Journal of Computing in Teacher Education (JCTE)

Editor's Remarks
Digital Literacies and the Future of Schools
Erica Rosenfeld Halverson, Guest Editor

At the 2008 American Educational Researchers Association Annual Meeting, I had the privilege of serving on a panel focused on "Digital Literacies and the Future of Schools," which is also the topic of this issue of Journal of Computing in Teacher Education. On this panel, we described the possibilities in store for schools, given the emergence of accessible information technologies, coupled with our developing understanding of literacy as not just reading and writing text, but "new literacies" that involve multimodal communication across time and space (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006).
Read More

A Fresh Look from Down Under

"The impact of computing on educational discourse was not a revolution, not even a renewal, but just another battle in an ancient ideological war" (Walker, 1996, p. 94). In this quote, Decker Walker asserted that technology in the classroom, despite considerable excitement accompanying its use, had done little to advance educational discourse.
Read More

Information technologies have reshaped teaching and learning in schools, but often not in ways anticipated by technology proponents. This paper proposes a contrast between technologies for learning and technologies for learners to explain how technologies influence teaching and learning in and out of schools. Schools have made significant use of assessment and instructional technologies that help promote learning for all students, whereas technologies for learners, such as mobile devices, video games, and social networking sites, are typically excluded from school contexts. The paper considers how these contrasting models of technology use will come to shape schools and learning in a pluralistic society.
Read More

Web 2.0 Literacy and Secondary Teacher Education
Danielle Fahser-Herro and Constance Steinkuehler

Literacy skills honed from reading books and writing papers has long been recognized as invaluable to building and sustaining intellect. Educators are charged with strengthening literacy programs, and they typically rely on conventional practices and increased time focusing on text-based media to do so, yet their efforts have not significantly increased test scores (Baer, Baldi, Ayotte, & Green, 2007; U.S. Department of Education, 2005). At the same time, these traditional classrooms neglect the rich digital literacy opportunities Web 2.0 tools offer to improve literacy programs and meet individual needs. This paper explores issues surrounding definitions of "new literacy" practices as they relate to Web 2.0 tools while drawing on pertinent, emerging research to discuss the value of integrating digital literacy applications in K–12 and higher education classrooms.
Read More

Millennial Learners and Net-Savvy Teens? Examining Internet Use among Low-Income Students
Christine Greenhow, J. D. Walker, and Seongdok Kim

This paper discusses access and use of information and communication technologies among urban high school students from low-income families, a topic of great interest to teacher educators, educational policymakers, and others concerned with digital literacy instruction. Recent reports from national digital learning initiatives have portrayed today's teens as digital natives—youth who are constantly online, perceive themselves as Internet-savvy, and prefer technology-enhanced learning experiences. However, this portrait may not be true for all learners. This study investigated trends in Internet use among students from low-income families compared to national trends. In the spring of 2007, students from lowincome families responded to a survey assessing their access to the Internet, frequency and type of use, and capacity to use the Internet. The researchers also conducted focus groups with students. In this paper, we discuss findings and implications for teachers seeking to understand similar students' Internet access, use, and capacity and suggest implications for digital literacy instruction, technology policy, and teacher education.
Read More

"Key Moments" as Pedagogical Windows into the Video Production process
Erica Halverson and Damiana Gibbons

In this article, we trace learning across the digital video production process through case studies with four youth media arts organizations (YMAOs) across the United States. We hypothesize that what these organizations share is a series of key moments throughout the production process in which youth must articulate the relationship between the idea they intend to represent in their video and the tools of the digital video medium that afford representation. By highlighting these key moments, we can both describe the core features of the YMAO organizational process and offer a mechanism for tracing participant learning over time. We conclude with implications for teachers and leaders who may be interested in how to support the inclusion of digital production processes into formal instructional spaces.
Read More

Online Fan Fiction and Critical Media Literacy
Rebecca W. Black

This article explores English-language-learning (ELL) youths' engagement with popular media through composing and publicly posting stories in an online fan fiction writing space. Fan fiction is a genre that lends itself to critical engagement with media texts as fans repurpose popular media to design their own narratives. Analyses describe how three ELL youth employ creative agency as they fashion fan fiction stories that are relevant to their own lives. Findings reveal that contemporary participatory media, such as fan fiction writing, involve sophisticated forms of literacy that can serve as useful resources for promoting in-class learning. However, the study also suggests that students would benefit from expert guidance in the areas of critical consumption and production of media and digital texts.
Read More