A Multimodal Framework for Computer Mediated Learning: The Reshaping of Curriculum Knowledge and Learning

6.6 The outer ‘frame’ of the screen represented in grey scale

Writing (as Captions)

The panels on the left and the right of the frame display a series of ‘buttons’, each of
which has a written ‘label’. The buttons on the panel on the left represent the
categories of the National Curriculum topic areas that are covered by the CD-ROM,
such as, in this case, ‘states of matter’. These buttons are displayed as a vertical
arrangement of square icons, in alphabetical order. The principle for the
compositional order of these keys is their classification in relation to the process of
heating and cooling. The first two transformations (solid to liquid and liquid to gas)
are concerned with heating, while the second two (gas to liquid and liquid to solid)
are concerned with cooling.

The button for ‘states of matter’ consists of a circle within a square, and inside the
circle is an image of ‘particles’, underneath which are the words ‘states of matter’. In
this way the button visually marks ‘particles’ as the criterial aspect of ‘states of
matter’. Selecting the button ‘states of matter’ results in five keys being displayed on
the panel on the right. These keys represent the five transformations of ‘states of
matter’ (e.g. solid to liquid, liquid to gas, gas to liquid, liquid to solid and
sublimation). In other words, each curriculum topic area available on the CD-ROM

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