A Theoretical Introduction to Multimodal Compositions and
Assessment There is no denying that we have moved into the age
in which computer technology is a major part of our daily lives,
both in and out of the classroom. With the onslaught of blogs,
wikis, YouTube, and other Web 2.0 software, avoiding technology
in our composition classrooms is no longer a viable option. As
Gunther Kress (2003) argues in Literacy in the New Media Age,
the screen and the image have now replaced the book and written
word as the dominant means of communication. Throughout the
book, he explores how these changes will affect the future of
literacy. Kress (2005) explains: It is no longer possible to
think about literacy in isolation from a vast array of social,
technological and economic factors. Two distinct yet related
factors deserve to be particularly highlighted. These are, on
the one hand, the broad move from the now centuries-long
dominance of writing to the new dominance of the image, on the
other hand, the move from the dom