The study of images and sound is certainly not peculiar to the digital world, but new technologies make it easier for students to encounter and produce visual and aural texts. Writing activities such as creating podcasts and videos allow for an interesting twist on the college paper, as they challenge students to support their ideas by incorporating a range of voices, sounds, and images from their own recordings and sources found online. Sound and video production also open possibilities for more experimental activities grounded in a tradition of remix culture that has been in practice for decades but continues to be theorized. In this sense, writing with sound and images lends itself to both traditional and emergent learning objectives.
To have students create podcasts, try using programs like Audacity (which students can access or easily install on SBU computers) and GarageBand (which most Mac users will have access to). For video production, students likely have access to a range of programs on their personal devices. Every student has access to the YouTube video editor through SBU computers. Here’s an example of a student video production that addresses the act of remix itself.
