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based upon Selfe and Selfe’s (2008) discussion of using PSAs for arguments. Students discussed the different modes used in these PSAs. For instance, some of the PSAs were print based, combining words and images whereas other PSAs were videos, combining gestures, words, images, and sounds. The third step of the research process was for students to research and choose their own topic for a PSA. Students researched human rights, local social issues, and youth websites for social issues to answer the following questions: (1) Is this topic personally interesting to you? (2) Will you be able to find enough information—including text, video, images, etc.—on this topic? (3) How will you take a stance on this topic? and (4) Is this topic appropriate for your audience? Tool. During this process of research in pre-writing, the students used Evernote (evernote.com) to collect information about PSAs and their topic. Evernote is a free web-based application that works on computers and mobile devices. This application allows students to collect and comment upon information, similar to note taking, and stores this information on their account. This information is synced between devices and can be housed in notebooks made by the student. We chose Evernote because it is a free application and a multimodal tool; students can clip images, save whole web pages, type commentary, and record their own voice. Affordances of the tool include that any note taken in the application is easily shared with others by the click of a share button in which the student sends their note to another student’s email address. The advantage of this sharing mechanism was that students could work in groups and easily share ideas with one another. A disadvantage of using Evernote included ensuring students remembered how to log onto their student accounts, and recent updates to the free account version of this software limits downloading and syncing notes between two devices per student account. Brainstorm with Glogster EDU Writing process. After students had chosen a topic and gathered evidence regarding that topic, they began the process of brainstorming an initial draft of their arguments. Students were still collecting information at this point, so this exercise catalyzed their thinking of how the parts of argument may work together and what modes might best convey these elements. We wanted this brainstorming to represent the design process of multiliteracies rather than a formulaic, linear process of writing to which students may be accustomed, according to research documenting the writing commonplace in schools (Applebee and Langer, 2013). Students gathered pieces of their argument—pictures, text, songs, and video—that may help them move toward the design and content of their argument. We asked that they think of the Glogster EDU online poster as a highly visual summary of their argument that included parts of the argument, such as claims, evidence, and warrants. To discuss a model for students’ writing, we looked together at a poster PSA by the American Heart Association regarding those affected by stroke (“There are,” 2014). We discussed as a class the modes used in the PSA-visuals, placement, color, and text. We also discussed the parts of argument presented in the poster, where they were positioned, and why they may have been presented this way. In addition to discussing design and concepts of argument, we also used this point of the writing process to

culture that may not prioritize including multimodal lessons that are a central component of the multiliteracies perspective (Siegel, 2012). Instead, students are doing less designing, called for in the multiliteracies framework. Applebee and Langer (2013) found in a study of 20 middle and high schools in five states that only 19% of assignments represent writing of a paragraph or more. This limited writing was in response to tasks created for them-students were filling in blanks or copying notes. When students are using technology for their writing assignments, it is typically used to produce a “good copy” of their compositions, rather than as a part of the composing process (Peterson & McClay, 2012, p. 145). Need for Multimodal Arguments I define multimodal arguments as employing the modes established in the perspective of multiliteracies to make and support an argument. Of the modes the NLG (1996) discussed, the visual mode has gained prominence in the literature on the changing nature of literacy and argument. Kress (2003) emphasized the importance of the visual mode by explaining writing may be moving from recent emphasis on the “alphabetic” back to “its image origins” (p. 73). Specific to argument, researchers emphasize the need for students to realize and implement images for argumentative purposes (Birdsell & Groarke, 2004; Newell, Beach, Smith, & VanDerHeide, 2011). This broadening conception of argument may be essential for argumentative theory to integrate the visual nature of our lives, which is intrinsic to digital technologies (Andrews, 1997; Birdsell & Groarke, 2004; Hocks, 2003; Howard, 2010, 2011). To provide teachers practical applications of the concept of multiliteracies, I discuss the following digital tools that were integrated throughout the composing process to help high-school students construct multimodal arguments. The final project of these multimodal arguments was a PSA of each student’s chosen cause. Thus, I hope that these tools will not only allow teachers to integrate multiliteracies in the classroom, but also help them challenge students to use the digital practices they may be familiar with outside of the classroom in an academic setting for an authentic social purpose (Bennett, Maton, & Kervin, 2008). Pre-write with Evernote Writing process. Hillocks (2010) argued that good argument writing begins not with writing a thesis statement, but with examining data that will eventually be used as evidence to support a claim. To choose and research their topics, students began this multimodal argument project with five class periods of research. First, they learned the terms of argument based upon Toulmin’s model (Smith, Wilhelm, & Fredricksen, 2012; Toulmin, 1958/2003). Then, students analyzed other PSAs both for their use of argument and design. One of the principles of a multiliteracies pedagogy is “overt instruction” in which students are taught design principles of multiple modes (NLG, 1996, p. 65). Accordingly, we spent time reviewing different PSAs on multiple websites including the Ad Council (“Our Campaigns,” 2014), the American Heart Association (“Public Service,” 2014), and The More You Know (2014) website. Students were asked to review these sites for the content of their argument and for the modes employed to present this content using questions

Reading Matters Technology Matters

Reading Matters | Volume 16 • Winter 2016 | scira.org | 61 |

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