Making Text Come to Life on the Computer: Toward an Understanding of Hypermedia Literacy

Maya B. Eagleton

Abstract This article aims to promote understanding of hypermedia literacy by investigating some of its genres, sign systems, and cueing systems. Increased knowledge of this complex literacy will help educators plan curriculum and evaluate student progress. The analysis is based on a microethnographic study that investigated hypermedia composition in a seventh-grade language arts classroom, extending findings from an earlier exploratory study of 12- and 13-year-old students who designed a school website. It is suggested that hypermedia literacy requires the ability to orchestrate and transmediate among oral, print, visual, computer, and hypertext literacies. While creating an online magazine, the students in this study gained familiarity with webzine and hypertext fiction genres while also advancing their knowledge of the roles that elements such as text, graphics, photography, and icons play in the hypermedia environment. Note: Case studies and data analysis procedures are offered as supplements to the main article. In addition, the article features numerous graphics and audio clips. A border around a graphic indicates that it is a “clickable” image, with a hypertext link; the small “sound button” icon can also be clicked, with the result that an audio clip will download and play to browsers equipped with a media player plug-in (e.g., QuickTime or RealPlayer).

Related Postings from the Archives The Benefits and Challenges of a Student-Designed School Website by Maya Eagleton Using Media Flexibly to Compose and Communicate by Martha Dillner Hypermedia Authoring as Critical Literacy by Jamie Myers and Richard Beach

Introduction

Discussion surrounding the potential impact of computers on literacy and learning often centers on the question of whether hypermedia technologies constitute a paradigmatic revolution in our way of thinking about the forms and functions of literacy. Notable literacy educators such as Emilia Ferreiro, Margaret Meek, and William Teale have suggested that we situate computer-based literacy within a historical context, placing electronic texts alongside such monumental inventions as the ancient papyrus roll, the medieval codex, and the printed book. As Teale (1997) writes, “I think that computer-related technologies have the potential to affect human thinking and communication as much as the technology of written language has” (p. 81).

Many educators are beginning to believe that electronic text is not simply a lesser cousin of printed text but a distinct language form governed by its own freedoms and constraints (Bolter, 1991; Eagleton, 1999a, online document; McNabb, 1997, online abstract; Reinking, 1998; Snyder, 1998). As Kozma (1991) suggests, “media can be defined by its technology, symbol systems, and processing capabilities” (p. 180). Hypermedia, with its flexible use of text, image, audio, video, animation, and virtual reality, represents a unique new form of human discourse.

According to Bolter (1991), each new writing technology brings us a fresh physical and conceptual “writing space” that “fosters a particular understanding both of the act of writing and of the product, the written text” (p. 11). These different writing spaces promote different styles and genres of writing and different theories of literacy. Today, hypermedia writers are still in the process of discovering what these new story structures and genres may become; “clearly, the literacy of yesterday is not the literacy of today and it will not be the literacy of tomorrow” (Leu, 2000, p. 744).

Hypermedia, like other forms of representation, encompasses many genres that address diverse human needs through narrative, expository, and communicative formats (Table 1).

The purpose of this article is to promote a deeper understanding of hypermedia literacy by investigating some of its genres, sign systems, and cueing systems. Increased knowledge of this new, complex literacy will help educators plan curriculum and evaluate student progress.

This analysis, which extends the findings of an earlier exploration of students’ design of a school website (Eagleton, 1999a), is based on a microethnographic study that investigated hypermedia composition in a seventh-grade language arts classroom. The 12- and 13-year-old students were enrolled in an urban/suburban U.S. school with a population of approximately 1,000 seventh- and eighth-graders, predominantly Caucasian and Hispanic. In the current project (Eagleton, 1999b; Eagleton & Hamilton, 2001a, online document; 2001b, online document), hypermedia composition consisted of a student-run online magazine (a “webzine”), dubbed an “e-zeen” by the students, available online at http://earthvision.asu.edu/~maya/e-zeen. The e-zeen includes six departments: People, Writing, Sports, Inner Self, Issues, and Editors (see Figure 1).

During the course of a semester, seven students who acted as volunteer editors spent 45 minutes every other day working on the e-zeen project with guidance from their regular classroom teacher and myself, a visiting teacher-researcher. The editors assigned themselves the pseudonyms Crash, Rissa, Cory, Alan, Spencer, Jean, and Larissalynn; six were achieving at an average level and one (Larissalynn) was a student in a compensatory education program. Four case studies are presented as a supplement to this article in order to provide additional insight into the meanings these learners brought to the hypermedia composition process.

Primary data sources included audiotaped semistructured interviews with the e-zeen editors and the language arts teacher, observational and anecdotal fieldnotes, daily videotapes of the editors at work, daily researcher and student reflection logs, the student-designed webzine, whole-class student surveys and writing samples, and the teacher’s lesson handouts. All of the data were coded and analyzed using Glaser and Straus’s constant comparative method (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994). Categories and thematic connections were derived from the data using a spiraling reduction process (Creswell, 1998; LeCompte & Preissle, 1993; Miles & Huberman, 1994). Every germane unit of data, defined as a participant quotation, a transcribed unit, or a unified portion of an artifact, was coded with a keyword and sorted and resorted into categories. Saturation was defined as the point at which each relevant data bit had been successfully grouped into one or more thematic categories. (Click for a more detailed description of the data analysis procedures.)

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Hypermedia Genres

Two hypermedia genres were utilized in this project: webzines and hypertext fiction. The webzine is an electronic adaptation of the magazine. Both can cover a range of topics (e.g., sports, beauty, literature, news) and often feature short articles by various authors, photographs with captions, drawings, and advertisements. However, there are important distinctions between magazines and webzines, many of which seventh-grader Crash identified when explaining the appeal of a webzine:

Because of unique features such as animation and sound and the fact that they can be updated frequently and inexpensively, webzines can be considered a genre distinct from magazines or other media.

The other genre that the students experimented with in the project was hypertext fiction. Hypertext fiction is distinct from print-based fiction in that the reader can determine her or his own progress through the story using linear or nonlinear hyperlinks. Inspired by a hypertext story published by a third grader on a California school website, several of the e-zeen editors chose to design their own hypertext stories for the e-zeen. Rissa explained that she wanted “to make it a visual kind of story to where you click on buttons to go to the next page.” She noted that, in digital environments, the role of the reader is more active than in print media:

If a feature as seemingly unremarkable as having the reader click instead of turning a page while reading a story can be so motivating to student writers, it is exciting to imagine the possibilities that lie waiting to be discovered in the relatively unexplored, dynamic landscape of hypermedia fiction.

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Orchestrating Sign Systems

If one accepts the premise that literacy is “the ability to encode or decode meaning in any of the forms of representation used in the culture to convey or express meaning” (Eisner, 1994, p. x), then being “literate” is being able to express oneself and interpret other people’s expressions in a particular semiotic system. It requires understanding the elements of each sign system and flexibly applying this understanding in a variety of situations, using a variety of tools within a variety of genres.

Every language form has both a productive and a receptive aspect (Table 2). Being fluent in a language form means mastering the elements and genres commonly found in that form of representation, and being in control of either or both the productive and the receptive aspects of the semiotic system. Fluent speakers are able to express themselves coherently in a variety of situations; fluent readers can comprehend almost any kind of written text. Of course, every language form contains genres that elude comprehension if the reader lacks background knowledge; a fluent reader, for example, may not understand complex medical texts or legal documents. In order for students to become fluent hypermedia composers, they need to have facility with and be able to orchestrate at least five forms of representation: oral, print, visual, computer, and hypertext. If students’ hypermedia projects include audio or video elements, then they will also need some fluency with music and various forms of visual and media literacy. Oral Literacy Collaborative hypermedia design projects demand that students communicate orally with one another and with the teacher; in the project described here, students also communicated with adults they interviewed and with other students in their class. All of the e-zeen editors felt that they used their speaking and listening skills while working in a collaborative group. Alan said, “[I] listened to what other people would say, and I listened to what they would do, then I’d help -- instead of just do it all myself.” Crash said, “Since I had pretty much no clue how to make a website, I had to listen more to learn how to do everything, or else it would’ve just been a mess.” Larissalynn remarked, “You had to listen to directions ’cause you don’t want to mess up.” Rissa commented that when the topic is something interesting like computers, “I listen more than I usually do.” She also thought that the project helped her speaking skills because she had spent a lot of time “asking people if they wanted a story on, or interviewing people.” Larissalynn mentioned that she tried to use “proper grammar so people will know what you’re saying.”

Table 2 Productive and Receptive Aspects of Sign Systems Sign System Productive Receptive oral speaking listening print writing reading visual (still image) designing viewing music playing listening media (dynamic) producing watching computer programming using hypertext writing navigating hypermedia composing exploring

The students made numerous references in their reflection logs to collaboration and sharing ideas. Cory said that he liked being a part of the project because “you get to work with other people and it helps your...‘working with others’ skills.” Larissalynn, who rarely talks during whole class discussions, felt that being in a small group had a positive effect on her ability to communicate: “It helped my talking and communicating. I speak up for myself more.” Rissa appreciated how “we all worked together, and we’re not...putting down each other’s ideas.”

However, collaboration was not always enjoyable. There were occasional struggles over control of the mouse, and numerous compromises had to be made about what was going to go on the webpage. Cory reflected that the most difficult part of the project was “working with other people” because “you want to do an idea and they don’t like it.... You really want to do something, but you really got to work with them on it.” Jean remarked that “You had to listen to what your partner said they wanted to do, ’cause if you wanted to do something different than them, then you would have to compromise.” While collaboration can sometimes be frustrating for students, it promotes development of literacy and social skills they will need in the adult world of interpersonal relationships, community, and the workplace (Finkelman & McMunn, 1995, online abstract; Lehrer, Erickson, & Connell, 1994).

Print Literacy

Contrary to the notion that digital literacies will render print literacies obsolete, digital authoring actually necessitates the use of various print literacy skills (Eagleton, 1999b). The student editors were required to use their knowledge of print literacy in designing the webzine. To lure readers into the site they created catchy titles and phrases, and at their own initiative used thesauri (a language arts teacher’s dream!) in order to come up with enticing words like phenomenal and exceptional. They wrote concise introductions to each section and descriptive paragraphs on the Issues and Editors pages, and they developed and wrote up interviews for the People and Sports areas. They created original fiction for the Writing page, persuasive essays for the Issues page, and kept daily reflection logs.

The students exhibited remarkable flexibility in moving between many different written language genres. Spencer felt that because designing webpages demands so much organization, having worked on the project would help her write expository essays in the future, “where the info is all flung out.” Alan stated, “I usually don’t write of my own free will, but when I wrote in my journal it helped me write my thoughts down.” Jean liked seeing “what other people write on the Internet. [Now] I know there’s a way to get published without sending it to a publisher, so I might want to write more.” Larissalynn, the compensatory education student, said that the project “improved my writing more, showed that I can write better ’cause I usually don’t put effort into it. It was boring before. The e-zeen talked about things I wanted to write about.”

The students also used reading skills extensively throughout the project. Alan felt that, although the project had not necessarily improved his reading level (as he pointed out, he was “already at a high reading level”), it gave him a chance to “read other types of pieces of writing” that he would not normally encounter. Spencer noted that she got a lot of practice reading because she “had to read different webzines” and “read all these different pages.” Crash articulated a similar opinion: “I got to see a lot of different stories and the way they’re written and it’s a bunch of different people writing different ways. So, I got to experience different writing than just plain writing.” Larissalynn said she “was reading a lot more...reading more carefully instead of just skipping over it.” Rissa thought that her reading had improved because she had to deal quickly with numerous submissions for the Writing department.

Visual Literacy

Hypermedia composition also involves an understanding of visual literacy (designing and viewing still images). When the students evaluated other webzines in terms of appearance, content, and navigation, it was immediately apparent to them that the appearance of a webpage greatly influences viewers’ initial response to it. The editors endeavored to avoid “blank backgrounds, ’cause that looks kind of dull” (Spencer) and lengthy chunks of text “where people are...reading the screen” (Rissa). Cory remarked to Alan, “You just don’t want to read all this stuff. It’s boring. See, when we have pictures and stuff, that’ll be really cool.” Visual elements such as attractive colors and a pleasing layout were of particular importance to the students, and they sought to achieve harmony in their own compositions. Rissa said that she had learned, “what good quality you should see in pages. Not just a blank background, but they’re colorful and interesting.”

As work on projects such as the e-zeen is brought into the language arts classroom, visual literacy will need to play a much more significant role in the curriculum. In the next main section, on hypermedia cueing systems, I discuss the special role that graphics, photographs, and icons played in the e-zeen project.

Computer Literacy

Hypermedia authors must possess a degree of computer literacy in order to be successful and independent in this complex medium. In colloquial use, being computer literate has come to mean possessing the ability to navigate an operating system, use software applications, produce digital products, and solve small technical problems. Because software engineers have developed user-friendly applications, students can become computer-literate multimedia authors without having to learn a programming language.

Staci (a pseudonym for the classroom teacher) believes that it is necessary and important for students to feel comfortable with computers and to “know the lingo.” She felt that the e-zeen editors “learned an awful lot about computer technology” during the project. Many of today’s teachers are not yet fluent with computers, and students therefore must often work together to solve technical problems. This can be valuable, as this transcript illustrates:

The editors felt a great deal of pride about becoming more computer literate. Crash summed this up quite profoundly:

Hypertext Literacy

In the process of designing the website, the students had to gain fluency in hypertext literacy (developing and navigating). Hypertext is not a new language form -- we have used annotated texts, encyclopedias, and dictionaries for centuries -- but it creates a uniquely dynamic literary landscape when applied to an electronic medium.

The students in this study navigated the Web easily and did not become disoriented or “lost in cyberspace,” as some educators fear can happen. Furthermore, they did not have difficulty conceptualizing the hierarchical and associative relationships (links) between the different sections of their own website. It is very easy to create links between webpages using hypertext authoring software. Cory sheepishly confessed that, before the project, “I didn’t know much. I didn’t even know how to get on the Internet, really.” Yet in a journal entry, he noted that he had learned to make links and use images on just one day. Jean said, “At first I didn’t know how to make a link or get images off the Internet.” Spencer said she learned how to “find graphics, how to put in a background [and] make links.”

Since the students were already familiar with the prewriting technique of webbing, they used webbing for organizing the hyperlinks between the main page, the department pages, and pages within the departments. An example of one student’s web is shown in Figure 4. The editors also created storyboards to sketch the layout (see Figure 5). They enjoyed storyboarding and referred to their original storyboards often while working with the webpage authoring software.

In sum, just as young children need to orchestrate multiple cueing systems in order to become fluent readers (Clay, 1991; Short, Kauffman, & Kahn, 2000), students need to orchestrate multiple sign systems in order to acquire hypermedia literacy. In the following transcription of a segment of videotape, I have labeled each utterance or action with the sign system that was engaged in order to demonstrate the way in which the students moved flexibly among systems as they composed the e-zeen.

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Hypermedia Cueing Systems

Four of the media elements, or cueing systems, that were used in the e-zeen project play a special role in hypermedia composition: text, graphics, photographs, and icons. Hypermedia authors must have some familiarity with each in order to be considered literate in this medium.

Text

Text is obviously not unique to hypermedia, but its use in this medium has special requirements of brevity and flair. Most Web authors consider it discourteous to force the user to scroll through lengthy passages, because many people find it difficult or unpleasant to read large blocks of text on screen. The e-zeen editors made numerous comments to this effect: “[It’s] boring to just read text and text and text” (Rissa); “[Websites are] boring when you scroll down and all there is is words” (Alan). Part of being literate in this medium is learning how to write concisely (see Figure 6).

Moreover, if the text does not interest users immediately, the audience will quickly leave the site in search of more alluring material. Students who can write with flair (using catchy slogans, for example) will be more successful in this medium than those with an inclination toward uninspiring verbosity.

Graphics

In hypermedia, it is critical that graphic design elements such as backgrounds, images, and animations be well chosen, colorful, and theme driven. Competent Web authors consider it inappropriate to insert random images, irrelevant animations, clashing colors, and backgrounds that make the text difficult to read or that compete with other visual elements. The e-zeen editors emphasized the importance of choosing the “right” graphics to communicate their intended meanings and felt frustrated that they did not always have time to get exactly the effect they wanted. As Cory explained,

The editors’ vision of perfect backgrounds, graphics, or animations were those that were color-coordinated and related to the theme of the webpage. Rissa advised other hopeful webzine authors to “choose wisely on your colors,” while Cory suggested using “colors that work good with other colors” and that show up against the page background. While the editors generally preferred bold colors and complex backgrounds, Alan and Jean intentionally choose sedate colors for the Issues page about Russian orphans, because of the serious nature of the topic. Larissalynn put a lot of energy into finding a “swirly blue and green background” and particular graphics for her own poems in the Writing section (Figure 7).

Photography

The e-zeen editors also made use of photography to communicate their intended meanings. Rissa used a digital camera to make artistic photos of student authors at work for posting to the Writing section, and Cory and Larissalynn included digital portraits of all of the e-zeen editors on the Editors page. One of the most powerful uses of photography on the e-zeen is found in the Issues section, where Jean and Alan inserted disturbing images of Russian orphans as a strategy to persuade their audience to take political action. Realistic photographs should not be underestimated as a means for conveying a potent message.

Icons

Icons, which have particular significance in hypermedia, also played a significant role in the creation of the e-zeen. They are ubiquitous in the world of computers and the Internet, offering a convenient method for visual communication of a commonly agreed-upon cultural meaning in a small amount of space.

Since the editors could not find ready-made navigation icons that would work on their webzine, they drew their own navigation buttons and scanned them to create digital versions. Spencer, Crash, and Jean each drew two of the six icons that were used for the main navigation buttons (see Figure 8). The process of envisioning and designing icons is a valuable cultural literacy activity and demonstrates the power of semiotic transmediation.

The editors wanted more than just “squares with words on them” (Rissa) for their navigation buttons. The extra effort of creating them personalized the site and gave the students a sense of ownership and control.

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Semiotic Transmediation

I have suggested that the process of becoming hypermedia literate is complex and includes negotiating specific genres and cueing systems while at the same time gracefully orchestrating several other sign systems. Orchestration requires not only fluency and flexibility with each form of representation but also the ability to invent bridges between different sign systems, or to “transmediate” (Harste, 1994; Short, Kauffman, & Kahn, 2000; Siegel, 1995) from one system of representation to another. The e-zeen editors continually transmediated between sign systems, particularly while engaged in the generative and representative phases of the composition process (discussed in Eagleton, 1999b).

The following transcript of a videotape segment of an early planning session illustrates the way in which the students struggled to find a way to represent their ideas using a variety of symbols. The dialogue took place while Crash, Spencer, and Rissa were sketching a storyboard for the Inner Self page (a department that includes horoscopes, questions for the editors, discussion of personal problems, and “Pamper Yourself”) and decided on a “watery-blue” background and key icon to symbolize their concept of Inner Self (Figure 9).

According to semiotic theorists such as Siegel (1995), “instructional experiences requiring transmediation...may foster the development of a wide range of cognitive, aesthetic, and psychomotor skills which remain untapped in most traditional classrooms” (p. 12). The e-zeen editors were involved in transmediating between oral, print, and visual sign systems during the Web design process. Later, they had to bring hypertext and computer literacies into play as they endeavored to represent their ideas on the computer. They had to select the most effective ways to communicate within the hypermedia environment by drawing upon cueing systems including text, graphics, photography, and icons.

In the traditional language arts classroom, where language is elevated above all other sign systems (Kinzer, Gabella, & Rieth, 1994; Siegel, 1995; Short, Kauffman, & Kahn, 2000; Wilhelm, 1995), students do not often have an opportunity to experiment with alternate forms of representation, much less to devise ways to transmediate between them. A learning environment that focuses exclusively on one sign system disenfranchises learners whose strengths may lie in other domains (Gardner, 1983; Rose & Meyer, 2000). Hypermedia can provide a rich landscape for students with a variety of strengths to explore and express themselves.

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Conclusion

Based on this study’s analysis of ethnographic data derived from interviews, fieldnotes, and artifacts, it appears that hypermedia literacy requires the ability to orchestrate and transmediate among traditional literacies and “new” literacies of visual representation, computers, and hypertext. While creating an online magazine, the seventh-grade students in this study gained familiarity with webzine and hypertext fiction genres while advancing their knowledge of the particular roles that elements such as text, graphics, photography, and icons play in the hypermedia environment. Increased knowledge of this complex new literacy will help educators plan curricula and evaluate student progress.

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References

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About the Author

Maya Eagleton (meagleton@cast.org) is a senior research scientist and instructional designer at CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) in Peabody, Massachusetts, USA. She earned her doctorate from the University of Arizona in language, reading, and culture. She has worked in education for 15 years, focusing on curriculum and software design for special needs learners, and is an experienced Reading Recovery teacher and Title I coordinator.

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Citation: Eagleton, M.B. (2002, July/August). Making text come to life on the computer: Toward an understanding of hypermedia literacy. Reading Online, 6(1). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=eagleton2/index.html

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Posted July 2002
© 2002 International Reading Association, Inc.   ISSN 1096-1232