1. Student ID 11416669B

2. FINDING WHERE TO START
The act of reading is no longer confined to print based
resources. Reading and writing using digital technologies is now
a major contributing factor to successfully engage with society.
The definition of contemporary literacy, put forward by The New
London Group (1996), becomes “much broader than language
alone” (New London Group, 1996, p. 64). It allows for the
interweaving of culture, personal and professional lives and the
continual development of knowledge as a lifelong process.
Futuristic thinking drives the multiliteracies approach to
education that is currently forming, by rethinking “the
fundamental premises of literacy pedagogy in order to influence
practices that will give students the skills and knowledge they
need to achieve their aspirations” (The New London Group,
1996, p. 65).

3. INTRODUCTION
The proposed small-scale study will be conducted at a Wodonga
OSHC. The centre provides care for up to 45 students before
and after school hours and during school holidays. The age
range of students is Foundation to Grade 5. The study will have
a particular focus on 12 students who regularly attend care
throughout the school week.
Out of School Hours Care centres are required to meet the
outcomes of the My Time, Our Place framework (DEEWR, 2011).
This study will meet outcome five of the document; Children are
effective communicators. It will particularly focus on the suboutcome of “Children collaborate with others, express ideas
and make meaning using a range of media and communication
technologies” (DEEWR, 2011, p. 40).

4. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Personal interest in the topic of digital technologies in the
development of literacy skills stems from varied
professional placements where the use of technology
across curriculum areas was varied and often not used to
its full potential. As a graduate teacher teaching a class
of grade 3/4 students in 2014, I feel conducting research
in the area of digital technologies in literacy will enable
me to more effectively deliver quality teaching and
learning to my future students, by knowing what drives
student engagement and how to engage students
through varied literacy practices.

5. FINDING A FOCUS
A wealth of research is able to identify the academic benefits of
using digital technologies throughout literacy development.
This project aims to identify which digital technologies provide
an engaging medium from which students can learn in a fun,
collaborative and meaningful way. The following research
questions will be addressed:
1.
How does the inclusion of digital technologies affect student
engagement?
2.
How does the use of technology promote verbal
communication and playful interaction between students and
students and staff?

6. COLLECTING THE INFORMATION
To address these research questions researcher observations of
students engaging with literacy will be conducted and
combined with interviews and surveys from staff. These data
collection methods will take place before and after the change
is implemented to determine the degree to which the change
has influenced the level of literacy engagement.
The staff surveys and observations analysed 6 areas in relation to
the outcomes of the My Time, Our Place framework (DEEWR,
2011). The survey and observations focused on outcome five of
the document; Children are effective communicators. With a
particular focus on the sub-outcome of “Children collaborate
with others, express ideas and make meaning using a range of
media and communication technologies” (DEEWR, 2011, p. 40).

7. AREAS ASSESSED
• Enabling children to express
meaning using photography
and other digital resources
• Opportunities to join in
children’s play and leisure
activities and co-construct
materials.
• Collaboration with children to
record the shared activities
undertaken.
• Integration of technologies into
children’s play and leisure
experiences, projects and
routines?
• Encouraging the use of
technologies between children,
and children and educators
• Awareness of protocols about
use of communication
technologies
IDENTIFIED AREAS
OF NEED
• Enabling children to express
meaning using photography
and other digital resources
• Collaboration with children to
record the shared activities
undertaken.
• Encouraging the use of
technologies between children,
and children and educators

8. TRANSFORMING NEEDS TO STRENGTHS
• Enabling children to express
meaning using photography
and other digital resources
Daily photographer role taken on
by children. Children print
selected photos and add these to
a student recording wall
• Collaboration with children to
record the shared activities
undertaken.
Weekly program and records
contained a ‘student voice’ section
where students could have input
into matters that affected them.
• Encouraging the use of
technologies between children,
and children and educators
Protocols about internet safety
and computer usage created/ add
to by children and staff.
Reading books using technology

9. PUTTING THE PUZZLE PIECES TOGETHER
The inclusion of digital technologies affected student engagement
in tasks generally not for greater amounts of time but rather
their level of enthusiasm for completing a task. Observations of
the „photographer role‟ showed that students were eagerly
asking to engage with the technology, using it for a short time
and then apply the technology usage to a shared
communication wall, which then acted as a discussion initiator
between staff and other students. The act of using technology
appeared to be greatly associated with verbal communication
and
playfulness
based
on
the
technology.
Research by Merchant (2010, p. 136) shows that when
educators value and incorporate technology into their life
worlds it adds to students‟ social integration and learning. The
current project complimented this research by finding that the
integration of the technology moved beyond the act of
physically engaging with the technology and created a culture
of discussion and excitement.

10. FEEDBACK
Due to starting a job in a primary school I have been unable to receive
feedback at this time. Wednesday afternoon I will be returning to the
service to show and explain the results and my findings. At this time I
hope to gain feedback from the director and leave feedback forms with
staff for me to collect at a later date.
During the study the staff and children were very positive towards the
research and were willing participants, I feel that this is a reflection of
my professionalism within the practice and this will be basis from which
I will base my initial thoughts of how my feedback may look.

11. CONTINUAL PROGRESS
I feel this research has allowed me to identify some of the potential
affordances of using technology. Although the setting the
research took place in was relatively informal, I feel that the
social and academic aspects within the research remain to be
similar in a formal classroom setting. Technology is something
that is valued and continually reassessed in my school. With
access to laptops, IWB and IPads I feel that the research I have
conducted will be the beginning of my successful integration of
technologies into my classroom.
My continuing research question that will guide my future research
within the formal setting of a classroom is; how can teachers
create learning opportunities using multiple modes of meaning
making to guide students toward the design of social futures
within a global society? I intend on doing this through research
of technology integration, being a part of the literacy group at
my school community which looks at technology usage as a
part of literacy learning and by reflecting on my own actions
within my classroom.

12. REFERENCES
Images sourced from Google images
Ary, D., Jacobs, C., & Sorenson, C. (2010). Research approaches in education. In Introduction to research in education (8th
ed.) (pp. 22-42). Retrieved from eReserve.
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian
Governments. (2011). My time, our place: Framework for school age care in Australia. Retrieved from
http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework-ResourcesKit/my_time_our_place_framework_for_school_age_care_in_australia.pdf
Australian Government: National Health and Medical Research Council (2007). National statement on ethical conduct in
human research. Retrieved from
http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/e72_national_statement_may_2013_update.pdf
Guy, Merchant. (2010). 3D virtual worlds as environments for literacy learning. Educational Research, (52)2, 135-150. DOI:
10.1080/00131881.2010.482739
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Australia: Cengage Learning.
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