uses of print and digital materials in the lives of

416 Pages·2014·13.92 MB·English

University of South Carolina
Scholar Commons
Teses and Dissertations
7-9-2014
Tere Is an App for Tat: Uses of Print and Digital
Materials in the Lives of Tree Preschoolers
Rebecca Hickman McCraw
University of South Carolina - Upstate
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McCraw, R. H.(2014).Tere Is an App for Tat: Uses of Print and Digital Materials in the Lives of Tree Preschoolers. (Doctoral
dissertation). Retrieved from htps://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2856
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THERE IS AN APP FOR THAT: USES OF PRINT AND DIGITAL MATERIALS
IN THE LIVES OF THREE PRESCHOOLERS

By

Rebecca Hickman McCraw

Bachelor of Arts
Limestone College, 1990

Master of Education
The University of South Carolina Upstate, 1996

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in

Language and Literacy

College of Education

University of South Carolina

2014

Accepted by:

Susi Long, Major Professor

Amy Donnelly, Committee Member

Heidi Mills, Committee Member

Vivian Vasquez, Committee Member

Lacy Ford, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies
© Copyright by Rebecca Hickman McCraw, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
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DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to three of my grandchildren, Aiden, Madilyn, and
Makayla, and to their parents. I love you all to the moon and back. I also dedicate it to my
mother and father whot aught me to love words and showed me what faith looks like. The
first Bible verse I ever committed to memory came fromT he New Testament (John 1:1):
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
This gift God has given mankind, the Word, has powe.r So, my children, and my
children’s children, use your words wisely.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Susi Long, who has always exemplified
scholarship and a sincere dedication to the field of language and literacy and early
childhood education. She taught me to see beyond my own realities and celebrate the
unique manifestations of the human spirit found in others. She taught me how to support
teachers from behind and to remain ever cognizant of the power of language and literacy
in the lives of all children. She taught me how step out of my cultural comfort zone and
take off my blinders. For that, I will be forever grateful.
I want to thank my committee members,D r. Amy Donnelly and Dr. Heidi Mills,
who taught me how to ask questions and question answers, how to see with an inquirer’s
eye, and how to put children at the center of all that I do as a literacy coach and teacher. I
also need to thank Dr. Katie Van Sluys who helped me conceptualize tsh istudy and who
is now doing great work in the field as she guides teachers in the integration and use of
technology within schools. And I thank Dr. Vivian Vasquez, who has been a distant
mentor longer than she knows. I truly appreciate her willingness tsoe rve as an external
member of my committee.
I thank my husband, Henry, for reminding me to never give up and for believing
in me. I also appreciate the support and guidance of family, friends, and colleagues. And
finally, I must acknowledge my fellow NCTE bowling team members who first taught
me how to tweet, what Web 2.0 meant, and pushed my thinking about what it means to
st
be literate in the 21 century.
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ABSTRACT

This ethnographic study examined the uses of print and digital materials in the
lives of three preschoolers over a five-month period of time in the children’s home and
community contexts in the southeast region of the United State.s The research question
asked: What can I learn about the literacy practices of three preschoolers as they use
print and digital materials in their worlds?T he children were the primary focus of the
research, but adults (specifically, the children’s mothers) also served as informants.
Grounded in sociocultural theory and informed by constructivist and media theories, the
study is important because, while we know that young childrena ccess digital tools within
their learning environments, there is little empirical research to highlight the ways that
very young children simultaneously develop both print and digital literacies. To begin to
fill that gap, this study examined the ways that three young children learned about and
through both print and digital materials. Findings indicate that the children accepted these
materials as part of their worlds as they emulated adults, shared the roles of expert and
apprentice, transmediated across digital and print experiences, and demonstrated agency
within their own literacy development. Additional findings illuminated the ways that
adults viewed and provided access to materials, as well as how materials often reflected
evidence of racial bias and gender stereotype. Findings suggest implications for adults
who support young learners by providing access to and engagements with materials that
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will allow them to become active, agentive users of literacies in the 21 century.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ .v
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. x
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. xii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... xvii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ................................................................... 1
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM .................................................................................... 2
RESEARCH QUESTIONS .............................................................................................. 3
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ..................................................................................... 4
DEFINITION OF TERMS ............................................................................................. .10
THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................... 17
CONCLUSION TO CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................... 28
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ........................................................... .30
SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY ...................................................................................... .30
SEMIOTICS: CHILDREN AS MEANING MAKERS IN A CODIFIED WORLD ....................... .42
YOUNG CHILDREN’S LANGUAGE AND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT .............................. .45
DIGITAL LITERACIES .............................................................................................. 53
PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS AS RESEARCHERS IN LITERARY STUDIES ................. 61
CONCLUSION TO CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................ 65
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CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................. 67
METHODOLOGICAL STANCE ................................................................................ 67
PARTICIPANTS ..................................................................................................... 73
CONTEXTS ........................................................................................................... 77
DATA COLLECTION .............................................................................................. 82
TRANSCRIPTION AND ORGANIZATION OF DATA ................................................... 96
DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................ 100
TRUSTWORTHINESS AND CREDIBILITY ............................................................... 106
SUBJECTIVITY, POSITIONALITY, AND RECIPROCITY ............................................ 107
TIMELINE ......................................................................................................... 110
CONCLUSION TO CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................... 111
CHAPTER FOUR: THE CHILDREN USING AND LEARNING THROUGH PRINT
AND DIGITAL MATERIALS ............................................................................................. 1. 13

THE CHILDREN ACCEPTED AND USED BOTH PRINT AND DIGITAL
MATERIALS AS PART OF THEIR HOME AND COMMUNITY WORLDS .................... 114

THE CHILDREN’S TRANSACTIONS WITH PRINT MATERIALS WERE DIFFERENT
THAN THEIR TRANSACTIONS WITH DIGITAL MATERIALS .................................... 165

THE CHILDREN TRANSMEDIATED AND TRANSFERRED SKILLS ACROSS
PRINT AND DIGITAL MATERIALS ....................................................................... 189

THE CHILDREN RESPONDED TO BOTH INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC REWARDS
OFFERED BY ENGAGEMENTS WITH PRINT AND DIGITAL MATERIALS .................. 194

THE CHILDREN WERE BOTH EXPERT AND APPRENTICES WITHIN PRINT
AND DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS ............................................................................ 203

THE CHILDREN EXHIBITED A GREATER SENSE OF AGENCY, EMPOWERMENT,
AND CONFIDENCE WITH DIGITAL MATERIALS THAN THEY DID WITH PRINT
MATERIALS ...................................................................................................... 214

THE CHILDREN LEARNED A RANGE OF SKILLS AND STRATEGIES AS THEY
ENGAGED WITH BOTH PRINT AND DIGITAL MATERIALS ..................................... 229
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CONCLUSION TO CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................ 244

CHAPTER FIVE: THE GATEKEEPERS: ADULTS AND THE USE OF PRINT AND
DIGITAL MATERIALS IN THE LIVES OF THE CHILDREN ..................................................... 246

THE ADULTS VALUED BOTH PRINT AND DIGITAL MATERIALS AND
ENGAGEMENTS, BUT HELD PRO PRINT-BASED BIASES ....................................... 247

ADULTS CONTROLLED THE CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO AND CONTENT OF PRINT
AND DIGITAL MATERIALS .................................................................................. 263

THE ADULTS EXPANDED THEIR UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT LITERACY LEARNING
THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN THE STUDY ........................................................... .278

CONCLUSION TO CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................... 298

CHAPTER SIX: IMPLICATIONS ..................................................................................... .301

VIEWING AND VALUING BOTH PRINT AND DIGITAL EXPERTISE ............................. .305

BIAS AND STEREOTYPES IN DIGITAL AND PRINT MATERIALS ............................... 3. 19

TRANSACTING, TRANSMEDIATING, AND TRANSFERRING WITHIN AND
ACROSS PRINT AND DIGITAL MATERIALS ........................................................... .330

CHILDREN AS ACTIVE, AGENTIVE LEARNERS ..................................................... 343

METHODOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS ................................................................... 350

IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ........................................................... .358

CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 361

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 365

APPENDIX A: CONSENT FORM ..................................................................................... .386
APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE OF HOME USE OF PRINT AND DIGITAL
BASED MATERIALS ................................................................................. 390

APPENDIX C: EARLY CHILDHOOD OBSERVATION TOOL OF DIGITAL CONCEPTS
OF COMPUTERS ...................................................................................... .392

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APPENDIX D: EARLY CHILDHOOD OBSERVATION TOOL OF DIGITAL CONCEPTS OF
TOUCH SCREEN DEVICES .......................................................................... 393

APPENDIX E: PRINT AND DIGITAL MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THE STUDY .................... 394

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