Abstract
This year-long qualitative study draws from multimodal theory and New Literacies Studies to document the digital literacy experiences of a diverse group of 2nd-graders using e-readers. Twenty-first century classrooms must expand traditional notions of literacy to prepare students for the ever-changing, media-rich world. Students participated in small-group digital reading workshops, where they read interactive picture books. The data mainly drew from transcripts of student interactions and open-ended interviews and were analyzed through a combination of comparative and discourse analyses. The author argues that multimodal texts offer opportunities for rehearsal of literacy practices, engagement, talk as a choice of reader response, and student agency. Even though personal digital devices offer opportunities for independent reading, young readers still need social interactions around books to co-construct meaning. The study found the students spent additional time reading and successfully mediated the available resources as they engaged in digital reading.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 42-56 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Journal of Research in Childhood Education |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2 2016 |
Scopus Subject Areas
- Education
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
Keywords
- Beginning reading
- comprehension
- electronic books
- English language learners
- language
- literacy instruction
- qualitative evaluation
- social interaction