we have Regina George, Luna Lovegood, and Peter Parker."

Regina groaned, louder this time. Ms. McGonagall gave her a stern Look and Regina whispered, "Sorry." Who could blame her? Luna was the quiet girl who hardly spoke in class. She seemed to not have any friends. She was always hunched over a sketchbook. And then there was Peter, who always shared his opinions, even without being asked. He was incessantly wired to his laptop, phone, and other gadgets.

Regina squared her shoulders and approached Luna and Peter, who were already in one corner of the classroom. "Okay, let's decide who will write the different parts of the report," she announced. "But, Regina," said Peter, "Ms. McGonagall said that this is a multimodal assignment. We could use more than one mode to express our understanding." (Oldakowski, 2014; Walsh, 2020) “What does that mean?” asked Regina.

"We can be creative!" exclaimed Peter, spreading out his arms. "We could present our character analysis using a digital application, like Powtoon." "We could also use some of my drawings," offered Luna shyly. Regina arched an eyebrow. '''Does't multimodal mean using different digital tools and applications?" "On the contrary," said Peter, "multimodal means using different modes--including non-digital formats like Luna's drawings. It's a common misconception." (Oldakowski, 2014)

Regina leaned back and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Won’t using all these different modes be distracting? I mean, you could end up focusing on the appearance of the pictures and the technology and all that, while the content gets compromised.” (Kim & Belcher, 2020) It was then that Luna piped up, “I think, because we will become autonomous learners, it will not decrease our attention towards the language and literacy tasks we need to accomplish." (Kim & Belcher, 2020)

"Wow, that's the most I've heard you say in, like, ever." Regina leaned forward and gave Luna a small smile. Luna smiled back. "So it's settled, then?" asked Peter. "We'll make a Powtoon video using some of Luna's drawings. And . . . what will you do, Regina?" Regina huffed. "I will write, of course. I still believe that traditional essay writing would produce better quality. Ms. McGonagall fosters the 'logic of writing,' after all." (Walsh, 2006)

Ms. McGonagall, who couldn't help but overhear their conversation, came over. "I used to think that way. But modern life experiences, YOUR life experiences, are grounded in the 'logic of the image' and the 'logic of the screen.' (Walsh, 2006) That is why I have embraced multimodality and encourage my students to express themselves in different ways." "See, Regina? Ms. McGonagall is actually cool!" Peter grinned. "I have always been cool." Ms. McGonagall winked at them, then approached another group.

Regina squared her shoulders and approached Luna and Peter, who were already in one corner of the classroom. "Okay, let's decide who will write the different parts of the book," she announced. "But, Regina," said Peter, "Ms. McGonagall said that this is a multimodal assignment. We could use more than one mode to express our understanding." (Oldakowski, 2014; Walsh, 2020) “What does that mean?” asked Regina.

After school for the rest of the week, Regina, Luna, and Peter worked on their project in each other's houses. Over lumpia, adobo, and unlimited rice during dinner in Luna's house, Regina found out that Luna was quite the chatterbox. She good-naturedly teased her two younger siblings, and her parents and lola (grandmother) had nothing but praise for her artwork. Peter, on the other hand, lived with his Aunt May while his parents worked abroad. Peter kept in touch with them constantly through video calls and messages.

Regina got to know her classates better--not only through the modes they used to express themselves, but also on a deeper, more personal level. Each group member worked on their respective content. A few days before their presentation, Regina went over Luna's and Peter's work, preparing to do major rewrites. To her surprise, she hardly had to change anything--Luna and Peter wrote very well. It seemed like letting them use their choice of mode empowered them to keep on revising until they produced good quality output. (Kim & Belcher, 2020)

Presentation day arrived, and Regina was nervous. She was worried that Ms. McGonagall and their other classmates might not like their presentation. Would they be able to follow the moving images on the screen while listening to the voiceover at the same time? Would they, through transmediation, be able to switch from listening and viewing to reading the printed text on some slides? (Oldakowski, 2014) Would Luna's drawings evoke their group's intended message, or would their classmates interpret the images in a different way?

Perhaps she should have insisted on a traditional, linguistic mode of presentation. She had their whole report printed out anyway. They could just take turns reading aloud. "Group Three, you're up next," announced Ms. McGonagall. Too late. "Here we go," whispered Luna, as they stood up in front and faced their classmates. Peter was busy setting up their presentation. Regina gulped. Peter pressed PLAY.

Regina chewed on her lip as she surveyed her classmates' and teacher's reactions to their Powtoon video. Luna's creative visualizations of the characters, integrated with their well-written content and accompanied by their voiceovers, seemed to enthrall and engage their audience. Peter's technical expertise ensured that the transitions were smooth, that the visuals matched the text, and that the background music he chose evoked certain emotions. The video ended. Ms. McGonagall turned to the class. "Well, what can you say about their video?"

"I was able to understand the characters better," answered Gretchen. "The way that Luna interpreted the antagonist in her drawing let me see him in a different light." "The background music was quite melancholy, and it made me really reflect on the text on the screen and what was being narrated," said Ron. "I thought the music was actually quite hopeful-sounding," countered Draco. "It made me realize that the antagonist is not really evil--he is just misunderstood."

Ms. McGonagall smiled. "It seems like you were able to integrate information from the different modes that Regina, Luna, and Peter used. That is why I encouraged multimodality--so that you will be able to 'read' different texts." (Walsh, 2006) MJ raised her hand. "I was able to understand the characters from their group's perspective." (Oldakowski, 2014) "I never would have seen a different side of the antagonist if it weren't for this. While I was reading the book, I just labeled him as evil. Now, I think that he may just be misunderstood."

Ms. McGonagall turned to Regina, Luna, and Peter. "Well done. You understood the affordances of the different modes you chose, and you knew how to use them in meaningful and effective ways." (Walsh, 2006) She added, "How did you find this multimodal group project?" "It made me think both differently and deeper," replied Peter. "To be honest, I found the book boring, but using audio and video made me realize that it is actually an interesting story." (Oldakowski, 2014)

"I was able to express my thoughts about the characters through drawings, which was something I was excited about," answered Luna. "I'm not so good with words, but I'm a visual learner and I think a lot of you are too. I actually felt confident." "I am glad that you were engaged and that you felt a sense of agency," said Ms. McGonagall. "That is why I gave you choices of how to represent the information." (Oldakowski, 2014)

Regina stepped forward. "I used to think that there was only one choice--that the traditional, linguistic way was better. This assignment made me realize that one way isn't better than the others." "It's about purposefully choosing which way would help you become more engaged and focused," continued Luna. "It's also about being intentional in choosing which way would help you get your message across to your audience," added Peter. (Walsh, 2006)

Regina turned to each of her groupmates and smiled. "Working in a group also made me realize that each mode has something different to offer. When the modes are synchronized and integrated, they are able to communicate meaning." (Walsh, 2006) "Just like us?" Peter grinned. "Just like us," agreed Regina. "We worked together, not separately. Our meaningful differences make us stronger together."

The group assignment made Regina realize that there wasn't only one way of doing things, and that her way wasn't always better. She learned that doing things differently gave you a deeper meaning--and sometimes made you see things that you never noticed before. Most importantly, she learned it should not be about putting your differences aside. It is about uniting those meaningful differences and creating something significant, lasting, and unbreakable. Just like the new, meaningful, and unbreakable bond she formed with her new friends.

References: Kim, Y., & Belcher, D. (2020). Multimodal composing and traditional essays: Linguistic performance and learner perceptions. RELC Journal, 51(1), 86–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688220906943 Oldakowski, T. (2014). A multimodal assignment that enriches literacy learning. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 9, 70–77. Walsh, M. (2006). The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 29(1), 24–37.