The literacy practices of Australian secondary students in one-to-one device classrooms

Since the 2008 Digital Education Revolution (DER), it has become common for Australian secondary schools to have one-to-one device policies, with students being required to bring digital devices to all classes. Despite this profound shift in the way students are being asked to work, little is known about the literacy practices they use when they have a portable digital device that is connected to the internet.
The purpose of this study was therefore to understand the literacy practices used by Australian Year 10 students in one-to-one device classrooms, and to interpret how socio-ecological factors influenced these literacy practices.
An interpretivist research paradigm was chosen as the means to understand students’ literacy practices and interactions with others and their environments. An adapted socio-ecological model (SEM) was applied as the theoretical framework, as it enabled the consideration of multiple factors influencing literacy practices. A case study design allowed for the collection of detailed data about individuals, their classrooms and the policies that affected their literacy practices.
The case study took place at two coeducational, independent secondary schools in New South Wales, Australia. One school was in metropolitan Sydney and the other school was in a regional New South Wales (NSW) city. Participants were Year 10 students (n= 13) and their teachers (n=18). During regular classes, student participants recorded their device screens using Screencastify. Later, in semi-structured interviews they viewed their screen recordings and were asked to discuss the methods they used to complete classwork in them. Observations of classes took place as the recordings were made. These were supported by field notes which provided context for the recordings. Teacher participants were asked to discuss the impacts that digital devices had had on their teaching practices and the literacy practices of their students. Photographs were taken and sketches made to show classroom layouts. Documents were also collected, including school newsletters, assessment policies and web pages containing data about school policies.
To analyse data, codes were assigned using In Vivo descriptive and process methods. Data were then categorised through an iterative process. Analysis of the data resulted in the emergence of two main themes, Task expediency and Task purpose. Other minor themes were also identified: Finding the answer, Completing tasks, Expedient literacy practices and Assessment is important.
Task expediency emerged as the dominant theme. Student participants were motivated to complete class activities in the assigned time, and this took precedence over other goals such as engagement and learning. If student participants completed work on time, they could avoid negative consequences such as homework and create time for off-task activities such as watching YouTube or talking to friends. Task purpose linked to assessment was the second dominant theme to emerge. A dichotomy was evident: classwork associated with summative assessment was considered important, while non-assessed classwork was unimportant.
Literacy practices were moulded by task purpose and a need for task expediency. Written texts were preferred over multimodal ones as they were compatible with quick work completion and with remembering information for exams. Class tasks were completed using simple information-gathering processes to answer closed questions. Sentence-level research was dominant, and reading was consequently disjointed and fragmented. Interpretation of texts using skills such as critical analysis and synthesis was rarely practiced, nor was it required. Independent writing was limited because tasks were completed by copying, paraphrasing and patchwriting information from online texts. The traditional and contemporary literacy skills required to prosper in society and the workplace were not sufficiently taught or practiced in the participants’ classrooms.
Literacy practices must promote deep learning over superficial curriculum coverage, basic information gathering processes and summative assessment. Improved integration of formative learning pedagogies and a focus on quality over quantity would support both deep learning and improved literacy outcomes. Furthermore, curriculum outcomes that focus on the acquisition of contemporary literacy skills and knowledge must be able to be translated by digitally competent school leaders so they can effectively plan, resource and provide the professional learning needed to improve literacy practices in the classroom.