ABSTRACT
The complexities of reading and producing digital texts is situated within the multimodal layering that occurs; therefore, I suggest that students best gain an understanding of reading digital texts by composing them with specific attention to design as a central activity. To that end, I explore the following terms: design (Kress; Wysocki), multimodality (Doering; Kress; Murray), and multiliteracies (Cope and Kalantzis; Grabill and Hicks; Provenzo). Therefore, this chapter pursues these questions: (a) How does design create a connection between digital reading and writing? (b) How can students use concepts of design to effectively approach digital reading and writing? This chapter will first discuss elements and theories of both digital writing and reading to create a foundation for the ways in which each influence and enhance the other in the composition classroom. Second it situates the term design within the context of digital texts. Third, the chapter will highlight the intersections of these two practices in order to strengthen our understanding of the transferable elements of each practice. Ultimately, it will suggest that it is through the integration of design that students can identify elements within their digital reading and writing that show a critical awareness of digital spaces and how they function within them by both producing and consuming texts that circulate in digital spaces.
