Teaching visual texts with multimodal analysis software

Lim Fei, V., O'Halloran, K. L., Tan, S., & E, M. K. L. (2015). Teaching visual texts with the multimodal analysis software. Educational Technology Research & Development, 63(6), 915-935. doi:10.1007/s11423-015-9395-4

Background

The authors emphasized the importance of equipping students with a set of specialised vocabulary related to specific choices in multimodal texts. This would empower students to support their interpretations of different texts.

Aims

The study investigated the extent to which the systemic approach and the explicit teaching of a meta-language to help students analyse and interpret multimodal texts may be supported by multimodal analysis software, in this case for the study of print advertisements.

Sample

The study involved one teacher from one school who conducted two lessons for one class of pre-University students, and one teacher from a second school who conducted two lessons to two classes (high-ability and mid-ability) of Secondary 1 students.

Method

The data included lesson observations, interviews with teachers and students, and user-experience surveys. A two-hour professional development session was conducted to communicate the value of multimodal literacy, introduce the systemic approach to multimodal literacy, and familiarise the teachers with the multimodal analysis software.

Findings

The students were observed to adapt easily to the affordances of the multimodal analysis software after the introductory lesson. They were also observed to be engaged in using the software to annotate the specific choices in the texts systematically and analyse the print advertisement. The students reported learning from the lessons and applying media literacy to other subjects and beyond the classroom. During the interviews, the older pre-University students and the high-ability Secondary 1 students were able to discuss the learning outcomes from the lessons and make accurate references to the technical terms learnt. The mid-ability Secondary 1 students were positive about their learning and embraced the production of visual texts using the software. The evaluation surveys indicated that the teachers were positive about the functional affordances of the software and how it facilitated systematic approaches to teaching and self-directed learning. However, they were concerned about the time they needed to learn how to use the software and were also uncertain if the software could be used in texts with more language than images.

Implications

The authors suggested that it would be necessary to enhance the professional development session for teachers to focus more on the systemic approach to teaching visual texts, rather than on the technical functionalities of the software. They also recommended that lesson packages be developed specific to the abilities and levels of the students.

Original article retrieved from EBSCOHost.