“Language not just as words”: Supporting new literacies through a design project in disadvantaged schools in Chile

Abstract

Young people are increasingly connected in a digital and globalized world, but technology-mediated interactions alone do not necessarily lead to a culture of meaningful participation and meaning making processes. Students from disadvantaged contexts are especially vulnerable to this. Drawing on the Activity-Centred Analysis and Design framework this paper discusses a case study situated in disadvantaged schools in Chile. Phase 1 of the study revealed that high school students’ literacy practices in the everyday classroom mostly reflected low conceptual and procedural understanding of new literacies, confirming that these young learners enacted passive forms of technological use in and out-of-school spaces. Phase 2 of the study involved the development and implementation of a digital project at a Chilean school. Results offer insights on how alterations in tools, learning tasks, and social arrangements, led to reconfigured literacy practices. Findings also show that the relationship between access, use and outcomes is not straightforward, and students’ cultural capital varies, even in disadvantaged schools. Implications of the study stress the pivotal role of schools and the potential of well-orchestrated educational designs, for introducing and encouraging meaningful literacy practices, and for leveling up the access to the digital world.

Toward conceptual clarity for digital cultural and social capital in student learning: Insights from a systematic literature review

“…The studies included in the review belonged to three categories. The first category of studies differentiated between digital cultural and social capital in the analyses (Claro et al 2012;Cortoni and Perovic 2020; Kamin and Meister 2016;Micheli 2016;Stranger-Johannessen and Norton 2017;Talaee and Noroozi 2019;Thibaut and Carvalh 2021;Vickery 2014;Zhang 2015). The second category of studies referred to a more general form of digital capital comprising cultural and social capital (Brader et al 2014;Chen 2012;Jamaludin et al 2012;Lam 2014;Mathis 2010;Noakes et al 2018;Shin and Seger 2016).…”

“…Claro and colleagues (2012) studied 15-year-old Chilean students and found that although most students were able to complete digital tasks (e.g., searching for and organizing information), very few were able to produce digital information (e.g., developing ideas, refining, and presenting information in digital environments). Digital cultural capital valued by schools also includes digital literacies for educational purposes, and understanding of technology at the procedural (e.g., editing content online), conceptual, or safety levels (e.g., grasping the effects of their digital footprint on their lives) (Ünlüsoy et al 2010; Thibaut and Carvalh 2021).…”

“…First, students' demographics, motivation, attitudes, and familiarity with computers were associated with their levels of digital cultural and social capital. Thibaut and Carvalh's (2021) case study of a challenging school (high poverty and students' risk of failing or withdrawing from school) in Chile found that students were less proficient in two aspects of digital cultural capital. In particular they had difficulty using technology to represent meanings differently (e.g., copying from PowerPoint) and they were passive consumers of information on social media (e.g., Facebook).…”

Networked Learning in 2021: A Community Definition

“…It continues to be important to address ethical issues, and issues of identity, agency, and privacy in education. What is more, most research on the use of technologies for learning still tends to privilege certain areas of the world (Thibaut and Carvalho 2020). The current moment offers a valuable opportunity to turn our attention to the global south and bring a more diverse voice to the conversation.…”

Diseño y pilotaje de una app para el pensamiento crítico

“…Por lo tanto, abordar el pensamiento crítico adquiere vital relevancia en la actualidad (Hollis, 2019). Asimismo, pese a que se asume que los estudiantes nacidos en el siglo XXI son nativos digitales (Prensky, 2001), la evidencia sugiere que ello no redunda necesariamente en favorecer procesos de aprendizaje (Selwyn, 2012;Thibaut y Carvalho, 2020).…”