Southend Early Years Conference

Young Children’s Literacy

Development in a Digital Age

Jackie Marsh

University of Sheffield

Friday, 4 October 2013

Structure of Talk

• Digital literacy -definition

• The characteristics of children’s digital literacy practices in homes and communities

• Embedding these characteristics into early years settings/ classroom practice


Digital Literacy

• Reading and writing that takes place through/ with/ in digital media (on screens - computers, tablets, iPads, smartphones, mobile phones, console games, handheld computers, electronic readers, projected texts on a range of environments)

• ‘Reading’ as a term includes decoding/ understanding/ analysing multimodal texts

• ‘Writing’/ ‘Authoring’/ ‘Design’/ ‘Production’ all variously used to describe creating texts using a range of modes

• ‘Text’ is an inclusive term - ‘any instance of communication in any mode or any combination of modes’ (Kress 2003: 48)


Research questions

• What are the key characteristics of children’s digital literacy practices in homes and communities?

• How can the characteristics of home uses of digital literacy be embedded effectively in classroom curriculum and pedagogy?


children’s games and rhymes in a new media age

Children’s use of virtual worlds

family digital literacy

practices


Embedded in the

everyday Passion-driven

Intergenerational

Trans-modes/ mediaGlocal

Online/ offline blurred

Mobile - crossing time/

space

Shaped bypopular cultureNetworked

Digital literacy practices in the home

Playful


Lubna, aged 3 Farooq, aged 2


Grace, aged 4 Sohail, aged 2


Play, Creativity and Digital Cultures

• Singing, dancing, talking to/ in front of TV/ films on own or with friends and family

• Using an electronic toy on own or with siblings and parents (e.g. Arabic script toy, matching words and images)

• Using mobile phone to talk to imaginary person

• Using mobile phone to talk to family members - language play

• Using laptop on own or with siblings and family members to use programs or watch Youtube


• Using games console, generally with siblings

• Using digital camcorder and camera to record family activities

• Using CD/ MP3 player, dancing to music

• Using mobile phone to take photographs and videos

of family members

• Playing on phone apps

• Using mobile phone to engage in video calls

Play, Creativity and Digital Cultures


Farooq


• School-related activity (e.g. homework, forms and letters from school, playing school)

• Daily living routines (e.g. maintaining the social organisation of the family, shopping, cooking, paying bills)

• Work (e.g. related to family employment)• Participating in ‘information networks’ (e.g. to find out what was

happening in areas of interest e.g. reading sports pages of newspapers)

• Religion (e.g. reading holy books)• Literacy for the sake of teaching/ learning literacy (e.g.phonics/

phonological awareness activities using books) • Interpersonal communication (e.g. letters, birthday cards)• Entertainment (e.g. reading books, comics) • Storybook time (adult-child reading of picture books)

(Teale, 1986)

Purposes for literacy in the home (Teale, 1986)


• Daily living routines (e.g. emails; ebay; online

supermarket sites)• Work (e.g. word processing; emails)• Participating in ‘information networks’ (e.g. chat forums;

Facebook)• Religion (e.g. online religious communities)• Literacy for the sake of teaching/ learning literacy (e.g.

tablet apps based on phonics). • Interpersonal communication (e.g. emails; text

messages)• Entertainment (e.g. console games; electronic books;

websites) • Storybook time (electronic books)

Purposes for digital literacy in the home



• Understanding of the affordances of different modes

• Ability to understand the salience of visual images and icons

• Ability to manipulate images to achieve specific purposes

• Ability to navigate within and across screens

• Use gesture/ sound appropriately for purpose and audience

multimodal skills developed



CBeebies: Everything’s rosie


TRANSMEDIA INTERTEXTUALITY (KINDER, 1991)


1928

1930s...







Watch for a nascent culture of virtual reality that underscores the ways in which we construct gender and the self, the ways in which we become what we play, argue about, and build. And watch for a culture that leaves new space for the idea that he or she who plays, argues, and builds might be doing so with a machine.

(Turkle, 1994 p167)


Mobile Devices

52% of 0-8 year-olds in US had access to mobile device such

as smartphone/ ipod or ipad; 38% of 0-8 year olds

used them

(Common Sense Media, 2011)


App Gap? (Common Sense Media, 2011)

47% v 14%



(Turkle, 1994 p167)



(Turkle, 1994 p167)



(Turkle, 1994 p167)



(Turkle, 1994 p167)



(Turkle, 1994 p167)


Embedded in the


Intergenerational




space

Shaped bypopular culture

Networked

Digital literacy practices

in the home

Playful




Virtual worlds for children

• Persistent space that offers a range of environments that are navigable through maps

• Customisable avatar

• Home for avatar

• Free chat and safe-chat servers

• Games which earn in-world currency, generally played individually

• In-world goods that can be purchased

• Moderators

• Information for parents on website




Reading postcards

Writing and reading public chat

Reading game instructions

Writing submissions to the in-world

newspaper

Reading in-world texts e.g. newspapers/

books/ catalogues

Reading in-world text e.g. signs,

challenges posed byproducers



Class 2 Offline

J (B)

Online

L (G)

C (B)

G (G)

B (B)

L (G)

K (B)

J (B)

R (B)A (B)

J (B)

B (B)

A (G)

J (B)

K (B)

B (B)

C (B)

G (G)

H (B)

T (B)

T (B)

M (B)B (G)

L (B)

I (G)

O (G)

N (G)


Apptivity - Hot Wheels

Augmented reality


Disney Dream Play


Online/ offline practices in homes

• Purposes for reading similar across online and offline spaces

• Children engage in literacy practices online that relate to offline practices e.g. social networking with friends

• Offline public spaces increasingly related to online e.g. use of QR codes in toy shops, cinemas



Embedded in the


Intergenerational




space



Playful


Intergenerational


Intergenerational Digital Literacy Practices in Homes

• Communicating via email, texting, Facebook etc.

• Accessing the internet together on PCs, smartphones and tablets

• Sharing e-books

• Playing online/ tablet games together, or using Console games (e.g. Wii)


Embedded in the


Intergenerational




space



Playful

Digital literacyin engaged classrooms



Aims of project: To involve pre- and in-service teachers, teacher educators and pupils in:

• Exploring and sharing the potential of digital technologies

• Understanding more about what it means to be digitally literate

• Sharing and developing good practice in teaching through development of open educational resources (OERs)


Research question

• How can the characteristics of home uses of digital literacy be embedded effectively in classroom curriculum and pedagogy?


1 nursery, 4 primary schools,4 secondary schools, 1 special school

Pre-service teachers

University researchers

Industry partners

Local authority

Research Tools

Photographs

Videos

Interviews

Critical reflections

Blogs

Twitter


Embedded in the


Intergenerational




space


Digital literacy in

engaged classrooms

Playful


CASE STUDY 1: SHARROW NURSERY

• Teachers:Zubida Khatoon and Alice Worthington• Nursery children• Using mobile apps for digital story-telling, including

iPods and digital video



(Turkle, 1994 p167)



(Turkle, 1994 p167)



(Turkle, 1994 p167)



(Turkle, 1994 p167)



(Turkle, 1994 p167)



(Turkle, 1994 p167)


Trans-mode/media

Farm Blog




MONTENEY PRIMARY SCHOOL




My monster likes to eat chicken nuggetsOn Sundays my monster is very dirty, but some days he is very cleanNever tell my monster he is dirty, or he will bite youSometimes my monster is very naughty, but sometimes he’s very well behavedToday is my monster’s birthday, so he’s having a zombie duck partyEveryone wants to come to my monster’s party because he’s very coolRob the zombie duck can’t decide what type of cake to have for his birthday party, but I think he will have chocolate cake this time


TRANS-MODE/ MEDIA:KEY PRINCIPLES

•Reading and writing of alphabetic texts embedded in the digital practices - seamless interface

•Children engaged in a wide range of multimodal design activities that enable them to understand and reflect on the affordances of modes

• Skills involved learning coding - important for developing agency in relation to digital texts


Embedded in the


Intergenerational




space

Shaped bypopular culture

Digital literacy in

engaged classrooms

PlayfulNetworked


MUNDELLA PRIMARY SCHOOL


DAVID HOCKNEY - A BIGGER SPLASH



The children showed their parents how to use the iPads






Blog




INTERGENERATIONAL PRACTICES:KEY PRINCIPLES

• Children engaging with older (and younger) generations outside of the classroom in ‘authentic’ digital literacy practices (through the exhibition, blog, Twitter stream)

• Children in role as experts (when teaching parents)


Embedded in the


Intergenerational




space


Digital literacyin engaged classrooms

Playful


Online/ offline blurred: Halfway Primary School


ONLINE/ OFFLINE PRACTICES:KEY PRINCIPLES

• Online texts related seamlessly to offline in ways that replicate out-of-school life

• Meaningful engagement with communities outside the classroom - local parks and museums (Jim - pupils were, “Learning to write for a real audience rather than for an invented one”)

• Learning as distributed and participatory (Lankshear and Knobel, 2011)

• Potential for links between older and younger children


Embedded in the


Intergenerational




space


Digital literacy in homes/communities

ANDengaged classrooms

Playful


FINAL THOUGHTS

• Engaged pedagogies do not have to replicate exactly home experiences, but should draw on some of the main characteristics in the early years setting/ classroom in ways that are meaningful and authentic.

• We should recognise that children’s home experiences will be very different and not assume knowledge of all digital literacy texts/ practices.

• Children’s skills and knowledge should be built upon and extended, not left as they are in home contexts.

• We need to anticipate future developments and identify how they might be used effectively in early years teaching.






Kirobo

Alone together? (Turkle, 2011)



(Turkle, 1994 p167)

92


http://www.digitalfutures.org/


http://www.digitalfutures.org


http://www.digitalfutures.org/

Thank you!




Education

Southend Early Years Conference