Boys, Literacy and Technology/ Literacy, Technology and Boys/Technology, Boys and Literacy

Posting #4 June 19th

During the last five years or so there have been many studies on the topic of boys and literacy in the popular media (Macleans, National Post) as well as trade and scholarly journals.  Long an area of interest to educators, the so called ‘gender gap’ is now being re-examined and re-analyzed against a backdrop of various innovative technologies now being employed to support literacy programs.

As technology creates new forms of communication unimagined even a few years ago in our predominantly print based school curriculum, many students and in particular boys are increasing using computer based literacy expression and practices (instant messaging, complex simulation and video games, web design and blogs) not previously recognized or even given much credence in the typical school system.

Certainly, a much broader topic than this weblog entry can possibly touch upon; the main focus here will be a look at some of the truly innovative programs and sites in existence in various locations with some reflections on just why they are so successful; particularly with boys. 

Kathy Sanford (2004) in her two year qualitative study at the University of Victoria, entitled, ‘Morphing Literacy; Boys Reshaping Their Literacy’ went beyond just test score data and common cultural perceptions of gender to better understand boys literacy practices today.  What she concluded was that for boys, literacy is a means to an end.  Having some purpose for reading was vitally important.

Sanford put forward the view that the typical traditional literature based language arts program just did not resonate with boys because outside of school boys chose active, purposeful reading such as how to books, fantasy, sports magazines, comic books and graphic texts.  It wasn’t that boys didn’t read or didn’t like to read but they wanted the power to choose what they read and they didn’t usually find this in the classroom setting.

For more details on her study go to

www.education.ualberta.ca/boysandliteracy         

Two other writers echo these sentiments.  Wilhelm and Smith (2002) in their book, ‘Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys’  also discuss why boys accept or reject certain ways of being literate, how boys read different kinds of print and what qualities of print appeal to boys.

David Booth, a University of Toronto professor and author of ‘Hockey Players Read; Boys, Literacy and Learning,’ goes on to suggest three concrete strategies to help boys develop the vitally important self-identities of themselves as readers.

-   give boys choice and ownership in their reading

-   use questions that help boys identify their interests and helpthem discover all the varied topics that can be explored in fiction or non fiction

-   most importantly; validate the impact of computer technologyon boy’s literacy and use their interest in computers to reinforce reading skills especially critical reading skills.

A computer program/site that facilitates the implementation of the foregoing strategies is called NoveList.  This is a computer interface that enables the reader to use several different ways to select books.  Describe a plot, find similar books and join book talks (techno-book reports?) are just three of the many ways that NoveList can help boys find a book that they can get interested about.

http://www.sailor.lib.md.us/cgi-bin/ebsco?DB=novelist 

 A resource for both students and teachers, the developers describe their program as follows.

NoveList is a fiction database that provides subject heading access, reviews, annotations, and much more for over 120,000 fiction titles. It also includes other content of interest to fiction readers, such as Author Read-alikes, Book Discussion Guides, BookTalks, and Feature Articles. For school media specialists and teachers there are Standards-Based Thematic Units and Picture Book Extenders, as well as specific teaching guides for using fiction in the classroom.

Another future forward program is something called ‘considerate text’ which uses specific word choice, an organization of concepts and in some cases supplementary computer graphics and audio narration to assist and engage struggling readers.  This software program highlights text onscreen as the recorded narration plays.  Students can start and stop the audio to match their own reading speed or loop back and find pronunciation and definitions of unfamiliar vocabulary. Adding to the interactivity, a key motivating factor with boys, is the ongoing tracking, assessment and automatic recording of progress and improvement.

More information can be found at 

www.donjohnston.com/catalog/stfmoretxt.htm

Delving into the virtual reality realm, which has a built in appeal to boys already hooked on a wide variety of video games in their out of school hours,  www.thinkport.org  has developed an impressive free collection of online field trips and other web based learning materials that have demonstrated a way to boost reading levels and help improve test scores among middle school students according to the result of study (2004) by Maryland Public Television. 

This study concluded that students who used the virtual field trips performed better on unit tests than the students using only traditional methods.  Results also showed improved reading and comprehension among poor and economically disadvantaged students, particularly boys. Providing background experiences, albeit virtual ones, tapped into boys propensity for visual and multi-sensory learning.

Another useful summary of the differences between boys and girls literacy experiences in school is given in an Australian research report on Boys and Literacy (Alloway, et al (2002) ‘Boys, literacy and schooling expanding the repertoires of practice.’ Department of Education, Science and Training (Austalia)

Available at www.gu.edu.au/school/cls/clearinghouse/)

Certainly, it can be said that NoveList, Considerate Text and Online Field Trips are just some of the ways that technology has made some significant inroads into connecting boys with relevant and positively reinforcing literary practices. 

Now literacy, of course is not exclusively concerned with reading.  What about writing?  In a previous blog (or two) the wonders of web blogs or blogs were explained and lauded as a way that technology has added a new, exciting hyper-linked dimension to the long standing practice of journaling.  What are some other ways that computers can help boys break the written literacy barrier by first encouraging them to write and secondly become better writers?

To cite just one example, the Peace River North School District certainly has developed a successful  writing program for all the sixth and seventh grade students in the whole district involving the use of wireless PDAs and laptop computers. Started as a small 18 month pilot project by a techno-savvy teacher, the program has now expanded in its fourth year of operation to include 1,150 students and 37 teachers in 17 schools.  The Wireless Writing Program has shown demonstrated success in improving student achievement, motivation and learning skills through the integration of technology with classroom writing instruction.  The benchmark used for assessment is the province wide British Columbia performance standards.

Since full implementation of the WWP, the gap between male and female students has narrowed from 21% in 2003 to 8% in 2004.  the gap between aboriginal students and the total population narrowed from 17% in 2003 to 5% in 2004.

David Vandergugten, Principal of Technology Services School District 60-Peace River North

While it can be said this is only one school district, the sample used for gathering data is sizable enough to warrant making a claim that laptop and PDA use by students particularly with male and aboriginal students can indeed improve writing performance, which is considered a necessary prerequisite for success in high school and post secondary education.

The final section of this blog will be a look at the modeling factor, or some ways in which the image of reading for boys can be enhanced.  Doing his part in raising the ‘cool’ level is author Jon Scieszka, previously an elementary school teacher.

“We tell kids that reading is important for everyone. Then we show them that reading is done mostly by moms or women teachers or librarians.  We do not show boys an equal number of male role models for reading.”

To encourage boys to read, Scieszka has launched a popular website called www.guysread.com in his belief that the internet is a perfect place to connect boys with a database of books that have been recommended by other males of all ages.  Scieszka also believes that the online world/community gives boys the opportunity to explore literacy options through technology with the added benefit of being semi- anonymous with no peer pressure or approval factors intruding.

And let us not forget the power of mentoring with boys of different ages and grade levels.  Big buddy/ little buddy matches have proved very successful in encouraging emerging or struggling readers.  Sometimes, it’s the one to one attention whereby the reader is not put on the spot; as in a group reading situation in a classroom, that can help build the confidence in the weaker reader to keep persevering. The website, www.mentoringboys.com is a good resource for reading more about mentoring.

In the end. it comes down to how parents and educators view technology because essentially it is only adults who still separate paper print based text from multi-media communication in our ‘mediasphere’ to use the term I used in the very first posting in this series of blogs. 

Our students have not lived in a world without computers and cell phones and iMovie and the sooner we acknowledge and adapt to the pervasive impact of these multi-modality technologies the better off our students will be in the school system and beyond. The school definition of literacy has been far too slow to change and far too slow to acknowledge the changing nature of literacy in our society.