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The new literacies of Web 2.0 : a case study of one school district

University of British Columbia

While we know that youth are increasingly using the Internet for school purposes like gathering information for assignments, research is just beginning to identify the actual Internet processes and practices of adolescents when learning. This study joins the theoretical conversation surrounding New Literacies Theory by combining the perspectives that Web 2.0 is a new literacy, that the new knowledge economy requires youth to be literate in new ways, and that Web 2.0 is a democratic medium. This is a case study using the mixed methods of interviewing, participant observation, and surveys. The goal of the case study school district was to implement digital literacies in its schools. The principal at the focal school had adopted this goal and was encouraging teachers to implement Web 2.0 tools. Survey findings showed that the majority of teachers were not using Web 2.0 tools in their practice. However, the practices of three teachers who were using Web 2.0 tools were investigated. Findings showed that these teachers used Web 2.0 tools in both new literacy ways and traditional ways that simply took a former practice and technologized it. Findings further showed that the students were not frequently using the Internet in ways that engendered practices associated with new literacies. This was partly attributed to the fact that teachers were not using these literacies in schools. Descriptive statistics and t-tests showed statistically significant differences between many of students’ self- and school-selected practices. Most of the tools were used more frequently for self-selected reasons, whereas only wikis were used more often for school-selected practices for both accessing and contributing to information. Also, students accessed the web for information more often than they contributed to it. This practice matched that of their teachers. The focus group interview showed that students’ self-selected Internet practices were more participatory and social whereas their school-selected practices were more passive. This study extends the developing New Literacies Theory by proposing that no one form of literacy supersedes or holds more value than another. It also suggests that we take care not to devalue existing forms of literacy when we begin to integrate new forms.

Text

2011-06-30

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/35849

Language and Literacy Education

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/