Blog #25 Rough Draft of Research Project

This is a work in progress. I need to do more work before the final draft is due. I wanted the class to get an idea of where I am going with the project.

Introduction

Reading is the most important content area that teachers focus on in elementary school. Starting in Pre-K, children are already learning how to read. By the end of Kindergarten, children should know how to read the "beginner" level books on their own. Throughout the years, I have noticed that elementary school children are being exposed to reading earlier and earlier. However, the means of technology has drastically altered the manner of teaching literacy in today’s society. Today's classrooms are equipped with technology that includes: SMART boards, laptops, computers, and iPads.

The purpose of this research project is to gather data to answer the question, “How does a person’s literacy change over time?” In this essay I will write about the literacy process of my subject. I will discuss how his process has evolved over time, and what new means of technology, if any, have altered his literacy. I will conduct my research through two interviews, spanning a total of an hour. Also, I will do a literature review on the importance of literacy, the changes throughout time, and the Twenty-first century technology that enhances reading for children and adults.

My data will show what means of technology have enhanced and/or altered my subjects literacy, as well as societies. I will also include parts of the interview that I conducted with my subject in order to present the data in a clear concise manner. Lastly, I will use references and/or sources that are relevant to either prove or disprove my findings.


Literature Review

I began my research with the book, Literacy in American Lives, written by Debra Grant. I chose this book as a reference because the author knows a tremendous amount of information on literacy in the past, as well as, the present day. I gravitated toward chapter one: Literacy, Opportunity, and Economic Change. The first paragraph on this page grabbed my attention. It starts off like this, “According to Workforce 2000, the US Department of Labor says the following: The foundation of national wealth is really people – the human capital represented by their knowledge skills, organizations, and motivations. Just as the primary assets of a modern corporation leave the workplace each night to go home for dinner, so the income-generating assets of a nation are the knowledge and skills of its workers – not its industrial plants or natural resources. As the economies of developed nations move further into the post-industrial era, human capital plays an ever more important role in their progress. As the society becomes more complex, the amount of education and knowledge to make a productive contribution to the economy becomes greater (Brant, page )”.


Several factors have contributed to the spreading of mass literacy. They include: varies economic and political stasis; push for literacy through passion, motivation, and aspirations; religion, imperialism, career choices, population, education, transportation, trade, and family relations. Many people think that literacy was founded on these factors, but there are people who disagree with these findings.

Another source that I used in my research is the book, Literate Lives in The Information Age, written by Selfe and Hawisher. I chose this book as a reference because it explains how technology has played an important role in the evolution of literacy, and what means of technology are being used to support and promote literacy. According to Selfe and Hawisher, children are taught how to design, create, write, analyze, and interpret material on the Web. If they are unable to successfully use technology, they will have a more difficult time functioning effectively as literate human beings. In the United States, policymakers and educators have created national standards and policies for the integration of technology into the classroom.

The integration of technology in the school environment has drastically changed literacy through the past twenty years. However, children who do not have access to computers at home have a higher chance of being illiterate. The communities that are affected most by this are students of color, and who are struggling financially.

Educators are being asked to change the curricula of how to teach literacy. Teachers and administrators are meeting the needs of students who compose meaning not only with words, but with video, sound, photographs, still images, words, and animations and to support the communities across conventional linguistic, cultural, and geopolitical borders (Selfe and Hawisher, page 183).

These three authors mentioned above have helped guide me to the importance that technology has in literacy. However, I plan to discuss how literacy changes throughout a person’s lifetime, but technology may not be the best method for improving literacy. My subject has different thoughts on how his literacy has changed since childhood, and I plan to add what he thinks of technology today and if it has had an impact on his literacy.

Methods

I conducted my research through two separate interviews. The first interview lasted for about 40 minutes. The second interview last for about 20 minutes. I chose to do an interview because for me I like to see a person’s facial gestures, body movement, and I like to look people in the eyes when speaking to them. I get a sense of who they are, and if they are comfortable with the topic. The interview was question and answered based. I had my inquiries written down, and I asked the subject my prepared questions. The first interview we both were relaxed, and the questions flowed nicely into a conversation. The second interview was brief, and I could tell that my subject did not want to be bothered. I collected my data through taped interviews. The data was then translated into a transcript making it easier to identify codes and patterns.

After going back and reviewing the transcript, I noticed that there was a relationship between my subject and technology. Not necessarily a good relationship, but there is evidence that technology has had an impact on his literacy.

Presentation of Data

The focus of the data will be on the different forms of technology used by the subject. The forms include: books, newspapers, magazines, computers, tablets, and cell phone. I will present the data in the form of a chart, where I will define and provide examples of each form of technology that the subject uses, and why or why not he has made that decision.

	Books	Newspapers	Magazines	Computers	Tablets	Cell Phone
Childhood Pre-K to 8th grade (Elementary School)
Young Adulthood 9th-12th grade (High School)
Adulthood College to Present Day

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