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

4. The Multimodal Reshaping of Curriculum Entities in
School English in the Move from Page to Screen

Introduction

In the move from page to screen a range of representational modes (including image,
movement, gesture, and voice) become available as meaning-making resources. In
this chapter I focus on the reshaping of the entity ‘character’ in the transformation of
the novel Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck, 1937), to a CD-ROM (1996). Through
detailed analysis I demonstrate that the shift from written page to multimodal screen
entails a shift in the construction of the entity ‘character’. I show that students’
interaction with the resources of the CD-ROM as a multimodal text demand that
‘reading’ and the process of learning within school English be thought of as more
than a linguistic accomplishment.

As highlighted earlier in Chapter Two, research on technology-mediated learning has
tended to focus on people’s talk and practices with and around the computer rather
than on the representational resources of computers. This chapter is concerned with
the representational resources of the CD-ROM as it appears on the screen as well as
people’s interaction with these in the context of school English.

The Notion of ‘Character’ in School English

This paper draws on video and observational data from a series of five English
lessons with a Year 10 class (students aged 14 -15 years) at an Inner-London
Secondary School (see Chapter Three for details of the data and data collection
process). These lessons focus on the study of Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men
(1937), a set text in the English GCSE curriculum. The entity character is central to
school English. The entity character is highlighted in the history and development of

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