Emotionality of an E-book

Subthemes E-book as Unfamiliar E-book as Unpredictable THEME 3

Emotionality of a Changing Role

Subthemes

Teacher as a Facilitator Teacher as a Learner Teacher as a Spectator

THEME 4

Changes in Knowledge and Understanding of E-books

THEME 5

Changes in Perceptions about E-books

Subthemes

Perceptions about traditional books as Privileged

Perceptions about E-books as authentic literature

Perceptions about E-books as learning tools Perceptions about E-books and student

behavior

Perceptions about Moving Forward with E- books

This section will be followed by a discussion of how the tenets of sociocultural theory played out in our work together and how this contributed to individual and collective learning. Interwo- ven with the academic descriptions will be personal journal entries that relate to each theme, con- cluding with a narrative rendering of our time together, in order to present a more rich, layered representation of the study within the pages of a pleated text (Richardson, 1997).

Participants

As I mentioned in Chapter Three, all of the participants shared common demographic characteristics. As veteran female teachers, the 50-something women had similar backgrounds in regard to race, gender, marital status, religion, and status as veteran teachers. However, they also manifested differences. Each came from a different educational and career background, and each brought different life and technology experiences to our metaphorical table around which we met. These differences, combined with the stark differences in personality and interactive tendencies, led to the adoption of different roles within our inquiry group. While by no means static, distinctive dynamics emerged. I shared the following descriptions with each participant, and they agreed that what follows is a fair and accurate representation of themselves and their role in our inquiry.

Delta. As the most experienced of us all, Delta came to the study with a strong convic- tion that it was her responsibility to “know how to use [technology] to reach these kids in their world” (M1, 35). She unequivocally recognized her need to learn about electronic books, despite never reading one. The owner of a Nook, given to her by her husband and son because of her love for reading, she had yet to even turn it on. Yet, she repeatedly and vehemently declared that she knew her participation in the study was a way that she could better reach and teach her stu- dents.

Delta was often a woman of few words during our meetings, but the comments she did make during our discussions revealed her romanticized notion of the traditional book, as she of- ten referred to traditional books as “dreamy to her” (M4, 10). A colorful speaker, her use of fig- urative language added an emotional component that was often the catalyst for conversations

about the benefits of one format of book over the other. While she was the first and an enthusi- astic user of our first story app, and she found “joy” (SI, Delta, 154) in watching her students en- joy the books, at the end of the study, she reported that she remained a traditional book devotee.

Inga. Of the other teacher participants, Inga is the only one who had ever read digitally. Though she didn’t have a tablet or e-reader, she received recipes and other articles digitally and frequently read those on her desktop computer. Although she witnessed her teenage children and husband using the iPad for reading, she had never experienced it herself. Citing that she liked the physicality of a book, she conceded reading digitally was fine for short texts, but that she

couldn’t imagine reading a longer text digitally.

Inga came to teaching from a career in engineering. Perhaps because of her background, Inga frequently took a leadership role among the other participants. She often questioned others’ statements and experiences and gave suggestions when others found that time proved to be a constraint limiting their full participation. Reflective journal responses were often concise and to the point, as were her comments.

Lois. An enthusiastic and eager participant, Lois also came to the study with no experi- ence with iPads or electronic books. Reading mostly for spiritual growth, she claimed not being able to write in or highlight electronic books as a major deterrent. Even though she is reluctant to read digitally for pleasure, she embraced using the e-books in her classroom.

Lois was quiet during our sessions. She did respond when asked questions or when spo- ken to directly, but did not initiate conversation. She did, however, seek help from others when exploring the story apps during the meetings. Her demeanor during the meetings would best be described as observant.

Lucy. Lucy began the study with an attitude of resistance. Self-described as “old-fash- ioned” (FI, Lucy, 185), Lucy expressed a preference for traditional books. Not only was she not ready to embrace the electronic book, but she was wary of technology altogether, citing technical difficulties as the reason she has “decided to use [technology] as little as possible” (M1, 103- 104). She did cite this reluctance, along with keeping up with her students, as a reason for want- ing to participate in the study.

It was Lucy who used the electronic books the least of the participants. Despite this, how- ever, she had plenty to add to our discussions. Lucy played an integral part in our dialogues and deliberations. She was quick to answer and seemed to talk her way through her thoughts, often changing directions as she spoke. She replied to others’ comments and took suggestions when offered to her, responding in turn. Her comments often opened up new avenues of discourse.

Throughout the duration of the study, teacher participants assumed roles of teacher, learner, and co-constructor of knowledge. Through thematic analysis, I recognized patterns that led to the creation of two overarching themes: the emotionality of reading and changes in under- standing and perceptions about e-books. The preceding chapter outlined in detail the steps that I took to generate these themes, which answer the first research question: What can be learned about veteran primary teachers’ knowledge of and persistent attitudes about using interactive electronic books in the reading classroom?

Reflections on an Inquiry: Looking Away

Today, I chose a book, and my heart broke just a little bit. I’ve chosen books every teaching day for the last 26 years, but today was different. I had two versions of the same book:

my old trusty copy of Peter Rabbit with well-worn pages and a marker doodle on page 11 where

my daughter got a little too carried away with an art project and the interactive digital copy in

my iTunes account. I wanted to choose my book, my paper book that I had bought when my first

child was born. I wanted to tell the story of how my son would toddle up, sit on my lap, and beg

for me to read again. I wanted to share it the way that I had shared with all my children, voices

and all. But in the end, I chose the e-book. In the end, I knew that for this purpose, for this

group of kids, for this class period, the e-book was a better choice.

In the end, they LOVED it and did beg to read it again. I had tried, without much suc-

cess, to read to this group every single week, and every single week, my efforts have been met

with little enthusiasm. After all, it’s the gifted class, and they’ve been used to doing so much more. Do I expect excitement over a story when the week before we’d made exploding volca- noes? But you know what? With this book, the e-book, I got just as many smiles and just as

much excitement as I did as when we do our experiment last week. It should have thrilled me,

but it didn’t.

It felt almost like a betrayal. A departure. A goodbye. I don’t think I was bothered by

the fact that they loved the book, or even that it was the e-book that they loved. It was that I had

chosen it. My books have been there on the shelves, waiting like a long-lost friend. And I passed

right on by for the newer, shinier version. Almost like leaving them behind.

Overarching Theme: The Emotionality of Reading

“A book is a memory, spun into a cocoon of thought and image and individual impulse.” (Shanthi Sekaran, 2017)

“I cannot remember a time when I was not in love with them – with the books themselves, cover and binding and the paper they were printed on, with their smell and their weight and with their

possession in my arms, captured and carried off unto myself.” (Eudora Welty, 1983) “Am I a reader? Big time. I love reading better than living.” (Delta, First Interview, 26)

As I immersed myself in my data, one thing became clear: it wasn’t that my participants lacked initiative or the desire to use the latest technology in their classrooms. In fact, all of the participants recognized the need to integrate electronic books into their teaching as a way to bet- ter meet the needs of their students. They all were aware of the technology check-out process and capable of doing so. However, there was still something that prevented them from doing so. And that was the emotional response, the emotional connection that they shared about reading and the reading experience.