Linda D. Labbo

Negotiating the Multiple Realities of Technology in Literacy Research and Instruction

The authors consider the relation between research and practice as it applies to digital technologies. They do so within the multiple realities of different theoretical and methodological perspectives.

Weaving Chains of Affect and Cognition: A Young Child's Understanding of CD-ROM Talking Books.

This qualitative case study employed Wittrocks Generative Learning Model to examine in-depth one kindergarten childs comprehension when reading considerate and inconsiderate CD-ROM talking books in a classroom computer center. A CD-ROM talking book consists of a story told through multimedia modes of information that has been digitized on a CD. Considerate CD-ROM talking books are those that include multimedia effects that are congruent with and integral to the story. Inconsiderate CD-ROM talking books are those that include multimedia effects that are incongruent with or incidental to the story. Findings indicate that considerate CD-ROM talking books supported the childs understanding and retelling of the story and involved meaning-making processes that wove together affective responses, cognitive processes, and metacognitive activity; however, inconsiderate CD-ROM talking books resulted in the childs inability to retell the story in a cohesive way and fostered passive viewing. Implications for research and practice are drawn.

A Semiotic Analysis of Young Children's Symbol Making in a Classroom Computer Center

Using semiotic analysis, the author investigated the production and use of young childrens symbol making on the computer in a kindergarten classroom. The following questions were addressed: What types of computer-generated symbols do kindergartners use? What do the symbols mean to the children? How do the children assign meaning to symbols within the cultural context of the computer center? How do kindergartners learn to use the various media tools available in a word and art processing program to produce symbols? Data for the ethnographic study included field notes, videoand audiotapes of whole-class computer activities and childrens computer center activities, interviews with children and the teacher about their computer-related activities, and printouts of childrens work on the computer. A semiotic analysis of data led the author to use the metaphor of screenland to describe childrens stances toward their work. From this perspective, children viewed the computer as a land to be entered for various purposes that included playing in screenland, creating art in screenland, and writing in screenland. These stances were shaped by childrens emerging understanding of the purposes and forms of language, arts, and multimedia and influenced the types of symbols they generated. Furthermore, findings suggest that as these children emerged as users of symbols they also learned how to discover and express meaning. Support is given for a continued expansion of the definition of young childrens literacy and literacy development to include multiple modes. UTILIZANDO EL analisis semiotico, el autor investigo la produccion y el uso de la construccion de simbolos en computadora por parte de ninos de una clase de preescolar. Se formularon las siguientes preguntas: ?Que tipos de simbolos generados por computacion usan los ninos? ?Que significan los simbolos para los ninos? ?Como asignan los ninos significado a los simbolos dentro del contexto cultural del centro de computacion? ?Como aprenden los ninos a usar las variadas herramientas multimedia de un programa de procesamiento de palabras y de arte para producir simbolos? Los datos para el estudio etnografico incluyeron notas de campo, grabaciones de audio y video de las actividades de computacion de la clase y de las actividades de los ninos en el centro de computacion, entrevistas con los ninos y el docente acerca de las actividades relacionadas con la computacion y ejemplares impresos del trabajo de los ninos con la computadora. El analisis semiotico de los datos llevo al autor a usar la metafora del mundo de la pantalla para describir las posturas de los ninos hacia su trabajo. Desde esta perspectiva, los ninos consideraron la computadora como un mundo al que puede entrarse con variados propositos que incluian jugar, crear arte y escribir en la pantalla. Estas posturas se conformaron segun la comprension creciente de los ninos acerca de los propositos y las formas del lenguaje, las artes y los multimedia, e influencio los tipos de simbolos que generaron. Mas aun, los hallazgos sugieren que al constituirse los ninos en usuarios de simbolos, tambien aprendieron como descubrir y expresar significados. El trabajo apoya la idea de una expansion continua de la definicion de la alfabetizacion de ninos pequenos, asi como el hecho de que el desarrollo de la alfabetizacion incluye multiples formas. BEI DER Analyse von semiotischen Zeichen untersuchte der Autor die Gestaltung und die Anwendung von selbstgeschaffenen Symbolen in einer Kindergartengruppe. Folgende Fragestellungen wurden erhoben: Was fur Typen von computergenerierten Symbolen verwendeten Kindergartenkinder? Was bedeuten diesen Kindern die Symbole? Welche Bedeutung messen sie den Symbolen innerhalb eines kulturellen Kontexts im Computerzentrum zu? Wie lernen sie, die verschiedenen medialen Werkzeuge zu verwenden, die ihnen von einem Text- und Graphikverarbeitungsprogramm zur Gestaltung von Symbolen zur Verfugung gestellt werden? Die Daten fur die ethnographische Feldstudie beinhaltet schriftliche Aufzeichnungen, Video- und Audioaufnahmen von den Computeraktivitaten der gesamten Kindergartengruppe wie einzelner Kinder im Computerzentrum, Interviews mit Kindern und dem Lehrer uber ihre computerbezogenen Tatigkeiten und Computer-Ausdrucke von den Arbeiten der Kinder. Eine semiotische Datenauswertung fuhrte den Autor zum Gebrauch der Metapher “Bildschirmlandschaft”, um die Einstellung der Kinder zu ihrer Arbeit zu beschreiben. Aus dieser Perspektive gesehen betrachteten die Kinder den Computer als ein Land, das man mit verschiedensten Absichten betritt, und zwar zum Spielen, zum kreativen Gestalten und Schreiben. Diese Einstellungen werden geformt durch das sich entwickelnde Verstandnis der Kinder fur den Gebrauch und Nutzen der Sprache, fur deren kunstlerische und multimediale Gestaltungsformen, und sie beeinflusten die Arten von Symbolen, die sie schufen. Auserdem legen Beobachtungen den Schlus nahe, das so wie die Kinder sich als Anwender von Symbolen entwickelten, sie gleichzeitig lernten, wie man sprachliche Bedeutungen entdecken und ausdrucken kann. Theoretische Unterstutzung wird geboten fur eine Begriffserweiterung der Definition von kindlicher Literarisierung bzw. der literarisierenden Entwicklung einschlieslich ihrer vielfaltigen Moglichkeiten.

THE ELECTRONIC TRANSFORMATION OF LITERACY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STRUGGLING READER

This article examines how changes in the nature of text, brought about by its electronic representation, will increasingly affect the circumstances of struggling readers. It is argued that the textual transformation now in progress holds great promise for such readers. The emerging view of reading disability based on developmental stage theory is discussed, and this perspective is used to recommend instructional approaches that are appropriate to successive stages of reading acquisition.

From assimilation to accommodation: a developmental framework for integrating digital technologies into literacy research and instruction

This article presents a developmental framework for interpreting and understanding how new digital technologies have been integrated into literacy instruction and research, and how they might be integrated in the future. The framework borrows the concepts of assimilation and accommodation from Piaget’s classical developmental theory of learning, applying them to how individuals and groups involved in literacy instruction and research conceptualize and implement new digital technologies in their work. It is argued that assimilation and accommodation define a developmental reality that helps explain a variety of issues pertaining to new technologies in relation to literacy research and practice, such as how new technologies come to be used or not used in literacy instruction, and what research questions are asked or not asked by literacy researchers exploring the implications of new technologies for instruction. The influence of this framework on the authors’ own work and on the work of others is illustrated.

Technology and Literacy Education in the Next Century: Exploring the Connection Between Work and Schooling.

For over 10 generations in America, a traditional concept of literacy as the ability to read and write print on a page has dominated schooling and adequately served the literacy demands of the society and of the workplace (Venezky, Wagner, & Ciliberti, 1991). In this not-so-distant past, during industrial and print-based economic eras, students learned functional uses of literacy and a body of knowledge that directly applied to workplace positions and stable workplace affiliations that they were likely to experience throughout their lives (Papert, 1993). However, in the emerging digital economic era, spurred by the recent proliferation of

A Vocabulary Flood: Making Words “Sticky” With Computer‐Response Activities

Childrens literature is a primary source for introducing young children to new words at home and at school, and childrens early vocabulary knowledge is a key component of oral language, which is essential for comprehension. This column is focused on children from low socioeconomic backgrounds who frequently find themselves in a vocabulary crisis. It describes how computer-related activities may play a role in tackling this problem. Furthermore, this column provides the background, rationale, and steps for using vocabulary flood—a five-day instructional cycle the authors developed that uses computer technologies and related activities.

From Morning Message to Digital Morning Message: Moving From the Tried and True to the New

Since technology isn’t going to go away and it is changing how we look at ourselves and the world around us, I believe that it is important for schools to help students develop technological skills that will equip them for the future. Teachers are the ones who will have the responsibility to do that. Sooner or later some governmental body is going to dictate what technology use in a school means. Sometimes that works out okay, but often decisions are made not by the people who have an intimate working knowledge of how children learn but by policy makers who are far removed from the daily interactions of children in a learning environment [emphasis added]. I’d much rather take a proactive stance [emphasis added] in the integration of technology into my classroom than a reactive one. (L. Stattlemeyer in Routman, 2000, p. 510)

What Will Classrooms and Schools Look Like in the New Millennium

In this “RRQ Snippet,” four literacy researchers discuss the influences of diversity, changing expectations, technology, and teacher professional development on literacy teaching and learning.

Beyond Storytime: A Sociopsychological Perspective on Young Children's Opportunities for Literacy Development during Story Extension Time

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate young childrens opportunities to socially construct literacy during story extension time. Viewed from a sociopsychological perspective, findings suggest that story extension time afforded the children with occasions to accomplish key purposes of literacy development and construct concepts about literacy. Children took the following identifiable stances toward the tasks: (a) deliberate observers, peer watchers who contributed little to the group discussions but learned about literacy strategies and forms from observing other children in their group; (b) divergent collaborators, who varied their ways of expressing ideas or socially interacting with peers and explored many forms of meaning-making during story extension sessions; and (c) focused collaborators, who consistently used recurrent topics, themes, or strategies or sought out particular individuals. This repetition allowed them time to explore a topic or strategy until they felt they had some control over the required forms, functions, and processes. Each stance afforded children unique occasions for exploring their concepts about literacy and stories.