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Multimodal literacy research
Faculty of Education
School of Education (NSW)
Digital and multi-media technology have changed the way we communicate so that reading and writing can often combine the simultaneous processing of text, images, sound and movement. For education for the 21st century, teachers need to understand “multimodal literacy”: the way literacy occurs with digital texts combined with paper-based texts. Associate Professor Maureen Walsh has been investigating this area since 2004, primarily supported by the Catholic Education Office Sydney.
As a result of this ongoing research in classrooms, teachers have developed new approaches to teaching with digital communications technology and new theories are developing around reading and writing on screen. Associate Professor Walsh and several teachers have presented findings at international and national conferences and several publications have reported on these findings.
Some recent publications:
- Walsh, M. (2009). Pedagogic Potentials of Multimodal Literacy. Chapter 3 (PDF, 1.2mb). In Tan Wee Hin, L & Subramanian, R. (Eds) Handbook of Research on New Media Literacy at the K-12 Level: Issues and Challenges. US: IGI Global, pp.32-47.
- Walsh, M. (2008). Worlds Have Collided And Modes Have Merged (PDF, 98kb): Classroom Evidence Of Changed Literacy Practices in Literacy, 42:2, 101-108.
Associate Professor Maureen Walsh
