f literacy and methods of instruction to gain the best outcomes for a new generation in an altered learning environment. Kress (1997) talks about the significance of design in forging a new framework of literacy, in the sense that design must be expanded beyond reading and writing to include a redesign of purposes and structures for application of learning. Mere critique looks to the past, while design is future thinking. As Kress (1997) writes, "While critique looks to the present through the means of past production, design shapes the future through deliberate deployment of representational resources in the designer's interest" (p. 77). Kress (1997) maintains that without examining the adequacy of present "theories of semiosis and their effects," educators cannot hop to participate in shaping the Electronic or Information Age (p. 75). In this sense, Kress (1997) calls for a new paradigm of literacy that integrates a definition of multi-modal texts as well as their production. For today's generation the image is often more dominant or more powerful of conveyor of information than written text. Failure to develop hybrid texts that are multi-modal undermines the chances that today's young learners will be interested in the text.
In Reading Visual and Multimodal Texts: How is 'Reading' Different? Maureen Walsh (2006) explains the need for new theories of literacy
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