ABSTRACT
The medium or media used to facilitate cognition is included in the model's principles as a framing attribute. This chapter addresses the framing attribute of the model by offering suggestions to enable the tool's capabilities to become part of the model's dynamic. It includes in-person or face-to-face interaction among communicants, because Social Presence Theory is included in any discussion of technology and communication. Assessment theory helps facilitate this consideration. Certain attributes of rhetoric can apply across modes of representation, as identified by the aforementioned scholars. However, the capabilities and limitations of the media and related tools used to compose the message affect design decisions and, consequently, the rhetoric of the message. The chapter argues that one of the variables confounding multimodal assessment scholarship is that different media facilitate different modal combinations and designs. Recognizing the differences in the capabilities of different media and different tools helps consider how they may be used to design instructional materials that affect cognition.
