Grounded on the conceptual framework of Bakhtin's architectonic form, we seek to demonstrate that the dimensions of a genre practiced in a virtual learning environment (VLE) are directly related to its design (conception, idealization, and form), that is, to its architectonic form as the design of a VLE, which can foster (new) multiliteracies, provide flexibility or not for multisemiotic genre practices in the contemporary world. To achieve this aim, we observed the design of two tools from two distinct VLEs; in one of them we found the influence of traditional school relationships of time and space (and power), generating an architectonic form of the traditional school characterized by its genres and literacies. In the other VLE, considering its architectonic form, we concluded that the design tends to favor the use of different modes of language - textual, graphic, sound, with static and dynamic images with easy communication/interaction in the contemporary technological media.
Architectonic Form; Technological Tools; Learning Environments
