The concept of Multiliteracies expands the traditional idea of literacy beyond reading and writing to include the diverse ways people make and interpret meaning across different modes, media, and cultural contexts. Coined by the New London Group (1996), multiliteracies emphasize that communication today involves far more than text—it includes visual, audio, spatial, gestural, and digital modes that together shape how we understand and express ideas. (Source: A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies)

In modern education, multiliteracies call for teaching approaches that help learners become designers of meaning rather than passive consumers of information. Instead of focusing only on written essays, educators encourage students to create videos, podcasts, infographics, or digital stories, each combining multiple modes of expression. This approach recognizes the increasingly global and multilingual nature of communication—where learners draw on varied cultural and linguistic resources to make meaning.

A great example is the digital storytelling projects used in many classrooms and MOOCs. In such projects, students create short multimedia narratives using platforms like Canva, Adobe Express, or StoryMapJS, combining images, voiceovers, and text to tell a story or present research. These projects foster deeper engagement by allowing learners to express themselves creatively while developing critical digital literacy skills.

Multiliteracies also align with inclusive education: they value diverse voices and modes of communication, ensuring that all learners—regardless of linguistic or cultural background—can participate meaningfully in digital and face-to-face learning environments.

As multimodal communication continues to dominate our digital lives, developing multiliteracies prepares students not only to understand but to shape the complex media ecologies around them.