Examining the Characteristics of Literacy Practices in a Technology-Rich Sixth Grade Classroom.

Abstract

The technological revolution and transformation in schools transforms the practices of literacy and poses tremendous challenges to literacy educators and researchers to rethink their basic tenets, to integrate technology and literacy in creative and productive ways. The aims of this study are to examine the characteristics of literacy practices in a technology-rich sixth grade science classroom, and to analyze the new patterns of literacy that appear within the classroom from three theoretical stances, described by Bruce (1997) as Oppositional, Utilitarian, and Transactional (Bruce, 1997). The goal of this analysis is to understand how the technological revolution changes the understanding of “literacy” and “being literate,” and what educators may encounter as classrooms become more technologically rich.