Variation in multimodal literacies: How new technologies can expand or constrain modes of communication

Abstract This article offers two examples of social interaction in educative environments to illustrate how the complexity of modes can vary depending on the mediating tools and the activities in which they are used. The examples show that, with the advent of computer-based technologies, the range of variation has expanded, with an increase in modal resources on one extreme of the continuum, and a marked reduction of modal resources on the other extreme. The first example describes a complex work setting—a circuit board assembly plant, in which tasks are mediated by a computerized machine that loads components onto boards. Troubleshooting the machine is a recurrent activity for machine operators. I focus on two workers as they integrate talk, gestures, numbers, computer data and tools in this problem-solving activity. In this multimodal interaction, talk is combined with other semiotic resources and shaped into a simplified register charged with precision numbers. The second example is an activity in which social interaction is conducted through on-line discussions in a distance-learning course. In this context, text alone is used to construct meaning. I describe how participants in the on-line discussion deal with the constraints of a single mode in the online learning space, and how they begin to develop norms for interaction in this environment. I also show that, despite the constraints, participants' social interaction is, nevertheless, quite complex. The two illustrations point to the need for close analysis of a variety of social interactions to understand variation in multimodal literacies and its relevance to how we learn.