This document discusses the relationship between technology and literacy pedagogy in Australian schools. It notes that schools have invested heavily in educational technology but questions how this influences teachers' literacy practices. The author aims to understand how teachers use technology for literacy, what skills are developed, and the dynamic relationship between technology and pedagogy. Activity theory is discussed as a framework for analyzing this complexity, with the teacher as the subject achieving literacy goals through tools like laptops and whiteboards. The document raises questions about whether technology enhances literacy or leads the way, and how synergies and tensions between technology, school culture and teaching practices can be understood.

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EFFECTIVE LITERACY
PEDAGOGY: AMPLIFIED BY
TECHNOLOGY?
Lisa Kervin
lkervin@uow.edu.au
Faculty of Education,
University of Wollongong, NSW
With acknowledgement to my colleagues:
Irina Verenikina and Pauline Jones
BACKGROUND
In recent years there
has been large-scale
investment of
technology (computers,
laptops, wireless
connectivity, IWBs, mobile
communication devices …)
in many Australian
schools
 The pedagogical practices of many teachers are
now being influenced by the introduction of the
technology
 What does this mean for literacy?
BACKGROUND
We see technology in
the literacy
classroom as a way
to mediate:
 Learning and communicating (Castek, 2008, Leu et al
2004)
 New dispositions and discourses (Gee, 2007; Kress,
2003)
 Semiotic contexts characterised by multimodality
(New London Group, 1996; Hull & Schulz, 2001)
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THE QUESTIONS WE ASK:
 What technologies do teachers use
in their literacy pedagogy?
 For what purposes are these
technologies used?
 Who uses the technologies?
 What literacy knowledge and
skills are enabled by the use of
these technologies?
What is the relationship between
technologies and literacy pedagogy?
WHY ACTIVITY THEORY?
 Teacher as a subject of a pedagogical
activity
 Captures the complexity of the use of
technologies in the classroom
 Identify and analyse contradictions
between the subject and various
elements of the activity
 Views technology as a tool to achieve
pedagogical goal
 Pedagogy driven, not technology
driven
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The literacy
teacher
The delivery of a literacy
experience using
technology
Technology, lesson
materials,
assessment,
teaching practices
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The wider school
community - leadership,
other teachers, students
Classroom regulations and
conventions (behaviours,
theory), as well as school policy,
The division of power between the
subject and the community
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The transformed
object - improved?
Not improved?
Activity theory provides a
framework for understanding the
dynamic and cyclical relationship
of application and evaluation, as
the subject (teacher) applies a
tool (such as laptops, IWB, mobile
communication device) to
accomplish a goal (improved
literacy based teaching and
learning).
Or the technology leading
the literacy?
Is the literacy leading the
technology?
How can we know?
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Literacy teaching in the ‘digital
revolution’ is not merely
business-as-usual with a new
tool.
There are possible synergies and
disjunctions between technology,
school culture and literacy
pedagogy.
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