Date Approved

5-31-2024

Embargo Period

6-3-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) Reading Education

Department

Critical Literacy, Technology, & Multilingual Education

College

College of Education

Advisor

Marjorie Madden, Ph.D.

Committee Member 1

Valarie Lee, Ph.D.

Committee Member 2

Kate Kedley, Ph.D.

Keywords

Critical Reading; Multiliteracies; New Literacies; Technology

Subject(s)

Computer literacy; Reading comprehension--Study and teaching (Elementary)

Disciplines

Educational Technology | Elementary Education | Language and Literacy Education

Abstract

This study aims to explore how teachers can purposefully integrate and connect students’ digital literacy funds of knowledge into in-school digital literacy meaning making to enhance critical reading and thinking, and how it supports students’ development of their digital literacy identity. The theories that guided this thesis were from New London Group, Freire, Gee, Knobel, and Lankshear. This was a qualitative research study that collected data from surveys, interviews, observations, and student work samples. Over the course of the study, students participated in a controlled choice research unit. Throughout the study, students received specific instruction on how to use multiliteracies and digital tools in order to create a final digital product. During the study, students gathered information from various sources, such as informational books, internet sites, videos, and graphic sources to answer the six posed research questions, and they collaborated with one another to share ideas, information, and understanding on the research questions. At the end of the study, students showed an increase in collaborative skills, critical reading skills, and technological knowledge. This study is relevant to primary elementary teachers because it shows that students need explicit instruction with digital tools even though they use technology everyday, and students need opportunities to become digital creators of content to share their ideas and understanding.

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