English Language and Literature Commons^™

Multimodal Composition And Digital Technology: Investigating The Out-Of-Class Experiences Of Students In A First-Year Composition Class, Jennifer Morgan Sims

English Language and Literature ETDs

This study explores how first-year students in a multimodal composition class use digital technology outside of class to complete their projects. The tendency in Composition studies to characterize students as “self-teaching” users of technology may obscure complex out-of-class experiences, so this study analyzes data from project reflections of 19 first-year students completing digital multimodal compositions to gain insight into their practices. Qualitative analysis reveals that the technical problems students encountered tended to be frequent and repetitive, and some problems were exacerbated by conflicts between the assignment requirements and the capacity of the technology required. Students tended to use trial-and-error methods …