Responding and Assessing Multimodal Texts

In the reading about responding and assessing by Sonya C. Borton and Brian Huot, the authors spend a bit of time explaining the use of progress journals in assessing a student's work and continued achievement within multimodal projects.

They write, "A systematic record with dated entries of encounters and thoughts on individual students’ projects can help teachers make more succinct and helpful comments based on past encounters."  They go on to add, "Some teachers may also find it useful to assign students a progress journal in which they, too, can record their developing assessments of their own composing processes and products."

Projects that include the use of multimodal technologies and require a multimodal creation are often multiple step processes. The reading indicates, as I've noticed myself, that working with such tools can be complex and overwhelming for those without experience or even those who have experience and are excited to do such work. In my opinion, journaling on the part of the instructor and the student can keep both on track and avoid a tendency to lose focus during detailed work.

Forcing students to reflect upon their work, add to their work and open up the doors for questions along the way encourages critical thinking and a chance for better academic outcomes.


 Kent State University's website has a resource page dedicated to assessing multimodal student work.  It seems to be a simple breakdown of what educators need to keep in mind when reviewing a student's multimodal project. As an inexperienced instructor, I appreciate how this article advises teachers, in simple steps and language, on how to start, proceed and complete a final assessment for a multimodal text.  Very much like in the article by Borton and Huot, the Kent State resource encourages learning by reviewing similar works. The publishers wrote, "you might ask them (students) to evaluate a sample multimodal text and explain how it may have been created and how they would assess it given the assignment criteria."  Sometimes expectations for a student should come in the form of an example as opposed to just written instruction.  I think that's especially true if you are expecting a digital product - which may be new to students at least in the academic setting.

Assessments should provide students... 

with both formative (during the process of producing a multimodal text) and summative (following the completion of a multimodal text) reviews, feedback and suggestions.  

The benefits of using formative assessments include things like...

assisting students with the technical help they may need in the very beginning of a multimodal project.  But, it also means helping students plan a project based on curriculum and academic expectations and setting them up to follow through successfully on their plans.  Ultimately, students are set up to perform with few lingering questions.

Collaborating with students on assessment criteria...

is not a bad idea at all. In fact, I think students better understand expectations when they have a hand in setting those guidelines. Sometimes it is difficult to understand the purpose of a final product until you see the steps you're expected to complete along the way. I believe it is much easier to assess one's work when you know you clearly laid out a plan and discussed it with him/her along the way. It leaves little room for misunderstanding, reworking projects and having to re-explain a goal when classroom time already seems so limited.

Rubric for Multimodal Learning Adventure: Writing a Movie (already provided)

Rubric for Multimodal Learning Adventure: Writing a Movie (created with rubistar)