THE CHILDREN USING AND LEARNING THROUGH PRINT AND DIGITAL MATERIALS

This chapter and the chapter that follows present findings from my ethnographic study of three preschoolers as they used both print and digital materials in home and community settings. As I conceptualized and conducted this study, I recognized that living in a Web 2.0 world was very different from the world in which I grew up and that questions needed to be asked to help parents, grandparents, childcare providers, and educators better understand that world. I began the study with the overarching question:

What can Ilearn fromlooking at the literacy practices of three preschool children as they engage with both print and digital materials in home and community settings? In order to explore this question, a variety of data were collected in multiple contexts in the children’s lives over five months.

Using the language of Frank Smith (1988), who posited that children join the literacy club as they successfully enter into the literacy practices used in their worlds, I suggest that the engagements these children had with print and digital materials

influenced their growth as members of the 21st century literacy club. Visible throughout this discussion are key concepts in understanding early childhood learning including

access, demonstration/modeling, approximation, transmediation, and agency as related to the use of both print and digital tools across a variety of contexts. Findings presented in this chapter (Figure 4.1) focus on the children’s access to print and digital materials and

many of the ways that they used, transacted with, and learned from them. Chapter Five focuses on findings specific to the adults in the study and their roles in the children’s access to and use of print and digital tools. Together, both chapters illuminate many ways the children and their families navigated digital and print literacies in the 21st _century,

waters that are relatively uncharted in the field of early childhood literacy education. Table 4.1.

Findings Focused on the Children’s Access to and Use of Digital and Print Materials

The children accepted and used both print and digital materials as a part of their home and community worlds.

The children’s transactions with print materials were different than their transactions with digital materials.

The children transmediated and transferred skills across print and digital materials. The children responded to both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards offered by print and

digital materials.

The children were both experts and apprentices within print and digital environments. The children exhibited a greater sense of agency, empowerment, and confidence with digital materials than they did with print materials.

The children learned a range of skills and strategies as they engaged with both print and digital materials.

The Children Accepted and Used both Print and Digital Materials as a Part of Their Home and Community Worlds

I began this study by looking closely at the kinds of print and digital materials to which the children had access. The children’s environments at home and in other contexts such as church, the public library, retail stores and restaurants offered a wide variety of both print and digital-based materials. Thus, these materials were a part of the cultural settings and mirrored the tools and communication practices, biases and privileges of the

societal environments in which the children lived. This normalcy of access seemed to lead to an acceptance of the materials as a part of their worlds. While analysis of data suggests that the children did engage with both print-based materials in home and other settings, it also confirmed that the children consistently selected digital materials over print materials when both were available. In fact, as will become evident throughout this chapter, the use of the iPad was a common thread in the children’s interactions and I believe that, without access to this device, their digital transactions might have been very different. All three children had access to at least one iPad in their home setting and one in my home. I also had an iPod and a Nook in my home.

With these introductory thoughts in mind, this section focuses on findings that illuminate the children’s (a) access to and choices about print and digital tools in home settings, (b) access to and choices about print and digital materials in community contexts, (c) exposure to racial bias and gender stereotype in digital and print materials,

and (d) emulation of the digital and print practices of adults in their worlds.

Access to and Choices about Print and Digital Materials in Home Settings

As discussed at length in Chapter Three, the children in this study had access in their home settings to a multitude of print materials including children’s books,

magazines, advertisements, mail, newspapers, and writing materials such as pens, paper, easels, and coloring books. Digital material the children had access to included laptops and desktop computers, iPads, iPods, Nooks, electronic toys, and televisions. While the children had access to a variety of print and digital materials throughout the data

focus of their engagements. The primary print materials that the children accessed were children’s books, and the primary digital tool with which they engaged was the iPad. Children’s books were the primary print-based material accessed in home settings. While there was a great deal of print-based material in home settings, children’s books remained the primary print material with which the children engaged. In home settings, the children were regularly read to and had access to many books for self- selection over the course of the data collection period. Books held a place of importance for both families. Both mothers were avid readers and believed in the importance of reading aloud to the children in order to develop concepts of print, increase vocabulary,

and build background knowledge. In addition, both mothers indicated in the initial interview that they had read aloud

regularly to the children before bedtime since their infancy. Jenny, Makayla’s mother, described their nightly ritual, “Makayla and I generally read at night as long as she is being receptive to it. Her routine is pretty normal. She takes a bath, puts her pajamas on, and then she knows we settle down to read.” Jenny shared that she also read to Makayla if she brought a book to her throughout the day and asked her to read. Karen, Madilyn’s mother, explained in the initial interview that she read to Aiden and Madilyn two to three times a week and at times, their cousin A’ndrea, or their father, Jason, would read to them. Karen shared that she usually read to the children in the evenings just before bedtime. After the school year began, she or Jason read with Aiden each evening as part of his homework, and Madilyn usually sat with them and listened. The mothers posted videos of one of their read aloud sessions on the social networking site and confirmed these as a typical examples of their read aloud rituals.

When the children had stories read aloud to them, they usually sat in an adult’s lap or right beside them as the adult held the book. At times the children would offer to turn the page or chime in by verbalizing a familiar phrase as it was read. At other times they would point to objects or characters in the pictures and discuss what was happening in the story. This was repeatedly observed as I collected data and the mothers confirmed that this occurred frequently as they read to the children in their own home settings. An example that is representative of these instances occurred on one occasion as Jenny read

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Martin & Archambault, 1989) aloud to Makayla. Makayla turned the pages from left to right and at times looked up at her mother after the page was turned (Figure 4.1). As Jenny read “Chicka, chicka, boom boom! Will there be enough room? Look who’s coming! L M N O P!” Makayla pointed to the letter O and said, “O.”

Figure 4.1. Jenny reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to Makayla

In addition to engaging with books in the company of adults, the children occasionally browsed through books independently and while sitting with each other. When engaging with books independently, the children often selected books that had

features such as pictures hidden behind flaps or books that had the option to play sounds or music (Figure 4.2).

Figure 4.2. The children browsed through books both together and independently.

The iPad and the iPod were the primary digital material accessed in home settings. While the home setting provided access to laptop computers and cell phones, the digital tools of choice for all three children were touch screen devices, and in

particular, the iPad. Each home setting and my home had one iPad which belonged to the adults but was made available to the children. In all settings, the children vied with each other and/or adults for control of the device. Playing with another digital device, such as the Nook or the iPod became more of a consolation than a preference. I often offered these other devices to occupy one child while another took a turn on the iPad. As the study progressed, the iPod became Madilyn’s digital device of choice; however the iPad was Aiden and Makayla’s favorite digital device.

Turn taking with digital devices. Since I only had one iPad in my home that was available for the children’s use, they often had to take turns. On one occasion I decided not to offer Aiden the other digital device so that he could practice taking turns. Aiden leaned over Madilyn as they sat together on the couch, but allowed her to retain control

of the device while it was her turn (Figure 4.3). It was obvious that this was difficult for Aiden to do. He modeled the motions that he thought Madilyn should make as he swiped his finger through the air, but did not interfere with her interaction with the iPad. After several more minutes, he grew more impatient and asked, “Are you finished with the iPad, Madilyn?” Madilyn answered him by saying, “No, Aiden, it is my turn.”

Figure 4.3. Madilyn took her turn on the iPad while Aiden waited for his turn. On another occasion, Madilyn and Makayla negotiated for access to the iPod

while Aiden took a turn on the iPad (Figure 4.4). Madilyn had the first turn on the device and she self-selected Dora’s Dress up Adventure (Nickelodeon, 2012), an application which invited the children to dress the character, Dora, in a variety of outfits and place her in a variety of settings such as the desert or a backyard. This application was very much like paper dolls but in a virtual format. After Madilyn played on the device for about five minutes, I asked her to let Makayla have a turn. Madilyn had to be coaxed into offering Makayla a turn, so I repeated, “Madilyn, it is Makayla’s turn now. Let her have a

complete. However, after Madilyn added one last detail to her digital picture, she passed off the device so Makayla could have a turn. Makayla had patiently waited for her turn to play, and when Madilyn handed the iPod to her, she said, “My turn.” The girls had been able to successfully negotiate their access to this digital device, an important learned social skill.

Figure 4.4. Madilyn and Makayla as they took turns on the iPod

Selecting digital over print materials in home settings. Member checking confirmed that digital devices often consumed much of the time spent while the children were in their own homes and that, at home, they often chose digital over print materials. Makayla had a large collection of print materials from which to self-select, but she often preferred selecting applications on her mother’s iPad. Likewise, Karen reported that the children seemed to be “obsessed with the iPad” and that they asked to be read to from print texts less frequently after the iPad was brought into the home. In fact, both mothers reported that it became increasingly difficult to engage the children with print texts the more familiar they became with the iPad. This was reflected in the following dialogue from Jenny’s exit interview. In the interview, as we discussed “reading aloud", we were

digital devices. This also reveals the adults’ tendencies to see print-based materials as

real reading, which is discussed in Chapter Five:!

Becky: Do you read aloud to Makayla as often as you used to?

Jenny: I pretty much just have to start reading and her come to it. The whole sit down and have a twenty-minute time completely uninterrupted, it doesn’t happen anymore. She lets me sometimes and other times she is adamant, and says, “No read, no read.”

Similarly, the children typically selected digital materials over print materials when they were at my house. While there were many opportunities for children to self- select print-based materials such as children’s books when spending time in my home, all three children selected digital devices with greater frequency than they chose print

materials. Examples of this are used to illustrate a range of findings throughout this chapter.

Access To and Choices About Print and Digital Materials in Community Contexts

Throughout the study, the children also used print and digital materials while in contexts other than home settings. Print materials in those contexts included books and magazines in the doctor’s office, bulletins at church, coloring books and crayons from restaurants, and writing materials such as pens and tablets in the car. Digital materials in other contexts included compact disc players in the parent’s cars, cell phones in the hands of most every adult the children encountered, and digital displays such as signs and billboards. The availability of these materials reinforced the children’s understanding and awareness of print and digital materials and contributed to their acceptance of these materials as part of their community worlds. Described in the following sections, community contexts in which the children regularly used print and digital materials

Print and digital materials in church. The children in this study attended church with their parents and/or with me most Sundays and sat with us in the pews during the church service (although at times Madilyn wanted to go to the nursery to play). During this time, some print materials were within easy access of the children such as church bulletins and hymnals, for example. Other print and digital materials such as notepads or coloring books were supplied by their mothers or by me. The children used these

materials primarily to stay occupied during the worship service. Although the children’s mothers and I usually brought toys for the children to play with during the church service such as dolls or cars, I did not observe the children playing with any objects other than print and digital materials during this study. The children never just listened to the minister or sat without activity; they were always engaged with some form of print or

digital material.

Using print materials in church. While in church, the children accessed print material in the form of bulletins, hymnals, and The Bible. They also had access to children’s books that their mothers or I provided. In addition to these materials, the children were provided with a small cloth bag that contained a small clipboard with an activity or coloring sheet, a pencil, and crayons. These bags were provided by the youth minister to keep children occupied while attending church. The children used these materials at times to write and color. They also used some of the books that were placed in the pews. For example, on one occasion during the singing of a congregational hymn, as was typical for me, I picked up a hymnal, thumbed through to find the correct page number, and began to sing. Watching me, Makayla also picked up a hymnal and began thumbing through it as if she were trying to locate a hymn. She held up the hymnal and

mouthed words as she looked up at me. On another occasion, I was reading the church bulletin and Makayla picked up a bulletin and looked at it just as I did, approximating my reading behaviors. During the service, she often looked up at me when she held print-

based materials such as these and said, “Read.”

Using digital materials in church. The children’s access todigital materials in church was dependent on adults. The children used digital materials in church if their parents or I brought devices such as the iPad, iPod, or one of the digital toys the children owned. Jenny brought the iPad at the request of Makayla and also because she knew that Makayla usually played quietly when she used the iPad. The children typically asked for the devices as soon as we sat down in the sanctuary. I also offered these devices when I took the children to church by myself; my intent was to keep them occupied so that they

would not disturb the other members of the congregation. One problem that the parents and I encountered with the use of the devices in

church was that, when we turned the sound off so that the service would not be disrupted, the children often had problems successfully playing the games. The need for the sounds that accompanied many digital applications will be explored in a later finding, but the lack of sound limited the kinds of digital engagements the children could have while in church because they depended on the voices, music, and sound effects within applications to guide their digital play. For example, Makayla was especially fond of playing with the application, Dora’s Dress Up Adventure (Nickelodeon, 2012). The sound of Dora’s voice guided Makayla as she selected clothing items for the virtual paper doll - a pinging sound let her know when it was time to release her finger from the touch screen and place the item of clothing on Dora. One Sunday, I did not have headphones with me, so I turned off