Cover not available
Part of
Learning to Read in a Digital World
Edited by Mirit Barzillai, Jenny Thomson, Sascha Schroeder and Paul van den Broek
[Studies in Written Language and Literacy 17] 2018
► pp. 165–184

Chapter 7
Literacy education in the digital age

| University of Malta
| Trnava University

Beginning readers in the early 21st century have unprecedented access to digital books and reading materials that provide them, and the adults supporting them, with many opportunities as well as many challenges. In the present chapter, we consider children’s early literacy experiences in a digital world. We review research on the influence of digital texts on early reading and explore how digital technologies are being integrated into educational literacy practices, both in the preschool and school age years. The success of this integration necessitates attention to multiple parts of the educational ecosystem, from individual learners to educators, and through to local and national educational policy.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The changing literacy landscape and early reading
  • 3.Multimodality in early reading
  • 4.New literacies
  • 5.Digital books in early education settings
  • 6.Finding the right balance
  • 7.Challenges for schools
  • 8.The integration of digital technologies into literacy instruction
  • 9.A case for more cohesion and integration
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 9 August 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/swll.17.07mif
References
Abrams, S. S., & Merchant, G.
(2013) The digital challenge. In K. Hall, T. Cremin, B. Comber, & L. C. Moll (Eds.), International handbook of research on children’s literacy,learning, and culture (pp. 319–332). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Retrieved from [URL]. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Akcaoglu, M., Gumus, S., Bellibas, M. S., & Boyer, D. M.
(2014) Policy, practice, and reality: Exploring a nation-wide technology implementation in Turkish schools. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 24(4), 477–491. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Anning, A.
(2003) Pathways to the graphicacy club: The crossroad of home and preschool. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 3(1), 5–35. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Banegas, D. L.
(2013) ELT through videoconferencing in primary schools in Uruguay: First steps. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 7(2), 179–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bearne, E.
(2003) Rethinking literacy: Communication, representation and text. Literacy, 37(3), 98–103. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2004) Multimodal texts: What they are and how children use them. In J. Evans (Ed.), Literacy moves on: Using popular culture, new technologies and critical literacy in the Primary classroom (pp. 16–31). London: David Fulton.Google Scholar
(2009) Multimodality, literacy and texts: Developing a discourse. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 9(2), 156–187. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Burnett, C.
(2010) Technology and literacy in early childhood educational settings: A review of research. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 10(3), 247–270. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bus, A. G., Takacs, Z. K., & Kegel, C. A. T.
(2015) Affordances and limitations of electronic storybooks for young children’s emergent literacy. Developmental Review, 35, 79–97. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Calderhead, J., & Robson, M.
(1991) Images of teaching: Student teachers’ early conceptions of classroom practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 7(1–8). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chiong, C., Ree, J., Takeuchi, L., & Erickson, I.
(2012) Print books vs. e-books: Comparing parent-child co-reading on print, basic, and enhanced e-book platforms. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
Christ, T., & Wang, C.
(2015) Young children reading iPad app books together: Reading approaches, meaning making, and changes over time. Poster presented at the 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning , Gothenburg, Sweden.
Christ, T., Wang, X. C., & Chiu, M. M.
(2015) Emergent readers’ social interaction styles and their comprehension processes during buddy reading. Literacy Research and Instruction, 54(1), 45–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ciampa, K.
(2012) Reading in the digital age: Using electronic books as a teaching tool for beginning readers / La lecture à l’ère numérique: l’utilisation de livres électroniques comme outil d’enseignement pour les lecteurs débutants. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La Revue Canadienne de L’apprentissage et de La Technologie, 38(2). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coiro, J., Knobel, M., Lankshear, C., & Leu, D.
(2008) Central issues in new literacies and new literacies research. In J. Coiro, M. Knobel, C. Lankshear, & D. J. Leu (Eds.), Handbook of research on new literacies (First reprint edition, pp. 1–22). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
de Jong, M. T., & Bus, A. G.
(2002) Quality of book-reading matters for emergent readers: An experiment with the same book in a regular or electronic format. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(1), 145–155. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2003) How well suited are electronic books to supporting literacy? Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 3(2), 147–164. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doty, D. E., Popplewell, S. R., & Byers, G. O.
(2001) Interactive CD-ROM storybooks and young readers’ reading comprehension. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 33(4), 374–384. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duke, N. K., & Pearson, P.
(2002) Effective practices for developing reading comprehension. In A. E. Farstrup & S. J. Samuels (Eds.), What research has to say about reading instruction (3rd ed., pp. 205–242). Newark, Del: International Reading Association.Google Scholar
Eady, M. J., & Lockyer, L.
(2013) Tools for learning: Technology and teaching strategies. In Learning to Teach in the Primary School (p. 71). Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology, Australia.Google Scholar
Edwards, S., & Bird, J.
(2015) Observing and assessing young children’s digital play in the early years: Using the Digital Play Framework. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 15(2), 158–173. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ehri, L. C.
(2008) Development of sight word reading: Phases and findings. In M. J. Snowling & D. Hulme (Eds.), The Science of Reading. Willey online library. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Falloon, G.
(2013) Young students using iPads: App design and content influences on their learning pathways. Computers & Education, 68, 505–521. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) What’s going on behind the screens? Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(4), 318–336. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ferrando, M., Machado, A., Perazzo, I., & Vernengo, A.
(2011) Aprendiendo con las XO: El impacto del Plan Ceibal en el aprendizaje. Instituto de Economia, Serie Documentos de Trabajo DT 3/11.Google Scholar
Flewitt, R.
(2011) Bringing ethnography to a multimodal investigation of early literacy in a digital age. Qualitative Research, 11(3), 293–310. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Flewitt, R., Messer, D., & Kucirkova, N.
(2015) New directions for early literacy in a digital age: The iPad. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(3), 289–310. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grant, J. M. A.
(2004) Are electronic books effective in teaching young children reading and comprehension? International Journal of Instructional Media, 31(3), 303–308. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
Guernsey, L., & Levine, M. H.
(2015) Tap, click, read: Growing readers in a world of screens (1st ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Hassett, D. D.
(2006) Signs of the times: The governance of alphabetic print over ‘appropriate’ and ‘natural’ reading development. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 6(1), 77–103. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hernwall, P.
(2016) ‘We have to be professional’: Swedish preschool teachers’ conceptualisation of digital media. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 10(1), 5–23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hutchison, A., & Reinking, D.
(2011) Teachers’ perceptions of integrating information and communication technologies into literacy instruction: A national survey in the United States. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(4), 312–333. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hutchison, A., & Woodward, L.
(2014) A planning cycle for integrating digital technology into literacy instruction. The Reading Teacher, 67(6), 455–464. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
International Reading Association
(2009) New literacies and 21st-century technologies: A position statement of the International Reading Association. Newark.Google Scholar
Jahnke, I., & Kumar, S.
(2014) Digital didactical designs: Teachers’ integration of iPads for learning-centered processes. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 30(3), 81–88. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jewitt, C.
(2008) Multimodality and literacy in school classrooms. Review of Research in Education, 32(1), 241–267. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Karchmer, R. A.
(2001) The journey ahead: Thirteen teachers report how the internet influences literacy and literacy instruction in their K-12 classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 36(4), 442–466. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kim, H.
(2012) Design and use of digital textbook. Presented at the E-learning Korea, COEX., Seoul, Korea.
Kim, J. E., & Anderson, J.
(2008) Mother—child shared reading with print and digital texts. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 8(2), 213–245. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Korat, O., & Or, T.
(2010) How new technology influences parent-child interaction: The case of e-book reading. First Language, 30(2), 139–154. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Krcmar, M., & Cingel, D. P.
(2014) Parent–child joint reading in traditional and electronic formats. Media Psychology, 17, 262–281. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kress, G.
(2005) Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning. Computers and Composition, 22(1), 5–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kucirkova, N.
(2016) iRPD – A framework for guiding design-based research for iPad apps. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(2), 598–610. Retrieved from [URL]. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kucirkova, N., & Littleton, K.
(2016) The digital reading habits of children. Book Trust. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
Kucirkova, N., Messer, D., Critten, V., & Harwood, J.
(2014) Story-making on the iPad when children have complex needs two case studies. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 36(1), 44–54. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kucirkova, N., Messer, D., Sheehy, K., & Flewitt, R.
(2013) Sharing personalised stories on iPads: A close look at one parent–child interaction. Literacy, 47(3), 115–122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Labbo, L. D., & Kuhn, M. R.
(2000) Weaving chains of affect and cognition: A young child’s understanding of CD-ROM talking books. Journal of Literacy Research, 32, 187–210. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M.
(2003) New Literacies: Changing knowledge and classroom learning. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
Larson, L. C.
(2010) Digital readers: The next chapter in e-Book reading and response. The Reading Teacher, 64(1), 15–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leu, D., Kinzer, C., Coiro, J., & Cammack, J.
(2004) Toward a theory of new literacies emerging from the Internet and other ICT. In R. B. Ruddell & N. Unrau (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (5th ed.). Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
Levy, R.
(2009) ‘You have to understand words … but not read them’: Young children becoming readers in a digital age. Journal of Research in Reading, 32(1), 75–91. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lewis, C., & Ashton, T. M.
(1998) Interactive books on CD-ROM and reading instruction for students with learning disabilities: What are your views?. Retrieved from [URL].
Marsh, J.
(2003) One-way traffic? Connections between literacy practices at home and in the nursery. British Educational Research Journal, 29(3), 369–382. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2006) Emergent media literacy: Digital animation in early childhood. Language and Education, 20(6), 493–506. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marsh, J., Brooks, G., Hughes, J., Ritchie, L., Roberts, S., & Wright, K.
(2005) Digital beginnings: Young children’s use of popular culture, media and new technologies. Sheffield: Literacy Research Centre, University of Sheffield. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
Mavers, D.
(2007) Semiotic resourcefulness: A young child’s email exchange as design. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 7(2), 155–176. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mayer, R. E.
(2001) Multimedia learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maynard, S.
(2010) The impact of e-Books on young children’s reading habits. Publishing Research Quarterly, 26(4), 236–248. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McKee, L. L., & Heydon, R. M.
(2014) Orchestrating literacies: Print literacy learning opportunities within multimodal intergenerational ensembles. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(2), 227–255. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McPake, J., Plowman, L., & Stephen, C.
(2013) Pre-school children creating and communicating with digital technologies in the home. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(3), 421–431. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Medwell, J.
(1998) The talking books project: Some further insights into the use of talking books to develop reading. Reading, 32(1), 3. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meyers, E., Zaminpaima, E., & Frederico, A.
(2014) The future of children’s texts: Evaluating book apps as multimodal reading experiences. In iConference 2014 Proceedings (pp. 916–920). DOI logo
Mifsud, C. L., & Grech, L.
(2016) Literacy teaching with tablets in bilingual primary classrooms – The Malta TabLit Study. In N. Kucirkova, & G. Falloon (Eds.), Apps, technology and younger learners: International perspectives, empirical evidence, implications for practice. London: Routledge, UK.Google Scholar
Mikulecky, L., & Kirkley, J. R.
(1998) Changing classes: The new role of technology in workplace literacy. In D. Reinking, M. C. McKenna, L. D. Labbo & R. D. Kieffer (Eds.), Handbook of literacy and technology: Transformations in a post-typographic world (pp. 303–320). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Mills, K. A.
(2016) Literacy theories for the digital age: Social, critical, multimodal, spatial, material and sensory lenses. Bristol, Buffalo: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Ministry for Education and Employment
(2014) A national literacy strategy For all in Malta and gozo 2014–2019. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J.
(2006) Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moeller, B., & Reitzes, T.
(2011) Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). Integrating technology with student-centered learning. Quincy, MA: Nellie Mae Education Foundation.Google Scholar
Moody, A.
(2010) Using electronic books in the classroom to enhance emergent literacy skills in young children. Journal of Literacy and Technology, 11(4). Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
National Association for the Education of Young Children & Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning
(2012) Technology and interactive media as tools in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved from [URL].
National Council for Teachers of English
(2008) Towards a definition of 21st-century literacies. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar
Neumann, M. M., & Neumann, D. L.
(2014) Touch screen tablets and early literacy. Early Childhood Education Journal, 42, 231–239. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Neuman, S. B.
(1999) Books make a difference: A study of access to literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 34(3), 286–313. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Northrop, L., & Killeen, E.
(2013) A framework for using iPads to build early literacy skills. The Reading Teacher, 66(7), 531–537. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
OECD
(2015) Students, computers and learning. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pahl, K.
(2002) Ephemera, mess and miscellaneous piles: Texts and practices in families. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 2(2), 145–166. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Paivio, A.
(1986) Mental representations. A dual coding approach. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Parish-Morris, J., Mahajan, N., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., & Collins, M. F.
(2013) Once upon a time: Parent–child dialogue and storybook reading in the electronic era. Mind, Brain, and Education, 7(3), 200–211. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pearson, P. D., & Gallagher, M. C.
(1983) The instruction of reading comprehension. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8(3), 317–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Plowman, L.
(1995) Designing interactive media for schools: A review based on contextual observation. Information Design Journal, 8(3), 258–266. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Price, S., Jewitt, C., & Crescenzi, L.
(2015) The role of iPads in pre-school children’s mark making development. Computers & Education, 87, 131–141. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Prior, L. A., Willson, A., & Martinez, M.
(2012) Picture this: Visual literacy as a pathway to character understanding. The Reading Teacher, 66(3), 195–206. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reinking, D.
(1992) Differences between electronic and printed texts: An agenda for research. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 1(1), 11–24.Google Scholar
(1998) Synthesizing technological transformations of literacy in a post-typographic world. In D. Reinking, M. C. McKenna, L. D. Labbo, & R. D. Kieffer (Eds.), Handbook of literacy and technology: Transformations in a post-typographic world (pp. xi–xxx). Mahwah, N.J: Routledge.Google Scholar
(2001) Multimedia and engaged reading in a digital world. In L. Verhoeven & C. E. Snow (Eds.), Literacy and motivation: Reading engagement in individuals and groups (1st ed., pp. 195–221). Mahwah, N.J: Routledge.Google Scholar
Roskos, K., Burstein, K., Shang, Y., & Gray, E.
(2014) Young children’s engagement with e-books at school. SAGE Open, 4(1), 2158244013517244. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Roskos, K., Burstein, K., & You, B.-K.
(2012) A typology for observing children’s engagement with eBooks at preschool. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 11(2), 47–66.Google Scholar
Roskos, K. A., Sullivan, S., Simpson, D., & Zuzolo, N.
(2016) E-Books in the early literacy environment: Is there added value for vocabulary development? Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 30(2), 226–236. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sandvik, M., Smørdal, O., & Østerud, S.
(2012) Exploring iPads in practitioners’ repertoires for language learning and literacy practices in kindergarten. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 7(3), 204–221.Google Scholar
Segal-Drori, O., Korat, O., Shamir, A., & Klein, P. N.
(2010) Reading electronic and printed books with and without adult instruction: Effects on emergent reading. Reading and Writing, 23(8) 913–930. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shamir, A., & Korat, O.
(2006) How to select CD-ROM storybooks for young children: The teacher’s role. Reading Teacher, 59(6), 532–543. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shamir, A., Korat, O., & Barbi, N.
(2008) The effects of CD-ROM storybook reading on low SES kindergarteners’ emergent literacy as a function of learning context. Computers & Education, 51, 354–367. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sun, Z., & Jiang, Y.
(2015) How the young generation uses digital textbooks via mobile learning terminals: Measurement of elementary school students in China. British Journal of Educational Technology, 46(5), 961–964. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sun, Z., & Luo, L. M.
(2013) Research on the vital components of intelligent digital textbook: Exemplified by elementary English learning. Open Education Research, 4(19), 60–68.Google Scholar
Trushell, J., Maitland, A., & Burrell, C.
(2003) Pupils’ recall of an interactive storybook on CD-ROM. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 19(1), 80–89. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Viriyapong, R., & Harfield, A.
(2013) Facing the challenges of the One-Tablet-Per-Child policy in Thai primary school education. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 4(9), 176–184. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Walsh, M.
(2010) Multimodal literacy: What does it mean for classroom practice? Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 33(3), 211–239.Google Scholar
Wohlwend, K. E.
(2009) Early adopters: Playing new literacies and pretending new technologies in print-centric classrooms. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 9(2), 117–140. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yokota, J., & Teale, W. H.
(2014) Picture books and the digital world. The Reading Teacher, 67(8), 577–585. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zevenbergen, R.
(2007) Digital natives come to preschool: Implications for early childhood practice. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 8(1), 19–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Vanhees, Claudio, Mathea Simons & Vanessa Joosen
2020. Desirability of Multimedia Hyperlinks in Fiction to Foster Pupil Reading Motivation and Immersion. In Recent Tools for Computer- and Mobile-Assisted Foreign Language Learning [Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design, ], ► pp. 79 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.