Tumblr, Multimodality, and Multiliteracies
In Ann E. Berthoff's "Is Teaching Still Possible?: Writing, Meaning, and Higher Order Reasoning," she argues that unless "learning is engaged, no meaning will be made, no knowledge can be won” (744). Because Tumblr operates as a multimodal blogging platform, it serves as a way to actively engage students in their own and other students' learning processes. Furthermore, the multimodality of Tumblr encourages students to develop several different types of literacies, which is a way to help them develop knowledge not only of the content but also of the technology behind it.
Below I have created a list of ways Tumblr can be integrated into an important facet of the learning that takes place in the composition classroom: the research process. I have divided these lists into multimodality and multiliteracies in order to point out particular affordances Tumblr offers student learning; however, as the learning takes place and the research process unfolds it becomes nearly impossible to actually separate these affordances from one another.
Multimodality, Tumblr, and the Research Process
Tumblr has many functions and affordances that promote working within multimodal contexts. Students do not have to utilize all of Tumblr's functions in order to benefit from a multimodal learning experience. Below I have highlighted the most relevant multimodal functions relevant on Tumblr:
Although Tumblr provides opportunities for students to develop each of Cargile Cook's multiliteracies, it is important to remember that these literacies, while separated below, are actually layered. Tumblr can help students acquire more than one literacy simultaneously, but not necessarily all of them. The idea is that students use Tumblr to advance their learning and to work their way through the research process. Below I have highlighted the literacies that are most relevant to Tumblr:
Below I have created a list of ways Tumblr can be integrated into an important facet of the learning that takes place in the composition classroom: the research process. I have divided these lists into multimodality and multiliteracies in order to point out particular affordances Tumblr offers student learning; however, as the learning takes place and the research process unfolds it becomes nearly impossible to actually separate these affordances from one another.
Multimodality, Tumblr, and the Research Process
Tumblr has many functions and affordances that promote working within multimodal contexts. Students do not have to utilize all of Tumblr's functions in order to benefit from a multimodal learning experience. Below I have highlighted the most relevant multimodal functions relevant on Tumblr:
- Blogging: provides students with agency over their research processes; serves as a research log/diary for students' projects
Hash tags: teach students to use search terms in more familiar ways; help students think critically about the focus of their searches and their posts - Links: show students how to be more ethical and responsible researchers; offer students new ways to consider citations
- Comments: engage students in evaluating and documenting the usefulness/relevance of their research; provide students space for dialogue about research findings
- Sharing and reblogging:helps students gather and compile more research than they could on their own; builds a sense of a community of researchers instead of just individual researchers working in solitary
Although Tumblr provides opportunities for students to develop each of Cargile Cook's multiliteracies, it is important to remember that these literacies, while separated below, are actually layered. Tumblr can help students acquire more than one literacy simultaneously, but not necessarily all of them. The idea is that students use Tumblr to advance their learning and to work their way through the research process. Below I have highlighted the literacies that are most relevant to Tumblr:
- Rhetorical: students consider audience, context, and message of their sources; students choose and post sources most relevant to their research and consider what sources would be relevant to others' research
- Social: students share sources by liking or reblogging others' posts; students see how others' conduct and use research to develop an understanding of a topic or an issue
- Technological: students learn to create and operate a blogging platform; students learn to search for and tag posts to use for further research
- Critical: students see the ways others use technology to present information or make an argument; students learn to approach blogging and social media as platforms for advocacy
These lists are by no means exhaustive of what Tumblr has to offer students in the composition classroom. It is important that students spend some time exploring Tumblr and that instructors be sure to incorporate Tumblr throughout the entire research and writing process; from brainstorming to finding and evaluating sources to incorporating sources into writing assignments, Tumblr can help show students the recursive nature of research and writing and encourage them to take an active role in their research and writing processes.