A Funds-of-Identity Approach to Developing Teachers’ Computational Literacies in Socioeconomically Diverse Contexts

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Transforming Teacher Education: Equipping Educators for Inclusive and Diverse Classrooms (Table 5)

Abstract

Advances in computational thinking (CT) and artificial intelligence (AI) broaden the dimensions of computational literacies, introducing new perspectives to teacher preparation. The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to explore nuanced ways of how secondary teachers (n=34) developed their computational literacies through a FigJam Generative AI and CT-enriched funds-of-identity-featured instructional activities for non-STEM subject teaching in a socioeconomically diverse urban context in the Southwest US. Data collections included semi-structed interviews, reflective essays, and design artifacts. Findings revealed multiple trajectories for the mutual reinforcement of teachers’ computational literacies with a focus on CT and AI (e.g., functional, critical, and sociocultural) in a funds-of-identity context as well as their identity of teaching as digital beings through this hybrid learning environment.

Authors

• Yan Chen, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• P.G. Schrader, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Kendall Hartley, University of Nevada - Las Vegas