I had an admittedly hard time narrowing my focus for this project. I am working towards becoming a certified English instructor and not yet teaching in a classroom; I have, however, student-taught in undergrad and have also been tutoring since 2015. In taking this course, I have realized that the field of digital rhetoric is an incredibly expansive one, and I feel caught at the edge of it, hesitant to fully step in.

Mixed metaphors aside, I know that I want students to engage with and effectively utilize technology in my future classroom. I know I want to expand beyond the typical literary canon, a series of problematic little islands–isolated, white, and dissected to the point of mutilation. I know that I want students to not only observe, but to create, and to analyze a variety of texts in conversation. I want my classroom to be student-centered, not teacher-centered, and learning-centered, not text-centered. This felt like a good anchor when considering the assignment.

I first leaned towards a more traditional research paper for this project. After viewing Alexandra Hidalgo’s brilliant Cámara Retórica for class, however, I realized that the best way to advocate for digital rhetorics would be an attempt to create a piece of digital rhetoric. Using her video book as a general model, I considered the challenges I might face: I do not have a DSLR camera with a video function, I do not have access to a middle school classroom to actually film in, I have little actual film experience, and we are in a quarantine. People I know who have taught or are teaching are already so busy with developing their online instruction that I do not want to add more work for them by asking for an interview or other contributions. 

Initially a bit hesitant, I slowly considered how I would respond to a student with the same concerns–lack of technology, lack of mobility, lack of time. I would probably first tell them they absolutely didn’t need professional-grade technology. I would tell them they could use their cell phones or any other technology they own with video capability. Images are also fine. They could repurpose videos or images they have taken already and give them new meaning through text and narration. They could utilize media in the public domain and cite their resources. They could screencast on their computer and simply walk through the process of making the piece, a sort of meta-narrative. They could utilize a number of websites that allow for the recording of video or narration over preset presentation styles and images. (More on these options later.)

My point is that students are not professional directors or documentarians. Some will be more technologically literate than others. I am a graduate student, I have completed many years of education, and there are still middle schoolers who could probably make a more polished, attractive video book than me. Even so, this kind of learning experience feels perfect for an aspiring teacher. I have used what I have, what I already know, and what I found along the way to create a piece of digital rhetoric in the best way I can. 

You will see that I have employed many of the methods mentioned above in each part of my video book. Much of the actual video is from the archives of my current and past cell phones, carefully curated out of a library that was two-thirds dog videos. Other clips are courtesy of very kind friends and loved ones who have been acknowledged within the video. The other content is varied between screencasts, images, and cited video from others. Everything has been edited within iMovie. All of these things are readily available to most students on their phones or computers. 

I have chosen to focus on middle school instruction in particular to narrow my focus, to explain how even young students can utilize many of these tools, and to appeal for the use of these digital pedagogies for students in the midst of their chaotic, complicated identity formation. Middle school is a formative time that can be incredibly influential in a student’s high school experience and preparedness. Middle school students often seek opportunities for varying forms of expression and creativity, and need carefully structured educational support to learn how to become strong learners, creators, and global citizens. 

These things in mind, the intent of this video book is threefold: 

Part 1: The Standard American English Classroom – Examines the traditional structure of the middle school English classroom and how instruction is designed.

Part 2: An Explanation of Effective Digital Rhetoric Use – Explains the pedagogical implementations of digital rhetorics that expand the previously mentioned classroom model.

Part 3: Digital Rhetoric Obstacles – Acknowledges some of the possible obstacles and solutions within these pedagogies.

These are largely intended to be watched in order, as each builds upon the previous. However, viewers already familiar with particular aspects of these topics should be comfortable viewing in whatever order most interests them. While the first two parts focus on the why, the second two better detail the considerations and methodologies that actually go into digital rhetoric within a middle school classroom. 

Whatever the order and whatever your reason for watching it that way, I hope that you enjoy my first video book compilation. I beg you not to compare it too much to the wonderful pieces we’ve worked with for class (especially Hidalgo’s book). I also hope that even if you are not or do not intend on becoming an English educator, that you consider the implications and effects of such technology use within your own education or the education of your loved ones. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

1. Eyman, Douglas. Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice.  Part 2: Digital Rhetoric: Theory.
2. Hidalgo, Alexandra. Cámara Retórica: A Feminist Filmmaking Methodology for Rhetoric and Composition. 
3. Sharma, Ghanashyam. “The Third Eye: An Exhibit of LIteracy Narratives From Nepal.” Stories That Speak to Us: Narratives from the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives.  Eds. Ulmann, Lewis, Scott Lloyd DeWitt, and Cynthia Selfe. Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State, 2013. 
4. Klein, Lauren F. “The Social ePortfolio: Integrating Social Media and Models of Learning in Academic ePortfolios.” (2013). ePortfolio Performance Support Systems: Constructing, Presenting, and Assessing Portfolios. Katherine V. Wills & Rice, Rich, Eds. Perspectives on Writing. Fort Collins, Colorado: The WAC Clearinghouse and Parlor Press, 2013. https://wac.colostate.edu/books/eportfolios/chapter3.pdf 
5. Cabat, J. (2019, December 4). “That’s Why a Name Is Important. It Defines You”: Romeo and Juliet and The Hate U Give in Conversation [Web log post]. Retrieved April 27, 2020, from https://ncte.org/blog/2019/12/thats-name-important-defines-romeo-juliet-hate-u-give-conversation/
6. Bartels, J., Beach, R., Connors, S., Damico, N., Doerr-Stevens, C., Hicks, T., . . . Zucker, L. (2018, October 25). Beliefs for Integrating Technology into the English Language Arts Classroom. Retrieved April 26, 2020, from https://ncte.org/statement/beliefs-technology-preparation-english-teachers/
7. Williams, Joseph M. “The Phenomenology of Error.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 32, no. 2, May 1981, p. 152., doi:10.2307/356689.
8. Bee, JR. “Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences.” VeryWell Mind, July 2019, www.verywellmind.com/gardners-theory-of-multiple-intelligences-2795161.
9. Collier, V.P., & Thomas, W.P. (2004). The astounding effectiveness of dual language education for all. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2 (1), 1-20.