Part III: New Technology, MultimodaI Learning, Literacy and
Design across the Curriculum
7. New Technology and Learning
The final part of the thesis consists of Chapter Seven, in which I draw on the
theoretical discussion in Part I and the analysis and findings presented in Part II in
order to discuss student learning, literacy and new technologies in education more
generally. I present a discussion of themes generated by the analysis. I address the
ways in which modes are used in different curricular subjects, in particular the
question of the specialised use of modes to shape knowledge. The arrangement of
modes on the computer screen, the configuration of modes to mean and the
interaction of modes on screen are also discussed. I explore the need to re-think the
concept of literacy in the multimodal context of technology-mediated learning, in
particular the implications for what it means to be literate, and for the assessment of
literacy within the school. Further, I discuss the practices involved when learning is
mediated by new technology and the potential for modes other than language to
contribute to learning as ‘multimodal design’.
8. The Development of Multimodal Theory
In this concluding chapter I address the second aim of the thesis, the question of how
the thesis contributes to the development of multimodal theory through its application
in the domain of the screen and technology-mediated learning.
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