“…If we were cavemen we'd be fine”: Facebook as a catalyst for critical literacy learning by dyslexic sixth‐form students

Abstract

This article is derived from a study of the use of Facebook as an educational resource by five dyslexic students at a sixth form college in north‐west England. Through a project in which teacher‐researcher and student‐participants co‐constructed a group Facebook page about the students’ scaffolded research into dyslexia, the study examined the educational affordances of a digitally mediated social network. An innovative, flexible, experiential methodology combining action research and case study with an ethnographic approach was devised. This enabled the use of multiple mixed methods, capturing much of the rich complexity of the students’ online and offline interactions with each other and with digital media as they contributed to the group and co‐constructed their group Facebook page. Social perspectives on dyslexia and multiliteracies were used to help interpret the students’ engagement with the social network and thereby deduce its educational potential. The research concludes that as a digitally mediated social network, Facebook engages the students in active, critical learning about and through literacies in a rich and complex semiotic domain. Offline dialogue plays a crucial role. This learning is reciprocally shaped by the students’ developing identities as both dyslexic students and able learners. The findings suggest that social media can have advantageous applications for literacy learning in the classroom. In prompting learning yet remaining unchanged by it, Facebook can be likened to a catalyst.

Winking at Facebook: Capturing Digitally Mediated Classroom Learning

“…Through making visible interwoven strands of communication and learning (Hulme, 2009;Facer, 2011) the methods enabled the study to meet its aims, by showing that Facebook provided the participants with an arena for active, critical learning about and through literacy (Author, 2012). The data showed that the students were highly motivated to learn through literacy, contrary to what much of the dyslexia discourse suggests.…”

Inequitable variations: a review of research in technology, literacy studies and special education

“…The United States was the most well‐represented location with six (Bruce, ; Englert et al, ; Hutinger et al, ; Orr, ; Rao et al, ; Sylvester and Greenridge, ). The next most frequent site was the United Kingdom with four (Barden, ; Faux, ; Flewitt et al, ; Lacey et al, ), followed by Australia (Elliot, ; Pickering, ). One study (O'Rourke et al, ) was a collaborative effort between researchers and teachers in Northern Ireland and the United States, and one (Snoddon, ) was conducted in Canada.…”

“…Elliot () argued that Minecraft and other video game‐based curricula empower disadvantaged learners (echoing Gee []). In a similar vein, Barden () aimed to document the ways Facebook participation could motivate students with dyslexia to write and read more. Sylvester and Greenridge () used digital storytelling to enhance the learning of struggling writers, Snoddon () focused on the development of literacy skills and enhancement of literacy identities of deaf children, Hutinger et al () on enhancing early literacy development with technology and Englert et al () on the ways technology‐enhanced scaffolds could help children become better writers.…”

“…Englert, Manalo and Zhao () and Faux () argued that the use of technology can increase the zone of proximal development of children labelled with learning disabilities. Barden () suggested that learning disabilities like dyslexia are socially constructed and brought a critical socio‐cultural framework to his analysis of youths' talk about their Facebook pages and projects. In different ways, Snoddon () and Elliot () argued that socio‐cultural approaches to new technologies in the classroom allow learners to engage more authentically and purposefully with existing curricula, and also, in some cases, can change curricula to better suit students' needs.…”

Investigating pupils’ interactions around digital texts: a spatial perspective on the “classroom-ness” of digital literacy practices in schools

“…Many have considered how learners might use new media to take increasing control of their lives and engage critically with the world around them (Bigum 2002;Jenkins 2006). Examples of uses in education include computer gaming (Apperely and Walsh 2012), virtual worlds (Merchant 2010), multimedia composition (Burn 2009) and social networking (Barden 2012). Such opportunities however can present challenges to practitioners as they may not sit easily alongside other priorities and practices.…”