Poster #42 - The Role of Technology in Facilitating Student Interest as a Driver of Literacy Development Among Underserved Middle School Students

• In Event: 18.060 - MTCC Poster Session Two
  In Poster Session: 18.060-5 - Advanced Technologies for Learning Poster Session

Abstract

This paper shares findings from case study research that examines how educators and students in one school envisioned and utilized a suite of digital tools such as Newsela to support ELL, Latinx middle school students’ interest-driven reading of informational texts. The paper focuses on how study students adopted these opportunities. Three main findings emerged: 1) Digital affordances enhanced the capacity to draw meaning from text; 2) Curated content in Newsela and Epic supported interest driven learning, but opportunities were challenged when devices were taken away; 3) Digital literacy tools were used with families, engaging parents as teachers and learners.

Authors

• Brigid J.S. Barron, Stanford University

• Amber Maria Levinson, Stanford University

• Cindy Kim-Ngan Lam, Stanford University

• Judy Nguyen, Stanford University

• Kathleen S Remington, Stanford University