Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Wysocki (again)

Wysocki is making me appreciate Kress.

In "Seriously Visible" Wysocki takes on two chestnuts, two things that "everybody knows." The first is that "hypertextual documents are by their very structure supposed to encourage readers into more active and engaged relationships with texts and thus with each other" (37). The second is that "documents that give more weight to their visual rather than their verbal components ought not to be taken seriously or ought to be relegated to children and the illiterate" (37).

She describes & analyzes two multimedia texts, neither of which I am familiar with. I am not sure, really, what the intended audience or purpose was of the text. Possibly they are art "books" showcasing work by a particular audience? Their interface reminded me of the Living Books that were produced for children, not because they were visual, but because they were so interactive. Living Books make extensive use of sounds and animations when images are clicked. Leap Pad learning systems do something similar, with sounds only, though, not animation.

I wonder if adults typically click around electronic texts in the same way that children do. Perhaps if the goal of the piece is entertainment? Most adults I know typically use computers to seek information or play games, and even the games seem to be more goal driven than randomly exploratory. Children, however, seem more willing to explore. I don't know if that comes from being "digital natives" or if that behavior diminishes with age. That would be an interesting study-- I'll put it on my list.

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