Vivian Vasquez

Living and Learning Critical Literacy in the University Classroom

As a young child I experienced schooling in a Montessori school, Catholic school, public school, and private school. My grandfather was a professor in the Philippines and my mother was an early primary school teacher in the Philippines, and in Canada where I grew up.

Critical Literacy Isn't Just for Books Anymore

The following material, adapted from the new IRA book Getting Beyond “I Like the Book” (second edition), highlights how podcasting specifically and technology in general can be used as tools for thinking about the world and for learning and communicating.

Podcasting as Transformative Work

Although technology is most often heralded an intrinsic efficiency, the process of using technology to create a text is full of opportunities to learn new information, create and distribute knowledge, and engage in identity work. This article explores how the production of 1 such technological text, a podcast, offered students opportunities to engage in sophisticated research practices and draw upon their cultural and semiotic resources in ways that are not possible through traditionally print-centric texts. Using the production of a podcast series in a diverse, urban second-grade classroom, this article seeks to provide insights into not only podcast creation with young learners, but also into the intense and meaningful literacy work possible during their production.