Humanities Summer Program Spotlight:

Digital Media and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century

Elizabeth Daley, executive director of the Annenberg Center for Communication at the University of Southern California, has argued that "those who are truly literate in the twenty-first century will be those who learn to both read and write the multimedia language of the screen" (Educause Review March/April 2003: 34). In response to the need for teachers of college composition to assess the changing relationships between the literacies of page and screen, The Ohio State University's Department of English and its Digital Media Project recently hosted a two-week institute, led by Professors Cynthia L. Selfe and Scott Lloyd DeWitt (Department of English), on the effective use of digital media in college composition classrooms.

Participants in the Digital Media and Composition (DMAC) workshop, hailing from colleges and universities as far away as Alaska and as near as northwest Ohio, explored a range of contemporary digital media—e.g., audio, video, text, animation, and still images—along with the multimodal literacy practices associated with them (i.e., composing and interpreting communications that comprise multiple media). They then applied what they learned to the design of meaningful assignments, syllabi, curricula, and instructional programs.

Among other activities, participants

• designed, created and used web texts, online portfolios, video projects, audio essays, and other digital compositions;
• experimented with different genres of digital representation (e.g., documentary, literacy autobiography, interview) and primary resources (e.g., letters, photographs, maps, sound recordings); and
• discussed the complex issues of access, equity, copyright, assessing multimodal compositions, and the accessibility of different electronic media to people with various disabilities.

Whatever their aspirations, current college students are likely to find that full literacy in the workplaces and communities of the twenty-first century will require the ability to compose and critically interpret communications in multiple media. The goal of DMAC, which will be offered annually, is to suggest and encourage innovative approaches to composing that students and faculty can use as they employ digital media in support of their own educational and professional goals, in light of the specific context at their home institutions and within their varied personal experiences. One participant's evaluation of DMAC expresses that goal eloquently: "I felt completely energized to go home and make this happen!"

For more information, visit the DMAC Web site.