By contrast to often celebratory accounts of teaching contemporary digital media literacies, my thesis describes how the technological and material inequalities between students at a government and an independent school became mirrored in digital portfolios. Presented at the 8th International Conference on Multimodality http://www.8icom.co.za

1. Multimodal education for inequality:
exploring privilege in visual arts students’ e-portfolio personas
by Noakes and Walton, 2016
“George”
“Kyle”“Masibulele” “Melissa”
“Nathan”
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 1
Prepared for ICOM8
http://8icom.co.za
Inequality in digital personas: how access to material and technological resources
are mirrored in visual arts students’ e-portfolios
by Noakes, Walton, and Cronje, 2009-16

2. Research
Contributions
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 2
1 Action research intervention <appropriation of visual arts e-portfolios, digital curation>
2 Longitudinal research fieldwork <2 -3 years>
3 VERY different levels of resourcing <covers media ecologies in school, at home>
Default software
values
= disidentifiers
Absence of social
information
= misidentifiers
A digital hexis for
developing a
templated self
Limitations young people face in expressing interests in e-portfolio styles
Differing opportunities for
identities negotiating disciplined
personas
Legitimated practices
Differentiated practices
Affinity spaces
- Class
- Race
- Gender
REMEDIATION LIFESTYLES

3. 12/12/16 3
Presentation by @travisnoakes
Illustration by Anja Venter
See Phone to Photoshop: Mobile workarounds in young people’s visual self-presentation strategies (Noakes, Walton, Venter & Cronje, 2014)
Participation in art, design or ICT as “formal privilege”
Figure 1. ‘Inequalities in access to formal participation in ICT, visual arts or visual design education’. Illustration by Anja Venter, 2014.

4. 12/12/16 4
Presentation by @travisnoakes
Illustration by Anja Venter
Figure 2. ‘Inequalities in access to formal participation in ICT, visual arts or visual design education’. Illustration by Anja Venter, 2014.
School computer centres and art/design subjects as Capetonian “luxuries”

5. 12/12/16 5
Presentation by @travisnoakes
Illustration by Anja Venter
Figure 3. ‘Silos in school subjects’. Illustration by Anja Venter, 2014.
Online content creation in syllabi bridging art, design and ICT is a
“rare privilege”

6. There are many online portfolio services to choose from (i.e. see Diigo social bookmarks ‘eportfolio’ tag)
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 6
Behance (an Adobe service)
https://www.behance.net/about
DeviantArt
http://deviantartads.com/
Online portfolio genre affords an opportunity for
visual creative producers to experiment with digital curation

7. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 7
Digital portfolios serve as cultural and symbolic capitals that may help justify
Tertiary academic opportunities
Full-time jobs
Part-time, freelance gigs
Volunteer projects
Online portfolios can support growth in social capital via
Understanding the breadth of visual creativity and who is involved in what
Platform to first ‘seem’ and then ‘be’ an expert in your area(s) of speciality
Develop one’s persona as an expert by sharing ‘know-how’ in affinity groups
and showcase examples of one’s work
Online portfolios may generate ongoing economic capital
Link to online shops and auctions selling one’s visual (re-)productions
Enter select works into online competitions
Digital portfolios =
cultural, symbolic, social and economic capital$

8. ‘visual arts showcase e-portfolios’
meta-genre
• New syllabi primarily supported matric-exhibition preparation.
Presentation by @travisnoakes12/12/16 8
Figure 4. E-portfolio curriculum on travisnoakes.co.za, 2015.
Figure 5. Screenshot of “Hui”’s Carbonmade ‘homepage’, November, 2010.
Figure 6. Screenshot of Hui’s Carbonmade ‘homepage’, May, 2012

9. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 9
Fields in the articulation of digital personas
via showcase e-portfolios
Figure 7. Four key fields linked in visual arts education. Graphic by Travis Noakes, 2014.

10. Profile
description
Profile
image
Portfolio
title
Contact
details
Areas of
expertise
SkillsFooter
Artist. Date.
Folder
Name,
Description
Artwork
Title with
description
Tags
i.e. Client
1 ‘Home’ page
template
3 ‘Artwork project
folder’
page template
2 ‘About’ page template (artist’s profile)
Availability
for freelance
graphic
Creative’s
name
Portfolio title
Presentation by @travisnoakes12/12/16 10
4 ‘Search page
results’ template
Folders of
digitised
artworks
Self-presentation and portfolio organization using Carbonmade

11. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 11
Whereas in earlier times, apposite words to describe activities
around publication may have been ‘written’, ‘edited’ and
‘produced’, it is quite clear that they are inadequate to capture
all the self-representational activities or practices in
networked, digital, culture. The word ‘curated’ does so by
subsuming all of those practices and adding others that are
possible in social media…
Curating is about knowing how the different forms you are
working with work together to make meaning intertextually
and for which purposes and audiences they are successful.’
(Potter, 2015)
Support students with digital curation,
a new media literacy
A. Collating artworks and inspirations
B. Production
-Remediating
-Editing
-Assembling
C. Sharing
-Moving media artefacts across different stages
-Interacting with online audiences
Visual creatives’
online portfolio
curation process

12. Action research fieldwork 2010 - 2013
Fieldwork (e-portfolio production) took place at an elite independent secondary school
and at a less well-resourced ‘Arts and Culture focus’ government one.
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 12
12 government
school volunteers
17 independent
school students
Figure 8. ‘View of independent school from pool ’. Illustration by Travis Noakes, 2015.
Figure 9. ‘View of government school from parking lot’. Illustration by Travis Noakes, 2015.

13. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 13
Types of (in)equality Properties divided
1 Technological Technological
opportunities
2 Immaterial Life chances
Freedom
3 Material Capital (economic,
social, cultural)
Resources
4 Social Positions
Power
5 Educational Capabilities
Skills
Source: Digital Sociology. ‘Inequalities in the Network Society’ by Jan van Dijk, page X, 2013.
Focus on material and technological inequalities
Table 1. Types of (in)equality and (un)equally divided properties

14. Arts and Culture government focus school
•Incompatible ecologies with ten year old PCs.
•Few extra-mural and co-curricular activities
offered at school (pupils’ safety on public travel )
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 14
Independent school
•“One laptop per learner” policy and conspicuous
consumption of digital and consumer electronics (i.e.
iPads, professional- and Go Pro cameras)
•Many co-curricular fine arts and other leisure
activities supported by their school
Key technological and material inequalities that
government and independent school students
experience
Volunteer students who are well-disposed
to careers creating visual culture
Mandatory for all students, but few keen
on ‘low-prestige’ careers involving visual culture
Differences in vocational interests and motivations

15. 16/12/12 Prepared by @travisnoakes 15
Lots of data
from four years of fieldwork…
1. E-portfolio lessons (30 independent school- and 12 government school lessons);
2. Screenshots of e-portfolios at the independent school (in 2010, 2011, 2012);
3. Screenshots of e-portfolios at the government school (in 2013);
4. Screenshots of Carbonmade’s graphic user interface;
5. E-portfolio and out-of-class questionnaire feedback (from all 29 learners);
6. Individual interviews with 16 students and both educators;
7. Research journal notes.

16. Research questions and theoretical lenses
to research choices and contexts
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 16
A
COMBINATION
OF
THEORETICAL
LENSES
RQ1. What digital self-presentation and organisation choices do
visual arts students make in their e-portfolios?
RQ2. How do visual arts e-portfolios and visual culture repertoires
relate to individual habitus and spaces of production?
Inequality
approach
Infrastructure
studies
Analysis
1.Innovative multimodal content analysis of screenshots.
2.Case studies referencing sources 1 to 7.
SOCIAL
INTERACTIONISM
SOCIAL
SEMIOTICS
DIGITAL
MATERIALISM
CULTURAL
THEORY

17. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 17
Content Analysis
Representational patterns in
government school students’ self-presentation
Representation of disciplinary personas
1)Foregrounded observational drawer, painter and sculptor roles.
2)Short self-descriptions, most add a few images.
3)Averaged less than 14 images, few pushed the storage limit.
4)Seldom thoroughly organised.
5)No appropriation of inspiration.
6)Private email addresses.
7)Few added copyright statements.
Representation of extra mural visual creative personas
1)Most added extra curricular visual creative productions.
2)The surfaces and medias used were mostly similar to those used in class.
Representation of other personas
1)A few feature personas as music fans and a tourist at the Waterfront.
2)Two added being football players.

18. Government school students’
informal self-representations
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 18
Mobile phone
Camera photographs
Figure 10. Self imagery uploaded by government school students, 2013.

19. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 19
Content Analysis
Representational patterns in
Independent school’s self-presentation
Representation of disciplinary personas:
1)Formal genres were used for self imagery. These were also common in lengthy self-descriptions.
2)Classroom roles were foregrounded, which included graphic design.
3)Artworks were well-organized, often-labelled.
4)Most pupils attributed appropriations.
5)Expensive surfaces and medias used (oil painting, charcoal drawing).
6)A few school email addresses.
7)Most used incorrect copyright statements, but some used more thorough copyright statements than
those prescribed.
Representation of extra mural visual creative personas:
8)Some add extra curricular visual creative productions involving more costly medias than those in
class.
9)A few added links to other digital portfolios.
10)Some pushed imagery storage to the limit.
Other personas:
10)Most featured other leisure personas.
11)Most foreground exclusive sporting personas (rugby, golf, watersports, shooting).
12)Some also added distinctive leisure profiles as musicians or tourists.

20. Independent school students’
self-representations
Presentation by @travisnoakes 2012/12/16
Drawn or painted
Mobile phone
Camera photographs
Video screengrab
Figure 11. Self imagery uploaded by independent school students, 2013.

21. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 21
Checklist for the evidence of privilege
in visual arts e-portfolio personas
Legitimated personas of a ’disciplined identity’ (visual art student)
Detailed self-presentation as a visual arts student
Well-organised, curricular showcase
Appropriation and attribution of legitimated academic cultural capital
Extra-mural, co-curricular (“official”) productions
Exclusive medias (oil versus standard acrylic) and surfaces
“Unofficial” personas’ differentiated practices (lifestyles)
High production values (use of photographic editing software)
“Unofficial” visual creative productions in exclusive medias
Maximum storage
Links to other portfolios
Feature other valued personas (academic, sport, music and tourism as cultural capital)
Desire to connect for work; ‘Available for freelance’ and contact details provided
Desire for a vocational trajectory in cultural industry

22. Importance of online access
in curating digital personas
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 22
Is there infrastructure for me
to curate my work?
-In class
-On my phone
-At home
Will I use this infrastructure
to develop a disciplinary
showcase?
-In class
-On my phone
-At home
Can I curate extra-mural
visual productions?
-Only at school
-On my phone
-At home
What other personas and
cultural capital can I
publish?
-In class
-On my phone
-At home
Visual creative personas Other leisure personas
Can I view online portfolios
as an educational resource?
-In class
-On my phone
-At home
Can I use allied services,
like social bookmarking?
-In class
-On my phone
-At home
Do I link to other
portfolios from my e-portfolio?
-In class
-On my phone
-At home
Where can I participate in
other online affinity spaces?
-In class
-On my phone
-At home
Which should I hide or
publish elsewhere?
-In class
-On my phone
-At home
Which should I hide or
publish elsewhere?
-In class
-On my phone
-At home
At either site, well-connected
students with “free” internet
access did not face the
constraints that their under-and
non-connected peers did in
developing a digital hexis (and
habitus) for e-portfolio production.

23. The young person’s digital hexis
for e-portfolio curation
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 23
The process of digital self-presentation through preparing a user-
identity is different from one’s embodied self-presentation. In the real
world one’s body is an absolute clue of existence. However, in the
‘digital’ one, it is not because you are consulting a website that you do
exist (Hogan, 2010). Here each user must first take existence to
communicate or is hidden without a representation (web profile).
Such profiles require the use of a digital hexis (Georges, 2008) in
which each user designates his or her scheme of self representation.
These significations are transformed like a body, which is shaped by
habit or by repetitive practice. Thus the notion of hexis bears analogy
with the shaping of meaning and body. Students developed this digital
hexis while producing e-portfolio self-presentations and curating their
digital portfolios. Both were necessary for establish an e-portfolio
presence that is traceable, but also required ongoing online activities
to make it seem ‘alive’.

24. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 24
Relationship of an individual’s habituses
to affinity spaces in articulating e-portfolio personas
Figure 12. Habitus and affinity spaces. Graphic by Travis Noakes, 2016.
The habitus is, ‘a system of durable, transposable
dispositions which functions as the generative basis of
structured, objectively unified practices’ (Bourdieu,
1977). Habitus is socialised subjectivity; the way society
becomes deposited in persons in the form of lasting
dispositions, or trained capacities and structured
propensities to think, feel and act in determinant ways,
which then guide them (Wacquant 2005).
Affinity spaces are common for customers in high-
technology, capitalist environments (Gee, 2000, 2001,
Riffkind, 2000). Typically, the customers of businesses
in these spaces share a common endeavor and support
each other in developing and dispersing knowledge
about their shared passion.

25. George’s disciplinary
touchstone e-portfolio-
Five thumbnail page examples
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 25
Figure 13. Anonymised table of thumbnail webpages images from “George’s” 2012 e-portfolio, edited by Travis Noakes, 2016.

26. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 26
Reproducing of a disciplined identity
case #1 George (independent school student)
Secondary habitus Related roles
- Well connected
to the internet
- Owned a laptop,
smartphone,
entry-level camera
• Minimal description of other leisure
personas
• Hid links to “unofficial” deviantArt,
Flickr and Instagram portfolios
• Did not link from Carbonmade to
his Twitter and Facebook accounts,
but did share his imagery to these
• Local and international tourist
• Gallery visitor
• Music fan
• Sports participant
• Socializing
• An exemplary academic achiever
• Fine Arts fan of abstract, modern
and conceptual art
• Observational drawer in charcoal,
pencil, oil pastels, oil painter,
printmaker, designer, photographer
(nature), photo editor
• Extensive fine arts, design and
photographic research online, i.e. FB
fan pages, Twitter and artists’ blogs
E-portfolio curation
• Full showcase of syllabus-related images
• Organized according to gallery metaphor
• William Kentridge and van Gogh as
inspiration in his e-portfolio
• Used other online portfolio services
• Entered online arts competitions
White male with
middle-class parents
who work in
advertising
Digital information habitus Visual creative personas Other leisure personas
Primary habitus Vocational habitus
• Architect
• Medicine
Exemplary academic cultural capital.

27. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 27
Nathan’s e-portfolio
Four thumbnail page
examples
Figure 14. Anonymised table of thumbnail webpages images from “Nathan’s” 2013 e-portfolio, edited by Travis Noakes, 2016.

28. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 28
- No connection
to the internet
- No ownership of ICT
• Brief mentions of other leisure
personas
• Music fan
• Football player
• Socializing
• Fan of visual art
• Observational drawer in pencil
• Painting in plakka paints
• Sculptor in mixed media
• Researched other Carbonmade
portfolios during lessons
• Four syllabus-related images
• Privacy concerns contributed
to a brief self-description and
no self image being added
Black male with
working class parents
•At home, he had no
equipment to produce
art, not enough space
and seldom the time.
Secondary habitus Related rolesPrimary habitus Vocational habitus
Remediation of academic cultural capital via heavily constrained habituses
• Graphic or interior design
• Seeking internships
Digital information habitus Visual creative personas Other leisure personas
E-portfolio curation
Reproducing a disciplined identity
case #4 Nathan (government school student)

29. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 29
Masibulele’s e-portfolio
Four thumbnail page examples
Figure 14. Anonymised table of thumbnail webpages images from “Nathan’s” 2013 e-portfolio, edited by Travis Noakes, 2016.

30. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 30
Under-connected:
-Mobile internet
-Computer use in computer
lab and on home PC.
• Disciplinary: Traditional mixed-media
• Fan of the ‘art industry’
• Sought publicity: contact details
• Facebook and Black Berry Messenger (BBM)
groups for his fashion label
Black Male with
working-class
parents
• Observational drawing in pencil, Illustrator, portrait
drawer, oil and normal pastel work, painter, mixed-
media sculptor, relief tiler and collages.
• Initially only disciplinary, but did add fashion label
• Did not share traditional mixed-media
Background
• Fashion entrepreneur
• Music and movies fan
• Socialiser
• ‘Explorer’
• Fashion entrepreneur
• Socialiser
• Music fan
• Explorer
Foregrounding other personas
case #8 Masibulele (government school student)
Digital information habitus Other leisure personas
E-portfolio curation
Secondary habitus Related rolesPrimary habitus Vocational habitus
A fashion entrepreneur, who used a mobile digital information habitus in
presenting his classroom and aspirant designer personas.
Visual creative personas
• Fashion entrepreneur
• Surface designer
• Architect

31. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 31
Figure 15. Anonymised table of thumbnail webpages images from “Melissa’s” 2013 e-portfolio, edited by Travis Noakes, 2016.
Melissa’s e-portfolio
Four thumbnail page
examples and linked
portfolio

32. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 32
- Well connected
to the internet
- Own PC, professional
photo-, animation- and
3D software
• Disciplinary: sketcher (pencil, ink,
pen), observational drawer,
pointillism
• Mixed-media (different mediums)
• Japanese calligraphy, typography
art
• Animator’s workshop
Black female
with
middle-class
parents
• Pseudonymous identity connected to her
‘Japanese freak’ interests
• Linked e-portfolio to her deviantArt profile
• Created two other portfolios (MyFolio.com,
Behance.net)
• Japanese; Anime and Manga fan
• Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan
• Goth fan
• Emo music fan
• Animation
• Sci-Fi/Fantasy
• Emo music fan
• (Goth)
Background Secondary habitus Related rolesPrimary habitus Vocational habitus
A fan of Japanese Animé and Manga visual culture and an aspirant animator.
Foregrounding other personas
case #10 Melissa (government school student)
• Animator
• Fine Art
Digital information habitus Other leisure personas
E-portfolio curation
Visual creative personas

33. 33
Figure 16. Anonymised table of thumbnail webpages images from “Kyle’s” 2012 e-portfolio, edited by Travis Noakes, 2016.
Kyle’s e-portfolio
Four thumbnail page
examples
and linked portfolios

34. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 34
- Well connected
to the internet
- Own laptop,
smartphone,
professional camera
equipment, Go Pro,
professional
photo- and video
editing software
• Foregrounded watersports and included
tourist personas
• Added links to Flickr and Vimeo
portfolios, but not YouTube
• Watersports fan
• Fan of technicity
• Local and international tourist
• Fan of several music genres
• Socialiser
• Computer gamer
• An fan of photography and “filmography”
• Observational drawer in charcoal and
graphite, oil painter, designer,
photographer (watersports, local and
international travel), photo editor,
videographer and video-editor
• Foregrounded photographic images
• Well-designed using colour principles
• Changes from Banksy to film inspiration*
• Extensive extra-mural research online, i.e.
YouTube ‘giant wave break’ help
• Entered online video competitions
• Used other online portfolio services
White male from a
privileged home
* Similar to ”Dylan” in
Online content creation: looking at students’ social media practices through a Connected Learning lens
(Brown, Czerniewicz and Noakes, 2015)
Post-school
•Google Plus, Tumblr and Instagram accounts
•Linked to society6.com for online sales
Digital information habitus Other leisure personas
E-portfolio curation
Visual creative personas
Foregrounding other personas
case #11 Kyle (government school student)
Background Secondary habitus Related rolesPrimary habitus Vocational habitus
A watersports man, videographer and photographer.
• Finance

35. Evidence of inequality
and the symbolic reproduction of privilege
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 35
1. Prosumer personas of well-resourced students seemed to be amplified during
my intervention.
2. Independent school students benefitted from leisure practices whose capitals
correspond to their institutional schooling. By contrast, working class students
perceived there to be obstacles to sharing repertoires from home.
3. Creation of easily searchable, nonymous identities a male student’s privilege?
4. E-portfolio production is now mandatory at the independent school for grade
10 and up students, but is not offered at the government school.

36. Reproduction of a Capetonian “creative class”
mostly from middle- and upper class origins
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 36
Figure 17. Social reproduction in trajectories linked to the visual arts or visual design. Graphic by Travis Noakes, 2016.

37. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 37
In highly-constrained material and technological contexts, the concept of a
signmaker expressing his or her interest is worthy of critique:
1.Non-internet connected students described being unable to publish the social
information or artwork showcases they wanted to.
2.In the absence of information on digital infrastructure, it can be difficult for
viewers to appreciate how differing contexts shaped the quantum and styles of
visual and social information that users provided. For example, it is hard to spot
that an under-resourced student has put a lot of effort in making workarounds to
overcome slow and unreliable ICT infrastructures versus an affluent student
achieving more with much less effort!
3.Students may not deliberately choose multimodal ensembles: Default software
values can create mis-identifiers that inexpert teenagers missed editing or forget to
change. Their display may result in ongoing misrepresentation on webpages.
Major multimodal contribution
from my visual arts e-portfolio research?

38. 12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 38
Some recommendations for research
related to visual arts e-portfolios
1. How can e-portfolio pedagogy better accommodate diverse material and technological
resourcing?
2. What do young visual creatives do with online portfolios after matric?
3. What visual arts e-portfolio styles might emerge in an isiXhosa-speaking government school?
4. How are digital portfolios being assessed, particularly in justifying access to tertiary education)?
5. Is a new form of distinction (“Distinction 2.0”?) emerging whereby the digital sharing of
differentiated practices and personas marks a distinctive social status?

39. THANKS to supporters of e-portfolio research
National Research Foundation.
University of Cape Town,
Department of Film and Media Studies.
SAME research group.
Cape Peninsula University of Technology,
Department of Informatics and Design.
Technology in Education and Research, MA & PhD students.
12/12/16 Presentation by @travisnoakes 39
Illustration | Design | New
Media Research
w: www.nannaventer.co.za
c: anjaventer@gmail.com
IllustratIONS by