More Than Devices and Translations: Digital Equity and Opportunity for Immigrant Families in the New Latino South

• In Event: 41.084 - Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: 41.084-5 - Multilingual and Multicultural Resources in Technology-Mediated Engagements: Exploring and Supporting the Digital Literacies of Nondominant Students and Families

Abstract

While research on digital equity has focused on access, use, and outcomes of new media with non-dominant communities (Warschauer & Matuchniak, 2010), most qualitative studies focused on Latino families and youth have been conducted in regions with a long tradition of migration, and large and diverse urban communities (e.g., Katz & Gonzalez, 2016; Sanchez & Salazar, 2011; Tripp, 2011). But given the heterogeneity of Latino populations within the country, it is relevant to identify the social, economic, and cultural factors that shape the digital literacies for Latinos in new migration destinations. This study focuses on the digital literacy practices of 10 Latino families living and learning in a small city in the U.S. South, in light of the adoption of 1:1 (one-student, one-device) and Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) initiatives in their school district.

In this analysis, language and digital literacy practices are framed within a repertoire perspective (Blommaert & Backus, 2013), with attention to individual patterns of semiotic resources in polycentric contexts of communication. Their repertoires of resources are shaped by multiple ideologies and power relations, as parents negotiate affiliations in their local and transnational contexts (Levitt & Glick-Schiller, 2004; Lam & Warriner, 2012). Critical and participatory approaches to parental engagement inform the study design, examining how parents as writers and critical educators (Hurtig, 2005; Hurtig & Dyrness, 2011) can reframe their positions and knowledge in relation to their children’s schooling—including their understanding of digital tools.

This participatory action research project was conducted over two academic years (2012-2014) in a series of six technology sessions for Spanish-dominant parents at an elementary school with a population of approximately 70% Latino students. Designed in collaboration with school personnel and parents, 83 two-hour sessions in the program were facilitated by the researcher and a graduate assistant, with a focus on exploration of educational online resources. Data collected include field notes by the researcher and assistant, audio-recording of classroom interaction, individual interviews with 10 focal parent participants from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, and collection of digital and print-based texts. The analysis involved thematic coding of key classroom interactions in which parents discussed websites and digital applications (apps) of potential interest, and their reported and observed household practices. The paper will feature a comparison of case studies, based on parents’ digital access, previous experiences with technology, and current life circumstances.

Findings reveal the ways parents with access to shared digital resources (through family members and networks) purposefully curate and use websites/apps that align with their language development goals for themselves and their children, as well as translating tools to facilitate home-school communication. However, already existing issues of limited bilingual outreach complicated communication about new digital policies within the district, pointing to the need for further home-school dialogue with immigrant residents with limited economic resources. This study illuminates the complexity of digital equity initiatives, and the need to leverage the complex repertoires immigrant parents mobilize in non-traditional migration settings.

Author

• Silvia C Nogueron-Liu, University of Colorado - Boulder