Making Text Come to Life
on the Computer: Toward an Understanding of Hypermedia
Literacy
|
This article aims to promote
understanding of hypermedia literacy by
investigating some of its genres, sign systems, and cueing
systems. Increased knowledge of this complex literacy
will help educators plan curriculum and evaluate student
progress. The analysis is based on a microethnographic study
that investigated hypermedia composition in a seventh-grade
language arts classroom, extending findings from an earlier
exploratory study of 12- and 13-year-old students who designed a
school website.
It is suggested that hypermedia
literacy requires the ability to orchestrate and
transmediate among oral, print, visual, computer, and
hypertext literacies. While creating an
online magazine, the students in this study gained familiarity
with webzine and hypertext fiction genres while
also advancing their knowledge of the roles that elements such
as text, graphics, photography, and icons play in the hypermedia
environment.
Note: Case studies and data analysis
procedures are offered as supplements to the main article. In
addition, the article features numerous graphics and audio
clips. A border around a graphic indicates that it is a
"clickable" image, with a hypertext link; the
small "sound button" icon can also be clicked, with the result
that an audio clip will download and play to browsers equipped
with a media player plug-in (e.g., QuickTime or RealPlayer).
Discussion surrounding the potential
impact of computers on literacy and learning
often centers on the question of whether hypermedia technologies
constitute a paradigmatic revolution in our way of thinking
about the forms and functions of literacy.
Notable literacy educators such as Emilia
Ferreiro, Margaret Meek, and William Teale have suggested that
we situate computer-based literacy within a historical context,
placing electronic texts alongside such monumental inventions as
the ancient papyrus roll, the medieval codex, and the printed
book. As Teale (1997) writes, "I think that computer-related
technologies have the potential to affect human thinking and
communication as much as the technology of written language has"
(p. 81).
Many educators are beginning to
believe that electronic text is not simply a lesser cousin of
printed text but a distinct language form governed by its own
freedoms and constraints (Bolter, 1991; Eagleton, 1999a, online
document; McNabb, 1997, online abstract; Reinking, 1998; Snyder,
1998). As Kozma (1991) suggests, "media can be defined by its
technology, symbol systems, and processing capabilities" (p.
180). Hypermedia, with its flexible use of text, image, audio,
video, animation, and virtual reality, represents a unique new
form of human discourse.
According to Bolter (1991), each new
writing technology brings us a fresh physical and conceptual
"writing space" that "fosters a particular understanding both of
the act of writing and of the product, the written text" (p.
11). These different writing spaces promote different styles and
genres of writing and different theories of literacy.
Today, hypermedia writers are still in the process of
discovering what these new story structures and genres may
become; "clearly, the literacy of yesterday is
not the literacy of today and it will not be the
literacy of tomorrow" (Leu, 2000, p. 744).
Hypermedia, like other forms of
representation, encompasses many genres that address diverse
human needs through narrative, expository, and communicative
formats (Table 1).
The purpose of this article is to
promote a deeper understanding of hypermedia literacy
by investigating some of its genres, sign systems, and cueing
systems. Increased knowledge of this new, complex
literacy will help educators plan curriculum and
evaluate student progress.
This analysis, which extends the
findings of an earlier exploration of students' design of a
school website (Eagleton, 1999a), is based on a
microethnographic study that investigated hypermedia composition
in a seventh-grade language arts classroom. The 12- and
13-year-old students were enrolled in an urban/suburban U.S.
school with a population of approximately 1,000 seventh- and
eighth-graders, predominantly Caucasian and Hispanic. In the
current project (Eagleton, 1999b; Eagleton & Hamilton, 2001a,
online document; 2001b, online document), hypermedia composition
consisted of a student-run online magazine (a "webzine"), dubbed
an "e-zeen" by the students, available online at
http://earthvision.asu.edu/~maya/e-zeen. The e-zeen includes
six departments: People, Writing, Sports, Inner Self, Issues,
and Editors (see Figure 1).
During the course of a semester, seven
students who acted as volunteer editors spent 45 minutes every
other day working on the e-zeen project with guidance from their
regular classroom teacher and myself, a visiting
teacher-researcher. The editors assigned themselves the
pseudonyms Crash, Rissa, Cory, Alan, Spencer, Jean, and
Larissalynn; six were achieving at an average level and one
(Larissalynn) was a student in a compensatory education program.
Four case studies are presented as a supplement to this article
in order to provide additional insight into the meanings these
learners brought to the hypermedia composition process.
Primary data sources included
audiotaped semistructured interviews with the e-zeen editors and
the language arts teacher, observational and anecdotal
fieldnotes, daily videotapes of the editors at work, daily
researcher and student reflection logs, the student-designed
webzine, whole-class student surveys and writing samples, and
the teacher's lesson handouts. All of the data were coded and
analyzed using Glaser and Straus's constant comparative method
(Maykut & Morehouse, 1994). Categories and thematic connections
were derived from the data using a spiraling reduction process
(Creswell, 1998; LeCompte & Preissle, 1993; Miles & Huberman,
1994). Every germane unit of data, defined as a participant
quotation, a transcribed unit, or a unified portion of an
artifact, was coded with a keyword and sorted and resorted into
categories. Saturation was defined as the point at which each
relevant data bit had been successfully grouped into one or more
thematic categories. (Click for a more detailed description of
the data analysis procedures.)
Two hypermedia genres were utilized in
this project: webzines and hypertext fiction.
The webzine is an electronic adaptation of the magazine. Both
can cover a range of topics (e.g., sports, beauty, literature,
news) and often feature short articles by various authors,
photographs with captions, drawings, and advertisements.
However, there are important distinctions between magazines and
webzines, many of which seventh-grader Crash identified when
explaining the appeal of a webzine:
(339K)
[I like webzines because of] the hypertext, and how you just make
it come to life on the computer. Because you have graphics that
can move, which is very appealing to me. And, um, also, there's,
like, so much technology in the computer that you can, if...in
the more technological writing, there's...you can listen to it.
Instead of having to read it. And you can make it different
colors. I'm sure you could do that, like, on a piece of paper,
but it's just more appealing to the eye on a computer.
Because of unique features such as
animation and sound and the fact that they can be updated
frequently and inexpensively, webzines can be considered a genre
distinct from magazines or other media.
The other genre that the students
experimented with in the project was hypertext
fiction. Hypertext fiction is distinct from
print-based fiction in that the reader can determine her or his
own progress through the story using linear or nonlinear
hyperlinks. Inspired by a hypertext story
published by a third grader on a California school website,
several of the e-zeen editors chose to design their own
hypertext stories for the e-zeen. Rissa explained that
she wanted "to make it a visual kind of story to where you click
on buttons to go to the next page." She noted that, in digital
environments, the role of the reader is more active than in
print media:
(133K)
I think a hypertext story, it gets you into, it makes you move
around more, to where you're not just sitting there and reading
a story and getting bored. You're pushing buttons.
If a feature as seemingly unremarkable
as having the reader click instead of turning a page while
reading a story can be so motivating to student writers, it is
exciting to imagine the possibilities that lie waiting to be
discovered in the relatively unexplored, dynamic landscape of
hypermedia fiction.
If one accepts the premise that
literacy is "the ability to encode or decode meaning
in any of the forms of representation used in the culture to
convey or express meaning" (Eisner, 1994, p. x), then being
"literate" is being able to express oneself and interpret other
people's expressions in a particular semiotic system. It
requires understanding the elements of each sign system and
flexibly applying this understanding in a variety of situations,
using a variety of tools within a variety of genres.
Every language form has both a
productive and a receptive aspect (Table 2). Being fluent in a
language form means mastering the elements and genres commonly
found in that form of representation, and being in control of
either or both the productive and the receptive aspects of the
semiotic system. Fluent speakers are able to express themselves
coherently in a variety of situations; fluent readers can
comprehend almost any kind of written text. Of course, every
language form contains genres that elude comprehension if the
reader lacks background knowledge; a fluent reader, for example,
may not understand complex medical texts or legal documents.
In order for students to become fluent
hypermedia composers, they need to have facility with and be
able to orchestrate at least five forms of representation: oral,
print, visual, computer, and hypertext. If
students' hypermedia projects include audio or video elements,
then they will also need some fluency with music and various
forms of visual and media literacy.
Collaborative hypermedia design
projects demand that students communicate orally with one
another and with the teacher; in the project described here,
students also communicated with adults they interviewed and with
other students in their class. All of the e-zeen editors felt
that they used their speaking and listening skills while working
in a collaborative group. Alan said, "[I] listened to what other
people would say, and I listened to what they would do, then I'd
help — instead of just do it all myself." Crash said, "Since I
had pretty much no clue how to make a website, I had to listen
more to learn how to do everything, or else it would've just
been a mess." Larissalynn remarked, "You had to listen to
directions 'cause you don't want to mess up." Rissa commented
that when the topic is something interesting like computers, "I
listen more than I usually do." She also thought that the
project helped her speaking skills because she had spent a lot
of time "asking people if they wanted a story on, or
interviewing people." Larissalynn mentioned that she tried to
use "proper grammar so people will know what you're saying."
The students made numerous references
in their reflection logs to collaboration and sharing ideas.
Cory said that he liked being a part of the project because "you
get to work with other people and it helps your...'working with
others' skills." Larissalynn, who rarely talks during whole
class discussions, felt that being in a small group had a
positive effect on her ability to communicate: "It helped my
talking and communicating. I speak up for myself more." Rissa
appreciated how "we all worked together, and we're not...putting
down each other's ideas."
However, collaboration was not always
enjoyable. There were occasional struggles over control of the
mouse, and numerous compromises had to be made about what was
going to go on the webpage. Cory reflected that the most
difficult part of the project was "working with other people"
because "you want to do an idea and they don't like it.... You
really want to do something, but you really got to work with
them on it." Jean remarked that "You had to listen to what your
partner said they wanted to do, 'cause if you wanted to do
something different than them, then you would have to
compromise." While collaboration can sometimes be frustrating
for students, it promotes development of literacy
and social skills they will need in the adult world of
interpersonal relationships, community, and the workplace
(Finkelman & McMunn, 1995, online abstract; Lehrer, Erickson, &
Connell, 1994).
Contrary to the notion that digital
literacies will render print literacies
obsolete, digital authoring actually necessitates the use of
various print literacy skills (Eagleton, 1999b).
The student editors were required to use their knowledge of
print literacy in designing the webzine. To lure
readers into the site they created catchy titles and phrases,
and at their own initiative used thesauri (a language arts
teacher's dream!) in order to come up with enticing words like
phenomenal and exceptional. They wrote concise introductions to
each section and descriptive paragraphs on the Issues and
Editors pages, and they developed and wrote up interviews for
the People and Sports areas. They created original fiction for
the Writing page, persuasive essays for the Issues page, and
kept daily reflection logs.
The students exhibited remarkable
flexibility in moving between many different written language
genres. Spencer felt that because designing webpages demands so
much organization, having worked on the project would help her
write expository essays in the future, "where the info is all
flung out." Alan stated, "I usually don't write of my own free
will, but when I wrote in my journal it helped me write my
thoughts down." Jean liked seeing "what other people write on
the Internet. [Now] I know there's a way to get published
without sending it to a publisher, so I might want to write
more." Larissalynn, the compensatory education student, said
that the project "improved my writing more, showed that I can
write better 'cause I usually don't put effort into it. It was
boring before. The e-zeen talked about things I wanted to write
about."
The students also used reading skills
extensively throughout the project. Alan felt that, although the
project had not necessarily improved his reading level (as he
pointed out, he was "already at a high reading level"), it gave
him a chance to "read other types of pieces of writing" that he
would not normally encounter. Spencer noted that she got a lot
of practice reading because she "had to read different webzines"
and "read all these different pages." Crash articulated a
similar opinion: "I got to see a lot of different stories and
the way they're written and it's a bunch of different people
writing different ways. So, I got to experience different
writing than just plain writing." Larissalynn said she "was
reading a lot more...reading more carefully instead of just
skipping over it." Rissa thought that her reading had improved
because she had to deal quickly with numerous submissions for
the Writing department.
Hypermedia composition also involves
an understanding of visual literacy (designing
and viewing still images). When the students evaluated other
webzines in terms of appearance, content, and navigation, it was
immediately apparent to them that the appearance of a webpage
greatly influences viewers' initial response to it. The editors
endeavored to avoid "blank backgrounds, 'cause that looks kind
of dull" (Spencer) and lengthy chunks of text "where people
are...reading the screen" (Rissa). Cory remarked to Alan, "You
just don't want to read all this stuff. It's boring. See, when
we have pictures and stuff, that'll be really cool." Visual
elements such as attractive colors and a pleasing layout were of
particular importance to the students, and they sought to
achieve harmony in their own compositions. Rissa said that she
had learned, "what good quality you should see in pages. Not
just a blank background, but they're colorful and interesting."
As work on projects such as the e-zeen
is brought into the language arts classroom, visual
literacy will need to play a much more significant role
in the curriculum. In the next main section, on hypermedia
cueing systems, I discuss the special role that graphics,
photographs, and icons played in the e-zeen project.
Hypermedia authors must possess a
degree of computer literacy in order to be
successful and independent in this complex medium. In colloquial
use, being computer literate has come to mean possessing the
ability to navigate an operating system, use software
applications, produce digital products, and solve small
technical problems. Because software engineers have developed
user-friendly applications, students can become
computer-literate multimedia authors without having to learn a
programming language.
Staci (a pseudonym for the classroom
teacher) believes that it is necessary and important for
students to feel comfortable with computers and to "know the
lingo." She felt that the e-zeen editors "learned an awful lot
about computer technology" during the project. Many of today's
teachers are not yet fluent with computers, and students
therefore must often work together to solve technical problems.
This can be valuable, as this transcript illustrates:
Spencer: Oh, my gosh. It's not working. Look at it. It's stuck.
Crash: Where? What did you do?
Spencer: I don't know.
Crash: Plug the mouse back in.
Spencer: What is wrong?!
Crash: Is it in?
Alan: Is it moving?
Crash: Now it's moving. Where is it? Get it somewhere where
I can see it. Now try and take it out. I think, you
know what, if you start it up with the mouse in there,
it thinks that there's always gonna be a mouse in
there.
The editors felt a great deal of pride
about becoming more computer literate. Crash summed this up
quite profoundly:
(301K)
Well, I've learned how to make a webpage and everything. I mean,
just the technology these days is so out there, and just being
able to grasp a little bit of it, you know, is very exciting. And
I'm sure that if I just know that much, I can go on and do bigger
and better things.
In the process of designing the
website, the students had to gain fluency in hypertext
literacy (developing and navigating).
Hypertext is not a new language form — we have used
annotated texts, encyclopedias, and dictionaries for centuries —
but it creates a uniquely dynamic literary landscape when
applied to an electronic medium.
The students in this study navigated
the Web easily and did not become disoriented or "lost in
cyberspace," as some educators fear can happen. Furthermore,
they did not have difficulty conceptualizing the hierarchical
and associative relationships (links) between the different
sections of their own website. It is very easy to create links
between webpages using hypertext authoring
software. Cory sheepishly confessed that, before the project, "I
didn't know much. I didn't even know how to get on the Internet,
really." Yet in a journal entry, he noted that he had learned to
make links and use images on just one day. Jean said, "At first
I didn't know how to make a link or get images off the
Internet." Spencer said she learned how to "find graphics, how
to put in a background [and] make links."
Since the students were already
familiar with the prewriting technique of webbing, they used
webbing for organizing the hyperlinks between the main page, the
department pages, and pages within the departments. An example
of one student's web is shown in Figure 4. The editors also
created storyboards to sketch the layout (see Figure 5). They
enjoyed storyboarding and referred to their original storyboards
often while working with the webpage authoring software.
In sum, just as young children need to
orchestrate multiple cueing systems in order to become fluent
readers (Clay, 1991; Short, Kauffman, & Kahn, 2000), students
need to orchestrate multiple sign systems in order to acquire
hypermedia literacy. In the following
transcription of a segment of videotape, I have labeled each
utterance or action with the sign system that was engaged in
order to demonstrate the way in which the students moved
flexibly among systems as they composed the e-zeen.
Spencer: How do you make the links again? [hypertext]
Me: Go ahead and type in the text you want to
make into a link. [print]
[I explain the difference between link text,
active link, and followed link.] [hypertext]
Spencer: How do you get off of a link? [computer]
[Spencer types "Make a new friend on the other
side of the world" on the People page [print]
[The link color is hard to see, so Spencer
changes it.] [visual]
[Cory, Alan, and Spencer discuss the color of
their buttons. They agree on using yellow.] [oral]
Alan, to Spencer: That's a really long
description. [print]
[Spencer finds a green marbled background.] [visual]
Spencer: This doesn't look right. [visual]
[Spencer has mistakenly imported the background
as an image instead of a background.] [computer]
Cory, to peers: Now what do we do? [oral]
Four of the media elements, or cueing
systems, that were used in the e-zeen project play a special
role in hypermedia composition: text, graphics, photographs, and
icons. Hypermedia authors must have some familiarity with each
in order to be considered literate in this medium.
Text is obviously not unique to
hypermedia, but its use in this medium has special requirements
of brevity and flair. Most Web authors consider it discourteous
to force the user to scroll through lengthy passages, because
many people find it difficult or unpleasant to read large blocks
of text on screen. The e-zeen editors made numerous comments to
this effect: "[It's] boring to just read text and text and text"
(Rissa); "[Websites are] boring when you scroll down and all
there is is words" (Alan). Part of being literate in this medium
is learning how to write concisely (see Figure 6).
Moreover, if the text does not
interest users immediately, the audience will quickly leave the
site in search of more alluring material. Students who can write
with flair (using catchy slogans, for example) will be more
successful in this medium than those with an inclination toward
uninspiring verbosity.
In hypermedia, it is critical that
graphic design elements such as backgrounds, images, and
animations be well chosen, colorful, and theme driven. Competent
Web authors consider it inappropriate to insert random images,
irrelevant animations, clashing colors, and backgrounds that
make the text difficult to read or that compete with other
visual elements. The e-zeen editors emphasized the importance of
choosing the "right" graphics to communicate their intended
meanings and felt frustrated that they did not always have time
to get exactly the effect they wanted. As Cory explained,
(111)
[I wished we could] just take our time, find the right
backgrounds — I mean, like, perfect ones, not just "hurry
up and pick one that looks OK." I mean, really take our time and
find really good graphics....
The editors' vision of perfect
backgrounds, graphics, or animations were those that were
color-coordinated and related to the theme of the webpage. Rissa
advised other hopeful webzine authors to "choose wisely on your
colors," while Cory suggested using "colors that work good with
other colors" and that show up against the page background.
While the editors generally preferred bold colors and complex
backgrounds, Alan and Jean intentionally choose sedate colors
for the Issues page about Russian orphans, because of the
serious nature of the topic. Larissalynn put a lot of energy
into finding a "swirly blue and green background" and particular
graphics for her own poems in the Writing section (Figure 7).
The e-zeen editors also made use of
photography to communicate their intended meanings. Rissa used a
digital camera to make artistic photos of student authors at
work for posting to the Writing section, and Cory and
Larissalynn included digital portraits of all of the e-zeen
editors on the Editors page. One of the most powerful uses of
photography on the e-zeen is found in the Issues section, where
Jean and Alan inserted disturbing images of Russian orphans as a
strategy to persuade their audience to take political action.
Realistic photographs should not be underestimated as a means
for conveying a potent message.
Icons, which have particular
significance in hypermedia, also played a significant role in
the creation of the e-zeen. They are ubiquitous in the world of
computers and the Internet, offering a convenient method for
visual communication of a commonly agreed-upon cultural meaning
in a small amount of space.
Since the editors could not find
ready-made navigation icons that would work on their webzine,
they drew their own navigation buttons and scanned them to
create digital versions. Spencer, Crash, and Jean each drew two
of the six icons that were used for the main navigation buttons
(see Figure 8). The process of envisioning and designing icons
is a valuable cultural literacy activity and
demonstrates the power of semiotic transmediation.
The editors wanted more than just
"squares with words on them" (Rissa) for their navigation
buttons. The extra effort of creating them personalized the site
and gave the students a sense of ownership and control.
I have suggested that the process of
becoming hypermedia literate is complex and includes negotiating
specific genres and cueing systems while at the same time
gracefully orchestrating several other sign systems.
Orchestration requires not only fluency and flexibility with
each form of representation but also the ability to invent
bridges between different sign systems, or to "transmediate"
(Harste, 1994; Short, Kauffman, & Kahn, 2000; Siegel, 1995) from
one system of representation to another. The e-zeen editors
continually transmediated between sign systems, particularly
while engaged in the generative and representative phases of the
composition process (discussed in Eagleton, 1999b).
The following transcript of a
videotape segment of an early planning session illustrates the
way in which the students struggled to find a way to represent
their ideas using a variety of symbols. The dialogue took place
while Crash, Spencer, and Rissa were sketching a storyboard for
the Inner Self page (a department that includes horoscopes,
questions for the editors, discussion of personal problems, and
"Pamper Yourself") and decided on a "watery-blue" background and
key icon to symbolize their concept of Inner Self (Figure 9).
Spencer: Our background is really cool! Unlock the key to the
heart.
Crash: Do you want to have moon and earth for horoscopes? Do
you want to write horoscopes fancy or — oh, we'll
just worry about that later.... When they touch this
world, that's when they go to horoscopes. When they
want to go to questions, they click on the question
mark.
Rissa: Oh, that would be really cool.
[They begin discussing icons for Personal Problems.]
Spencer: We could make a P like this [shows her sketch].
Crash: What do you think of as personal? A diamond?
Spencer: And then put a D on it!
[They all try to draw a diamond locket.]
Spencer: Pamper Yourself. What is pamper yourself?
Rissa: How to take care of yourself, like tips and stuff.
Crash: You know those fluffy pad things, those huge ones?
[They all wonder how to draw it, but give up after a few
attempts. Crash modifies her Pamper Yourself icon to a woman's
make-up compact, which seems easier to represent visually.]
Rissa: Now let's pick one page to draw out.
According to semiotic theorists such
as Siegel (1995), "instructional experiences requiring
transmediation...may foster the development of a wide range of
cognitive, aesthetic, and psychomotor skills which remain
untapped in most traditional classrooms" (p. 12). The e-zeen
editors were involved in transmediating between oral, print, and
visual sign systems during the Web design process. Later, they
had to bring hypertext and computer
literacies into play as they endeavored to represent
their ideas on the computer. They had to select the most
effective ways to communicate within the hypermedia environment
by drawing upon cueing systems including text, graphics,
photography, and icons.
In the traditional language arts
classroom, where language is elevated above all other sign
systems (Kinzer, Gabella, & Rieth, 1994; Siegel, 1995; Short,
Kauffman, & Kahn, 2000; Wilhelm, 1995), students do not often
have an opportunity to experiment with alternate forms of
representation, much less to devise ways to transmediate between
them. A learning environment that focuses exclusively on one
sign system disenfranchises learners whose strengths may lie in
other domains (Gardner, 1983; Rose & Meyer, 2000). Hypermedia
can provide a rich landscape for students with a variety of
strengths to explore and express themselves.
Based on this study's analysis of
ethnographic data derived from interviews, fieldnotes, and
artifacts, it appears that hypermedia literacy
requires the ability to orchestrate and transmediate among
traditional literacies and "new"
literacies of visual representation, computers, and
hypertext. While creating an online magazine, the seventh-grade
students in this study gained familiarity with webzine and
hypertext fiction genres while advancing their
knowledge of the particular roles that elements such as text,
graphics, photography, and icons play in the hypermedia
environment. Increased knowledge of this complex new
literacy will help educators plan curricula and
evaluate student progress.
Maya Eagleton (meagleton@cast.org) is
a senior research scientist and instructional designer at CAST
(Center for Applied Special Technology) in Peabody,
Massachusetts, USA. She earned her doctorate from the University
of Arizona in language, reading, and culture. She has worked in
education for 15 years, focusing on curriculum and software
design for special needs learners, and is an experienced Reading
Recovery teacher and Title I coordinator.
Legend for Chart:
A-
B-Narrative
C-Expository
D-Communicative
Table 1
Literacy Genres
A
B
C
D
Speech genres
storytelling
joke
discussion
lecture
conversation
phone call
Print genres
novel
mystery
adventure
science fiction
fantasy
essay
magazine
encyclopedia
newspaper
manual
letter
fax
handout
graffiti
chalkboard
Film/television genres
drama
comedy
cartoon
action
horror
news
documentary
educational program
sports
weather
talk show
commercial
video conference
late-night variety
game show
Hypermedia genres
hypertext fiction[*]
animated storybook
puzzle game
virtual reality
combat game
webzine[*]
simulation
digital encyclopedia
educational software
online tutorial
e-mail
live chat
whiteboard
online game
listserv
* Discussed in this article
Table 2
Productive and Receptive Aspects of Sign Systems
Sign System Productive Receptive
oral speaking listening
print writing reading
visual (still image) designing viewing
music playing listening
media (dynamic) producing watching
computer programming using
hypertext writing navigating
hypermedia composing exploring
© 2002 International Reading
Association, Inc.
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 1 The
E-Zeen Main Page
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 2 A Page
from Rissa's Hypertext Fiction Story
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 3 Main
Page of the E-Zeen's Writing Department, Showing Students' Use
of Visual Literacy
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 4 Cory's
Web
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 5 Jean's
Storyboard
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 6
Webpage from the E-Zeen, Showing Brevity of Written Text
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 7
Larissalynn's Use of Graphic Elements
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 8
Hand-Drawn Icons
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 9 Main
Page of the E-Zeen "Inner Self" Area
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE)
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By Maya B. Eagleton |