The Old and the New in the New Digital Literacies

Abstract

This article argues that both traditional literacy (reading and writing print) and new digital literacies (for example, playing video games) come in two grades or forms, one of which can lead to success in the modern world and one of which is less likely to do so. In both cases, the role of “academic” or “specialist” language is crucial in distinguishing between the two grades     

Minecraft and children’s digital making: implications for media literacy education

This article aims to contribute new knowledge about the media literacies children assemble as they play the digital game Minecraft which it describes as a children's digital making platform. The article argues media literacy's tendency to use socio-cultural and humanist accounts of media participation limit its ability to fully explain digital making practices. Socio-material and performative literacy theories are used to introduce a framework for exploring digital media literacies across four nodes: digital materials, media production, conceptual understanding and media analysis [Dezuanni, M. 2015.“The Building Blocks of Digital Media Literacy: Socio-material Participation and the Production of Media Knowledge.”Journal of Curriculum Studies 47 (3): 416–419]. The article's second half outlines how the author uses digital ethnography in his home to understand children's Minecraft digital making and the article's theoretical claims are explored using empirical data. The conclusion considers the ramifications of digital making for media literacy research and practice.     

The Implications of the 'New Literacy Studies' for Literacy Education

This paper deals with the following questions:

• 1 The ‘problem’: what is the ‘Literacy Debate’ and why do such apparently arcane accounts of language and literacy have such a high profile in popular media?
• 2 What are the New Literacy Studies (NLS) and what are the new understandings of language and of literacy on which NLS are based?
• 3 . What are the implications for literacy education?

     

Correspondence

Abstract

A profile of teacher competences is described and interrogated in the light of inherent, language‐based problematics. It is argued that such texts tend to constrain the modes and parameters within which to think about one's practice, in addition to masking possible deficiences in education systems through a pathologisation of the individual practitioner. The importance of keeping alive alternative discourses is stressed. Such discourses, it is argued, should recognise the complex idiosyncratic, contingent aspects of teaching and learning, and should include students’ reflections on their own in‐ and out‐school experiences through dialogic, autobiographical writing.     

Jordanian student teachers' perceptions of teaching writing in kindergartens during their field training experience

The purpose of the study was to examine student teachers' perceptions of teaching writing in kindergartens and to identify to what extent the cooperating teachers influence the student teachers' perceptions. To achieve the research aims, a 31‐item questionnaire was developed by the researchers and administered to 50 student teachers and their cooperating teachers. The questionnaire was administrated to both groups as a pre‐test and to student teachers as a post‐test. The results of the study revealed that student teachers were more likely to be emergent literacy‐oriented in their perceptions of teaching writing than they were to the reading readiness philosophy. Furthermore, the influence of the cooperating teachers was insignificant as the student teachers' perceptions of teaching writing developed earlier were more stable and difficult to alter later. In light of these findings the researchers addressed a number of suggestions and recommendations.     

Fighting baddies and collecting bananas: teachers’ perceptions of games-based literacy learning

This paper discusses how practicing teachers conceptualize commercial off the shelf (COTS) videogames within classroom-based English language arts instruction. Understanding how today’s teachers perceive virtual worlds and videogames as an instructional tool for schema building within literacy development will help researchers better understand ways to structure games-based learning in classroom environments. Data for this study were drawn from case study research of a graduate pilot course focusing on the intersections of virtual worlds, popular culture, and literacy instruction. Findings indicate that a limited understanding of videogames and virtual worlds does not hinder practicing teachers from desiring to create engaging units of study using videogames as a schema building tool. However, teachers feel that using videogames for schema building in the classroom will lead to negative perceptions of how they are viewed as teachers. This is compounded by the perception that they will not receive adequate financial support in the form of professional development from administration, nor will they receive monies for technological support to implement within instruction. However, despite these findings, teachers desire to use games-based learning and implement it as a schema building exercises with their students.     

教师测评素养国外研究述评

教师测评素养是教师教育和教师发展的重要组成部分。通过对国外有关教师测评素养研究文献的梳理和分析,其研究内容主要包括教师测评素养的构成、现状及培训需求、测量工具的开发和验证、测评素养发展途径和影响因素等。这些研究对我国开展教师测评素养相关研究有一定的参考价值,同时也启示我们可以在研究对象、研究方法和研究内容上进一步拓展,要基于我国国情,开展教师测评素养及其测量测量工具的本土化研究。