Limited literacy has a large impact on the U.S. population; about half of adults lack sufficient literacy proficiency. However, not all populations are impacted equally, as there is a significant comorbidity between low literacy and mental illness. The authors have found that smartphones can offer mental health patients with low literacy numerous…

Pre-pandemic, technology integration into music lessons was helpful but not a necessity for effectively teaching elementary music. Those who believed technology integration was important for student engagement, as well as those comfortable with their technological skills, were experimenting with tools on an interactive board or through a website…

This article presents a study on novel language forms and uses across evolving digital environments, and questions whether emerging digital communication conventions should have a place in language education. The study was motivated by the deepening gap between the content of and approaches to language instruction evident in popular…

Children like to play with smartphones and other touchscreen-based devices, and suitably developed apps can help in entertaining, nurturing, and educating children. For the last three years, the authors have been studying how children interact with smartphones and other touchscreen-based devices. They assert that knowing the capabilities of…

Individuals with dyslexia face numerous challenges in school and daily life. Although effective intervention may reduce those challenges (Mather & Wendling, 2011; Shaywitz, 2003; Snowling & Hulme, 2012), most individuals with dyslexia benefit from additional supports that allow them to learn and function independently. The term assistive…

The "App-Generation" the present student population that grew up in a world of digital technology and mobile apps faces obstacles explored in this article. It explores their traits, such as multitasking, limited attention spans, and technology fluency, and how these affect their involvement in and experiences with learning. The article…

This teaching tip gives teachers practical applications of the game Pokémon GO for literacy teaching and learning. The author discusses applications of the game for teaching multimodality in upper elementary-school classrooms. The author situates these applications in relevant theoretical perspectives as well as current literacy research.

As portable devices become increasingly available in elementary classrooms teachers are expected to use these new technologies to engage students in both traditional print-based literacy learning and digital literacies practices, such as multimodal composing. Teachers face the daunting task of integrating apps into their current research-based…

Young children today are gaining access to a dizzying array of apps, games, and videos. With all of this digital media at their fingertips, two urgent questions have emerged in preschools and elementary schools: Could technology interfere with the way children learn to read? Or could it help? While questions continue to arise about the challenges…

Apps are no longer technical innovation but rather a cultural phenomenon that touches upon potentially every aspect of daily life in Western culture (Stichnothe, 2014, p.198). In this article, Colleen O'Connell, the director for digital books at HarperCollins, is interviewed about the background of book apps and their potential for teaching and…

This article highlights considerations for teachers when selecting and using e-books and e-book applications (apps) with beginning readers during guided and independent reading. A framework for examining e-books and e-book apps is suggested, and several apps and related digital features are described. The article also includes an overview of…

Storytelling is a practice that enables children to apply their literacy skills. This article shares a collaborative literacy strategy devised to enable children to create multimodal stories about their familiar school environment. The strategy uses resources, including the children's own drawings, images from Google Maps, and the Puppet Pals…

At the Office of Adult Education in Philadelphia, they are excited about technology and its potential to advance the field. In this article, the authors, drawing from lessons learned from programs they have developed and supported and their own experiences as lifelong learners, consider the roles of access to the internet, one-to-one device…

The ubiquity and educational potential of mobile applications are well acknowledged. This paper proposes six theory-based, pedagogical strategies to guide interaction design of mobile apps for young children. Also, to augment the capabilities of mobile devices, we used a humanoid robot integrated with a smartphone and developed an English-learning…

In the study of modern technology for the 21st century, one of the most popular subjects is tablet computing. Tablet computers are now used in business, government, education, and the personal lives of practically everyone--at least, it seems that way. As of October 2013, Apple has sold 170 million iPads. The success of tablets is enormous and has…