Digital Literacy: New Approaches to Participation and Inquiry Learning to Foster Literacy Skills among Primary School Children

Abstract

Digital literacy is an important and often misunderstood concept; it has implications for all aspects of primary schooling in Ireland. The purpose of this research is to establish a useful definition and conceptual framework through which the nature of digital literacy can be examined in terms of classroom practice and thereby related to the underpinning policy and support structures. Research & Development Committee of the Department of Education and Science, Ireland published or submitted for publication not peer reviewed

Full text

Digital Literacy in
Primary Schools
(DLIPS)
Report
Digital Literacy: New Approaches to
Participation and Inquiry Learning
to Foster Literacy Skills among
Primary School Children

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
1
Centre for Research and Innovation in
Learning and Teaching
National College of Ireland, 2009
The research described in this report was supported by a grant from the Research & Development
Committee of the Department of Education and Science. The views expressed in this report are those
of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the Department of Education and
Science.

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INVESTIGATORS
National College of Ireland
Dr. Leo Casey
Professor B C Bruce
Allan Martin (independent consultant)
Abigail Reynolds
Education Research Centre, St Patrick’s Drumcondra
Dr. Gerry Shiel
Laura Coffey
The Digital Hub Development Agency
Clifford Brown
Michael Hallissy

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STEERING GROUP
National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE)
Anne White
Simon Grehan
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA)
Kathryn Crowley
Primary Professional Development Service1 (PPDS)
Marie Mc Loughlin (up to April 2008)
Christine Ferguson
National Economic and Social Forum NESF
Dr Jeanne Moore
1 The Primary Professional Development Service (PPDS) subsumes and develops the work of the
former Primary Curriculum Support Programme (PCSP) and the School Development Planning
Support Service (SDPS).

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.......................................................................................................................6
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................12
RESEARCH QUESTIONS..........................................................................................................................15
THEORETICAL REVIEW....................................................................................................................17
HISTORY OF LITERACY..........................................................................................................................17
DIGITAL LITERACY................................................................................................................................19
DIGITAL LITERACIES AND PRINT LITERACIES ........................................................................................21
THE INQUIRY CYCLE –THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS .........................................................................27
THE INQUIRY CYCLE AND THE IRISH PRIMARY SCHOOL CONTEXT ......................................................34
THE INQUIRY CYCLE AND ICT INTEGRATION IN IRISH PRIMARY SCHOO LS .........................................38
DEFINITION OF DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOL CONTEXTS....................................................44
METHOD .................................................................................................................................................47
FINDINGS................................................................................................................................................54
CASE 1 ‘BILL’S NEW FROCK’................................................................................................................55
CASE 2 ‘THE VIKINGS’..........................................................................................................................59
CASE 3 ‘THE DIGITAL DOG’..................................................................................................................63
CASE 4 ‘BANANA SPLIT’ .......................................................................................................................67
CASE 5 ‘THE THREE LITTLE PIGS’.........................................................................................................71
CASE 6 ‘FRACTIONS’ .............................................................................................................................75
CASE 7 ‘MEMORIES’..............................................................................................................................79
CASE 8 ‘SAINT PATRICK’.......................................................................................................................83
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................87
ADDRESSING THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS ..............................................................................................87
LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY.................................................................................................................91
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................92
BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................................95
APPENDIX 1 INQUIRY CYCLE ACTIVITY SUMMARY - A TOOL FOR PLANNING .................97
APPENDIX 2 COMPONENT CHECKLIST SUMMARY TABLES..................................................100
APPENDIX 3 DIGITAL LITERACY CLASSIFICATIONS ..............................................................117

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Acknowledgements
Often when people think about research and theory there is an expectation that the
outcome will consist of abstract concepts and grand findings with little meaningful
application to professional education practice. We decided from the outset that this
research would be meaningful and practice based.
Our investigations were rooted in classroom contexts and we acknowledge the
extraordinary co-operation we received from the teachers, pupils and schools who
allowed us to observe their projects and practices in action. To the school principals
and teachers we owe an additional debt – through the interviews we were given
access to their plans, expectations, frustrations, and many successes. As fellow
researchers and true education professionals you were willing to innovate, reflect and
share; for this we are grateful.
Our thanks to the staff of:
Scoil San Seamus CBS Primary, Basin Lane, James Street, Dublin 8.
Principal Mr Joe Tulie
Mater Dei National School, Basin Lane, James Street, Dublin 8.
Principal Sr. Rita Wynne
Presentation Primary School, Warrenmount, Dublin 8.
Principal Eileen O’Connell (now Margaret Ryan)
Francis Street CBS, Francis Street, Dublin 8.
Principal Fiona Collins
We would also like to thank the team at the Digital Hub Development Agency’s
Elevate Learning Initiative – particularly Clifford Brown for all his help in the liaison
between the participating schools and the researchers.

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Executive Summary
Digital literacy is an important and often misunderstood concept; it has implications
for all aspects of primary schooling in Ireland. The purpose of this research is to
establish a useful definition and conceptual framework through which the nature of
digital literacy can be examined in terms of classroom practice and thereby related to
the underpinning policy and support structures.
Our theoretical review points to two contrasting conceptual approaches to literacy
and specifically, digital literacy. The traditional view is to regard digital literacy as a
set of specific technical skills such as the ability to use software and to operate
devices - this is often referred to as a skills model of literacy. In contrast, more
recent and increasingly accepted theories conceive of digital literacy in terms of
context and social practice - this is a situated approach to literacy.
The difference between the two theoretical orientations is important and has had
significant implications for formulating our approach to this research and conceptual
framework. Digital literacy, if defined solely in terms of skills, will be associated with
individuals and will relate to capabilities and scores against pre-defined, generic
competencies. On the other hand, a conceptual framework that adopts a situated
approach involves an expanded view of literacy and emphasises the social contexts in
which digital media are used.
One of the early decisions of the research
team was to adopt the situated approach
and therefore to locate the site of
investigation within the primary school
classroom. Put simply, in our view the best way to investigate digital literacy was to
describe the practices and activities that take place in the classroom.
The starting point of the framework for digital literacy was to reference the practices
and activities that take place in the classroom. Obviously, the goal of classroom
activity is to bring about learning and as such, we grounded our digital literacy
framework in a conception of learning centered on the Inquiry Cycle.
A situated model of
literacy

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An overview of the Inquiry Cycle is
provided in the main report. The report
also demonstrates how the Inquiry Cycle
is appropriate for primary school contexts
and is compatible with the Irish Primary School Curriculum.
The Inquiry Cycle is a model of the learning process that emphasises five dimensions
or categories as - ask, investigate, create, discuss and reflect. All of these
overlap, and not every category or step is present in any given inquiry. Each step can
be embedded in any of the others, and so on. In fact, the very nature of inquiry
means that these steps are mutually reinforcing and interrelated. Together, they
comprise a cycle that can be used to inform and guide educational experiences for
learners.
Based on our review of theory we
established the following definition of
digital literacy in primary school contexts:
Digital literacy in primary schools involves pupils and teachers using
digital technology to enable, sustain and enrich all aspects of the inquiry
cycle of learning as: ask, investigate, create, discuss and reflect.
The research was based on classroom
observations and interviews with teachers
and principals from four schools in the
vicinity of the Digital Hub in Dublin:
• Scoil San Seamus CBS Primary, Basin Lane, James Street, Dublin 8
• Mater Dei National School, Basin Lane, James Street, Dublin 8
• Presentation Primary School, Warrenmount, Dublin 8
• Francis Street CBS, Francis Street, Dublin 8
An Inquiry Cycle model
of learning
Digital Literacy in
Primary Schools
Participating Schools

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In all, we investigated eight cases:
Case 1 ‘Bills New Frock,’ Fourth Class, Scoil San Seamus CBS
Case 2 ‘Vikings’, Fourth Class, Mater Dei NS
Case 3 ‘The Digital Dog’, Fourth Class, Francis St CBS
Case 4 ‘How to Make a Banana Split’, Third Class, Scoil San Seamus CBS
Case 5 ‘The Three Little Pigs’, Third Class, Presentation Primary School
Case 6 ‘Fractions’, Third Class, Francis St CBS
Case 7 ‘Memories’, Fourth Class (1) & (2), Presentation Primary School
Case 8 ‘St Patrick’, Mater Dei National School
To facilitate data collection and
analysis, a specific research instrument
was devised - a Component Checklist
used by observers to categorise
classroom activities.
This checklist was based on the five inquiry cycle categories (ask, investigate,
create, communicate and reflect) and five other categories identified as significant –
participation (depth), participation (scope), print literacy, media ecology and digital
literacy. The intent was that this component checklist would also form the basis of
the eventual digital literacy framework. The component checklist was subject to
review and improvement at an early stage of the research process.
The aim was to enable researchers to describe and compare classroom activities in
terms of learning as inquiry and to provide additional data on pupil participation (in
terms of depth and numbers), the integration of print literacy, the use of media and
artefacts (media ecology) and finally digital literacy.
Component Checklist
used for Observations

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The findings of this process are summarised
briefly as follows:
• The use of digital technology was generally observed as embedded within
structured learning activities directed at curriculum learning outcomes rather than
as an end in itself.
• Teachers used tools such as the digital camera, audio devices as well as classroom
computers to engage pupils in different roles and to facilitate inquiry learning and
group work.
• Digital outputs such as photo-stories, podcasts and video served as project goals
and were usually the culmination of a broad range of preparation and production
activities.
• Reading and writing activities were frequently integrated into the planning and
content components of digital productions.
• High levels of class participation were generally observed – this may be due in
part to the nature of project-based activities; however, the use of digital devices
also contributed to increased levels of interest and engagement by providing
meaningful roles (e.g. as photographers) and purpose (e.g. making a storyboard).
• It is legitimate to describe ‘digital literacy’ as associated with a classroom,
provided that it is understood as a shared attribute connected with the activities
and all the people involved.
• We present the Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (see Appendix 1) as a practical
framework for conceptualising digital literacy and print literacy for use in
planning and assessing class activities. Use of these checklists ensures that the
focus is on meaningful learning rather than just class participation.
• Given the parameters of the current study, it was not possible to examine
whether the digital literacy activities in which pupils engaged had an impact on
their print literacy skills. The duration and scope of the study did not allow for a
detailed analysis of the effects of engagement in digital literacy activities on print
literacy over time.
Findings

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Several specific recommendations arise
from the findings of this research:
(1) Digital literacies should be considered as embedded in the pedagogic practices of
primary school classrooms. As such, when we seek to nurture and develop
specific digital skills in pupils we should do so through inquiry learning activities
for broader curriculum goals.
(2) Teacher pre-service training and professional development in relation to the use
of digital media in the classroom should centre on pedagogic as well as technical
competences. We argue that there is little value in emphasising digital usage as an
end in itself and suggest that the emphasis should be placed on instructional
strategies that harness digital technologies for learning outcomes. We have
provided an Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary template to support this process
(see Appendix 1).
(3) Project learning, group work, field trips, creative expression and many other
teaching strategies that foster inquiry learning are given new impetus, vitality and
effectiveness through the integration of digital media in the process. In this
regard, we observed a variety of digital tools in use in primary classrooms –
digital cameras, video cameras, audio recording devices; animation, picture story
and text captioning software were especially popular. We recommend that
schools consider the pedagogic potential of a broad range of digital technologies
alongside the more frequent emphasis on the need for more and better
computers and network access.
(4) The relationship between digital literacy and traditional (print) literacy is
complex; we suggest that the most useful approach for primary teaching is to
consider how ICT skills and reading and writing skills are closely connected in
everyday use. Activities that involve the use of scripts, storyboards, captions and
narrative are examples of situations where print literacy skills may be furthered
through digital media activities. International research has shown that teachers
need to actively structure such opportunities to harness the full learning potential.
We recommend that teacher pre-service training and on-going professional
Recommendations

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
11
development give special attention to instructional strategies that combine print
literacy and digital literacy activities.
(5) We found evidence that digital media promote high levels of engagement and
participation in classroom activities. This may be due to the fact that digital
outputs such as podcasts, videos, photo stories or animations act as broad project
goals capable of providing meaning and purpose to a range of activities. Group
work involving different roles (such as photographer and note taker) and capable
of involving pupils of different abilities were useful in facilitating high-levels of
engagement. We believe that these high levels of engagement, if sustained over
time, will lead to improved performance including but not limited to, print
literacy scores. We recommend that, in teacher professional development, special
attention is given to instructional strategies that promote participation, inclusion,
and diverse roles for working in groups.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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Introduction
Digital literacy is an important and often
misunderstood concept; it has
implications for all aspects of primary
schooling in Ireland. The purpose of this
research is to establish a useful definition and conceptual framework through which
the nature of digital literacy can be examined in terms of classroom practice and
thereby related to the underpinning policy and support structures.
What is digital literacy and why is it so important in the context of education in the
21st Century? When we use the term literacy in the everyday sense we often refer to a
set of skills associated with the ability to read and write. But a deeper look shows
that literacy is much more than isolated skills, and that it extends beyond reading and
writing as usually conceived. Literacy implies the capacity to communicate meaning
– from speaker to listener and from writer to reader - with all of the participants
actively engaged in constructing that meaning. We find in today’s digital world that
there are many forms of communication: text messaging, e-mail, pictures, and video
are but a few.
Adults can reflect on their own childhood and ask themselves how many new forms
of communication are available today and were not part of their childhood
experience. Digital literacy is often described as a new literacy because we as adults
get to name the world. But it is not new for our primary school children; they have
not known the time before. We now have a task to prepare our children for a future
– a future that we cannot predict. As Dewey (1938) suggests, the best we can do is to
help them experience the present world to its fullest extent. This involves extracting
meaning from experience.
Today’s digital technologies make it possible to capture the world through pictures,
sounds, audiovisual sequences or animations and to assemble and present all of these
with or without text. In this way children of all ages and abilities can engage with the
world and make their own meaning. This is why we need to understand digital
literacy and how it connects to learning and teaching.
The importance of
digital literacy

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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This research was carried out in four
disadvantaged schools in the Liberties
area of Dublin. These schools are part of
the Digital Hub Development Agency’s
Elevate Learning Initiative.
The Digital Hub Development Agency
was established by the Irish Government in 2003 to create an international centre of
excellence for knowledge, innovation and creativity focused on digital content and
technology enterprises. The Elevate Learning Initiative is a broad approach to
community learning focused on empowering both learners and tutors through
engagement with digital technologies. The overall aim is to build an active and
productive knowledge community for 21st Century Ireland. Elevate works with local
schools to assist them to develop their ICT plans and to support the integration of
digital technology in the classroom.
In practice, this support is delivered through a range of professional development
programmes for teachers as well as school visits by the Elevate learning team. In this
way teachers are assisted in using technology in their everyday teaching activities.
A Farrell Grant Sparks’ (2007) report provided an evaluation of the precursor to
Elevate, the Diageo Liberties Learning Initiative (DLLI). Within this initiative a range
of actions took place to support the development of digital skills among pupils in 11
primary and 5 post-primary schools in the Liberties area of Dublin. Over the period
reviewed – 2002-2006 – 3,500 pupils, many of whom were living in disadvantaged
circumstances, took part in the initiative.
These schools had engaged in a range of activities designed to enhance digital
competence, including video story telling, clay animation, podcasting techniques and
photo stories. DLLI provided the hardware and software needed for the projects,
extensive teacher training, and ongoing support with both technical and curricular
aspects of project implementation.
A section of the FGS report focused on the benefits to teachers and pupils of using
these techniques. Teachers reported enhanced ICT confidence and skills among
themselves and their pupils. Principal teachers reported improved levels of
engagement in learning and greater inclusion in classroom activities of pupils who
The Digital Hub
Development Agency
Elevate Learning
Initiative

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
14
were considered academically weak. Principal teachers also commented on the
importance of the teacher professional development provided by DLLI. The
pedagogical approach engendered by the school projects was found to promote a
constructivist approach to learning and in particular, the weaker pupils found
learning to be more relevant to their needs (Farrell Grant Sparks, 2007).
This current study, although framed in the
context of schools in the hinterland of the
Digital Hub, is intended to have relevance for
all primary schools in Ireland. It addresses the
wider questions of digital literacy and learning in
the classroom. It could be argued that the four schools featured in this investigation
were especially fortunate to receive help and support from the Elevate initiative.
However, this view should be balanced by a wider appreciation of the fact that these
schools were classified as educationally disadvantaged (DEIS Band One).
The context of disadvantage is an important consideration - the Education Act
(1998) defines educational disadvantage as:
“…the impediments to education arising from social or economic
disadvantage which prevent students from deriving appropriate benefit
from education in schools.”
The cases studied in this research featured class and school contexts that fall well
within this description of educational disadvantage. Our interviews with teachers and
school principals provided evidence of the serious challenges facing educators in
such circumstances.
From the perspective of this research the important point is the extent to which our
findings may be generalised to other school contexts – other DEIS schools, rural
schools, bigger and smaller schools. The research team was conscious of this
question from the start. We decided that our analysis would focus on class and
project-based cases rather than wider school contexts. We did not confine our
investigation to technology-savvy teachers – in many cases teachers were using the
hardware and software for the first time. Our overall guidance to the participating
teachers was to develop a project activity over a number of weeks and to use
Educational
Disadvantage

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
15
technology where they felt it would be appropriate. We asked the teachers to decide
for themselves what they would do and how they would carry out the task.
Our investigation focused on instructional activities that used everyday digital
technologies – our context was the Elevate initiative and the schools in the area of the
Digital Hub. What we were really concerned to find out was what do teachers do
when they have access and the capacity to use digital technologies to support learning
and how can we relate our findings to the construct of digital literacy.
Research Questions
The specific tasks identified at the beginning of this research project were as set out
below:
(i) Draw on emerging theories of literacy to develop a framework for
conceptualising digital literacy in the context of Irish primary education;
(ii) Investigate digital media practices in primary school classroom
contexts;
(iii) Investigate the nature of pupil engagement and participation in
digital media practices to determine the adequacy and fit of the newly
developed framework
(iv) Examine the connection between digital media practices and the
development of traditional (print) literacy skills.
These tasks may be translated into a series of research questions that needed to be
addressed within the context of Irish primary schools:
How should we define digital literacy?
How are teachers using digital technologies in the classroom?
How can we relate digital media to instructional practice?
How can we compare and relate digital literacy to print literacy?

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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These questions may be summarised in one overarching question that governs this
investigation. This question is: how do digital media practices relate to learning
and teaching in the Irish primary school? This question is at the heart of our
inquiry and it is crucial for how we conceptualise digital media in the classroom. It is
worthwhile considering this question in more detail.
When we use the term ‘digital media practices’ we mean pupils and teachers
performing tasks and activities that involve digital media such as still cameras, video
cameras, and audio recording devices, and using software to build picture stories,
create web sites, interact on-line, edit material, and present digital outputs. We
suggest that the focus should be on the notion of practice rather than on the
technology or media per se. We use the term 'practice' to mean the activities that
take place and the goals and purpose of these activities. To put it simply, practices
are what we do.
What we are suggesting in the question above is that there is a need to establish a
framework to describe the connection between digital media practices and learning
and teaching practices in schools. This is why we need to clarify what we mean by
digital literacy in the classroom. Is such literacy adequately described by a list of
technical skills? What of the purposes to which media practices are applied? Surely
the goal of classroom practices is to facilitate learning and therefore we will need to
connect our conception of digital literacy with our understanding of the learning
process.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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Theoretical Review
History of Literacy
Literacy has been over the past seven thousand or so years a mirror of our
development as social and cultural beings. Early manifestations of literacy were at
the heart of people’s attempts to understand and influence the natural forces which
constrained their lives. It has always been connected with power and control. From
the beginning, writing was also a tool by which the mighty could aspire to the
immortality enjoyed by the Gods, a political weapon through which a King could
proclaim superiority to others and a means of enacting and interpreting laws.
For the literate few, literacy itself had a twofold meaning. First was the ability to read
and write, typically a complicated and demanding activity to perform. This was
inextricably bound up with a second meaning: that of a learned person, versed in the
knowledge and wisdom gained from participation in the activities of the community
of the literate, the literati, this also meant membership of a highly privileged social
group, usually a priestly class.
From a broader perspective, we can see
that literacy was deeply embedded in the
social order and had powerful meaning
for all members of society. It was also bound up with its material representations,
whether those be cuneiform tablets, papyrus, or cylinder seals - the technologies of
the day (Haas, 1996). Literacy was thus embedded within the process of
communication in society, intertwined with other symbolic systems, of pictures,
gestures, signs, and language. We can describe literacy as situated, embedded in the
uses and contexts of communication and thus in the social, political, spiritual,
technological and cultural structures of society. The conception of literacy as simply
a set of reading and writing skills misses much of this meaning and force.
Viewed in this way, literacy can best be understood as part of the reservoir of
meaning possessed by a particular society; we may therefore regard literacy as ‘shared
understanding’ rather than a set of competencies in reading and writing. For those
who could not read as much as for those who could, texts carried powerful messages:
the awesomeness of the gods, the might of the ruler, the magical power of the
Literacy and Power

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18
priests, the rightness of the social structure and the place in it of the ordinary
majority. Thus even the unlettered were implicated in the practice of literacy.
Literacy was thus tied up inextricably with
the whole process of communication in
society, intertwined with other symbolic
systems, of pictures, gestures, signs, and
language. We can describe literacy as situated, embedded in the uses and contexts of
communication, and thus in the social, political, spiritual and cultural structures of
society. Thus, seeing literacy as simply a set of reading and writing skills misses much
of its meaning and force.
The rise of industrial society saw a change in the perception of literacy. It remained a
mark of elite status, the monopoly of interpretation of sacred signs being superseded
by the shared literary culture of the elite, now also bought into by the rising middle
classes. For this group literacy was also a functionality linked to the management
roles of industrial society. There was also awareness that the ability to read and write
was an issue for ordinary people, justified by functionality (making them better
workers) or social control (making them more obedient citizens). Debates over
schooling in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries showed that literacy was not
just about mechanical skills, although literacy itself became increasingly perceived as
such (Olson & Torrance, 2001).
By the latter half of the twentieth century,
the notion of literacy had moved from
mechanical skills (of reproducing letters
and words) onto psychological notions of
competence in reading and writing. The emphasis was moved away from achieving
literacy for the great majority toward combating illiteracy by addressing the problems
of “deprived” groups or individuals (Triebel, 2001). Despite the efforts of educators
of the past twenty years or so, children living in disadvantaged circumstances
continue to exhibit low levels of literacy, a contributing factor may be the strong
skills emphasis underpinning many intervention programmes. However, other
factors such as low levels of parental support, low levels of access to educational
resources in the home, high absenteeism, low levels of parental income will also
contribute to the problem.
Literacy and
Communication
Literacy in the 20th
Century

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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This approach to literacy has, however, over the past four decades, been challenged
by new approaches questioning the exclusive focus upon the cognitive and manual
mechanics of reading and writing. It is now argued that literacy activities happen in a
social, cultural and technological context, and are created and sustained by factors
within that context – literacy is a social product and language itself is interactive and
dynamic (Barton, Hamilton, & Ivanic, 2000; Bruce, 2003; Olson & Torrance, 2001;
The New London Group, 1996). Thus the subject matter of literacy and the uses to
which it is put are key parts of the equation – literacy action is part of social, political,
economic and cultural change (Elwert, 2001).
Digital Literacy
The digital has now entered this equation. From the literacy-as-skills perspective,
digital tools offer some new ways to enable the mechanics of reading and writing –
for instance, a word processor can “cure” untidy writing. From this perspective too,
digital competences can be seen as a separate set of skills – knowing which buttons
to press to achieve desired effects. However, literacy and the digital are more subtly
bound together. The digital has given to literacy new means of expression and new
means of understanding. But it has not changed the central social and cultural
significance of literacy in its broadest sense.
In many ways the evolution of ideas of computer literacy echoes that of literacy itself.
Computers were from their very beginning seen as almost magical, understood only
by white-coated “boffins”. It was clear that they were going to affect the way we live,
and this was seen in literature and popular culture.
From the late sixties, educators grappled
with the idea of how to engage children
with the new technology and the term
computer literacy appeared in the mid-1970s. When desktop personal computers
appeared at the end of the 1970s, programming became part of computer literacy; it
was argued that knowing programming helped you to understand how computers
worked but also that programming, like Latin, was “good for the brain”. However,
during the 1980s useful applications (especially word processing, spreadsheets and
databases) and low-cost peripherals (especially printers and disk-drives) at last made
Computer Literacy

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
20
personal computers actually useful in real life for ordinary people. The emphasis in
computer literacy moved to teaching the use of these applications, and more
functional justifications were used.
The term digital literacy has been popularised by Paul Gilster, who, in his book of the
same name defined it as:
the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a
wide range of sources when it is presented via computers. The concept of
literacy goes beyond simply being able to read; it has always meant the
ability to read with meaning, and to understand. It is the fundamental act
of cognition.
(Gilster, 1997 p 1-2)
Gilster identifies critical thinking rather than technical competence as the core skill of
digital literacy. He also emphasises the relevant use of skills in life and that digital
literacy is more than skills or competences.
This emphasis is further developed in Allan Martin’s definition of digital literacy for
the DigEuLit Project:
Digital Literacy is the awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to
appropriately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage,
integrate, evaluate, analyse and synthesize digital resources, construct
new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate with others,
in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive
social action; and to reflect upon this process.
(Martin, 2006 p 19)
The key element of this definition is that digital literacy activity arises out of the
individual’s life context; it may concern work, study, leisure or any other aspect of the
life context.
It is not unusual for new “literacies” to emerge at different times and this perspective
helps locate the present discussion on digital literacy as one of societal adaptation
rather than solely a response to a new technology. New literacies come with sets of
assumptions and an implicit understanding that certain meanings can be shared. In
fact the way in which communication is coded says a lot about who is and who is not

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
21
considered important on the part of the initiator. Young people share instant
messages with their own condensed word codes; these are as much to do with their
social identities as efficient texting (Lewis & Fabos, 2008).
As is the case for literacy in general, digital literacy has a power dimension; in the last
few decades, it has transformed from technical or specialist literacy into an everyday
literacy deeply rooted in the way we organise our society and the way we go about
economic development. Teaching digital literacy has therefore to do with
preparation of pupils for future participation in an evolving society where digital
technologies are deeply embedded in the associated structures and processes (a very
important issue that goes beyond the scope of this study).
Digital literacies and print literacies
Teachers, especially those working in schools designated as socio-economically
disadvantaged, who perhaps spend significant amounts of time using digital
technologies in class, may wonder if there is a cross-over to traditional print literacies.
Specifically, they may ask if they can expect to see an increase in pupils’ scores on
standardised tests of reading achievement as a result of greater pupil engagement
with digital media.
In Ireland many of our DEIS schools are struggling to achieve high reading scores
and they are seeking interventions, “the silver bullet”, to help their pupils. Some seek
a “technical fix” (Selwyn, Gorard, & Williams, 2001) to educational disadvantage,
with improved reading test scores as the appropriate indicator of success. However,
international research points to a complex relationship between reading scores and
digital literacy skills and those who expect a quick and easy solution to low reading
achievement may be disappointed.
First, we need to consider what traditional
standardised tests of reading achievement
actually measure. At the First and Second
classes in primary schools, these tests
mainly assess word identification skills – the ability of pupils to analyse, retrieve and
understand words. From Third class on, the emphasis shifts to comprehension of
texts, and readers must draw on a deeper well of background knowledge as well as a
bigger repertoire of higher-level reading comprehension skills to maintain progress.
What do standardised
tests actually measure?

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
22
Coupled with this, it is recognised that factors beyond the control of schools may
impact on pupils’ performance on standardised tests of reading. These include a
pupil’s socioeconomic status and that of his/her peers, the support children receive
in developing language and other skills at home, access to learning resources (e.g.
books, computers) at home and parent’s attitudes towards education and schooling.
Hence, while schools may control factors such as the quality of teaching and learning,
the level of control they can exert over external factors may be limited. At the same
time, many standardised tests have not as yet migrated to digital format, so pupils
may not get a chance to demonstrate their newly-acquired digital literacy skills. It is
also questionable whether such a migration would in the end prove to be a
straightforward exercise – the situated literacies approach as argued here emphasises
shared practices rather than individual skills.
Warschauer (2007) identified key skills
that digital literacies can promote. These
overlap to some extent with the
definitions of digital literacy presented
earlier and include aspects of multi-media literacies. According to Warschauer, the
following are the key informational literacy skills that young people should acquire:
• The ability to define what sorts of information are needed for a task
• locate the needed information efficiently
• evaluate information and its sources critically
• incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
• understand legal, social and economic issues around the use of information
• access information ethically and legally
Similarly, Leu et al. (2008) have framed online comprehension as generating
important questions and then locating, critically evaluating, synthesising and
communicating possible solutions to those questions online. Referring specifically to
reading on the Internet, they note that online comprehension is defined not only by
the purpose, task and context but also by a process of self-directed text construction.
Key skills that digital
literacy can promote

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
23
In addition to specific comprehension skills, Warshauer identified important multi-
media literacy skills that are particularly relevant to the current study including
interpreting, designing and creating content that makes use of images, photographs,
video, animation, music, sounds, texts and typography.
Clearly, the skills identified by Warshauer
and Leu et al., especially those relating to
information literacy but also ones
involving text and typography, overlap to a strong degree with what might be
described as traditional higher-level oral language, reading and writing skills. If we
look at the Primary School English Curriculum – Content (1999), for example, we
find reference to the following key oral language, reading and writing skills:
•
adopt an active approach to a text by posing his/her own
questions (First/Second classes, Reading)
•
use information retrieval skills in cross-curricular settings
(First/Second, Reading)
•
develop basic information retrieval skills – using chapter headings
and index, interpreting diagrammatic information, scanning and
skimming (Third/Fourth classes, Reading)
•
develop a range of comprehension strategies to deal with
narrative, expository and representational reading material –
inference, analysis, evaluation, summarisation (Third/Fourth
classes, Reading)
•
distinguish between fact and opinion, and bias and objectivity, in
text and in the media (Fifth/Sixth classes, Reading)
•
find information relevant to his/her purposes in non-fiction texts,
graphs and pictorial and diagrammatic data, and through the use
of information technology (Fifth/Sixth classes, Reading)
•
choose a form and quality of presentation appropriate to the
audience (Fifth/Sixth classes, Writing)
Skills in the curriculum

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
24
•
the child is encouraged to ask questions, to predict outcomes and
to discuss solutions to problems. He/she is also given
opportunities, both orally and in writing, to experience activities
such as justifying an attitude or arguing a point of view.
•
particular attention is paid to developing higher order thinking
skills such as evaluation, analysis, inference and deduction, and
the child is encouraged to use writing in order to clarify thought.
Warschauer argues that the skills fostered by digital media make traditional literacy
skills (such as those noted above) ‘more valuable than ever’ (2007 p 43). Related to
this, he states that ‘competence in traditional literacies is often a gateway to successful
entry into the world of new literacies’ (p 43). Conversely, he argues that pupils who
are not competent in traditional literacies might be limited in their ability to benefit
from the new literacies.
In a study of computer usage by 11-14
year-olds in New York city, Attewell and
Winston (2003) found that, while children
from affluent families (typically good
readers) had little difficulty posting
messages on bulletin boards, reading text online, participating in on-line polls and
contributing to the development of a website, those from less-affluent families
(typically poor readers) used multimedia to avoid reading texts rather than a means of
expanding their knowledge. The implication here is that the observed digital divide
was based on differences in pupils’ reading ability (traditional literacies) rather than
on differential access to digital media (new literacies). Indeed, Warschauer noted
that the limited reading ability of the less-affluent pupils substantially reduced the
possibility that they would engage with information literacy (regarded as a
component of digital literacy).
Absence of topic knowledge (sometimes referred to as cultural literacy or world
knowledge), can be an impediment both to acquiring reading literacy (most texts
assume some knowledge of the topic) and digital literacy (processing of electronic
text also requires topic knowledge). As pupils develop independence in reading, they
Study of computer usage
by 11-14 year-olds in
New York

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
25
need to draw on knowledge of a broad range of topics. Unfortunately, children in
disadvantaged circumstances may lack the key topic knowledge to understand some
texts whether in printed or digital format; hence their ability to apply and reinforce
relevant comprehension strategies may be limited.
Another important prerequisite for reading successfully is basic word
identification/recognition skills. It is easy to see how the application of
comprehension skills in digital contexts might enhance traditional comprehension
skills, particularly for those who can read with some degree of independence. It is
more difficult to see how engagement with digital texts would enhance print reading
skills for children who are struggling with learning to read, unless teachers ensure that
work with digital texts includes specific activities aimed at developing and applying
such reading skills.
Finally, in order to read and learn
successfully, children need to be highly
engaged. In the context of language
learning, Cummins (2001) refers to a need
for children to maintain maximum
cognitive engagement, maximum investment, and a critical focus on linguistic
meaning, form and use. These elements have also been identified by Warschauer as
important for digital media lessons, especially for children in disadvantaged
circumstances.
A more recent study in the US by Karchmer (2008) looked at how 13 teachers’ report
on how the Internet influenced literacy and literacy instruction in their classrooms.
Karcher’s findings indicated that the teachers viewed the Internet’s influence on
reading as an extension of traditional literacy skills. Further, primary teachers noticed
an increase in their pupils’ motivation to write when their work was published on the
Internet. Interestingly these findings did
not hold true for secondary teachers.
These observations point to the key role
of the teacher in developing both
traditional and digital literacies. But there
is a paradox. While digital literacy can
To read and learn
successfully children
need to be engaged
While digital literacy can
promote autonomous
learning, learners need
extensive teacher support to
reach that point

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
26
promote autonomous learning, learners need extensive teacher support to reach that
point. Hence, unstructured activities, where children are left to their own devices as
they engage with digital texts, seem to be of limited value. Referring specifically to
digital writing in the early years Merchant (2008) notes:
In reflecting the general shift of emphasis from whether to use ICT to
how to use ICT in literacy, there is a need for more careful consideration
of digital writing. In particular, there is scope for more work that shows
how digital writing can be embedded in classroom practice in ways that
provide authentic contexts for learning, meaning making and
communication. Because digital writing involves new kinds of skills and
new kinds of social practices, however, it cannot be simply grafted unto
existing instructional practices and curricular objectives.
(p 769)
Marchant suggests that there is more to
be done in developing classroom
practice and he suggests the key may lie
in authentic contexts for learning,
meaning making and communication.
In this way multi-media skills may be introduced on a needs basis, while also ensuring
that informational literacy and traditional reading/writing skills are supported.
Based on the preceding discussion the following are examples of appropriate
activities:
• Integrate opportunities for extensive reading and writing into digital
literacy activities (for example, children can engage in extensive
background reading around a new topic or write an account of what
they have done).
• For each digital literacy activity, select 5-6 key vocabulary words or
phrases, and teach them directly to pupils. Review these new
vocabulary items on an ongoing basis.
Suggested activities to
promote digital literacy
and learning

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
27
• In developing reading comprehension in digital environments, provide
opportunities for guided reading practice, where comprehension
strategies are modelled, and children are expected to explain which
strategies should be used and why.
• Capitalise on the sense of audience that digital literacies can provide –
children can be encouraged to pay stronger attention to issues of
syntax, vocabulary, mechanics, and structure in their writing, if they
know that their work will be read by others.
• When children engage in digital literacies, encourage them to describe
what they are doing, and how they can use what they have learned in
other contexts (e.g., in dealing with print literacies).
This section began by considering the possible effects of digital literacies on pupils’
performance on standardised tests of reading. However, research by Black and
William (2005) and others suggests that a range of classroom-based assessments such
as projects, portfolio assessment, oral presentations, and self-assessment can all
contribute to enhanced pupil learning, and stronger performance on standardised
tests. These assessment tools – often called ‘assessment for learning’ tools (NCCA,
Assessment in the Primary School Curriculum: Guidelines for Schools, 2007) – are ideally
suited to digital literacy activities, which are often more interactive than traditional
classroom teaching and learning.
The Inquiry Cycle – theoretical underpinnings
Inquiry-based learning is often described as a philosophical and pedagogical response
to the changing needs of the information age, but its roots are much deeper. It
assumes that all learning begins with the learner: what people know and what they
want to learn. This idea appears in the earliest writings on education, including Plato
and Socrates in the West and Confucius in the East but is more commonly traced

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
28
back to Rousseau and Pestalozzi. Its fullest articulation can be found in the writings
of John Dewey (1938).
For Dewey the connection between what happens in the classroom and lived
experience outside the school walls is essential for successful education. The best
education constantly reconstructs experience, relating it to both the past and to
contemporary life. As Dewey (1938 p 15) points out
We always live at the time we live and not at some other time, and only by
extracting at each present time the full meaning of each present
experience are we prepared for doing the same in the future. This is the
only preparation which in the long run amounts to anything.
Thus, inquiry requires active learning in authentic contexts. Authentic contexts
require that teachers, pupils, and community members become partners in inquiry,
including inquiry into the world and inquiry into pedagogy.
Thus, curriculum can be defined differently to it being a set of skills to be mastered
or as a set of concepts to be learned. Dewey argued that we need to build curriculum
around the impulses or instincts, of the learner:
(i) the social instinct – conversation, personal intercourse, and
communication;
(ii) the instinct of making – the constructive impulse;
(iii) the instinct of investigation – doing things and watching to see what
happens;
(iv) the expressive impulse – the desire to extract meaning from
experience.
Dewey saw these impulses as the natural resources, or the un-invested capital of
education, out of which active learning grows. If people are to understand and
participate fully in the complex world in which they live, they need to have
opportunities to engage with challenging problems, to learn through hands-on
investigations, to have supportive experiences, to articulate their ideas to others and
to explore a variety of resources in multiple media.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
29
We are all participants in inquiry, not spectators: we change a problematic situation
and are changed in turn through our actions. This leads to a view of inquiry as, “the
controlled or directed transformation of an indeterminate situation into one that is so
determinate in its constituent distinctions and relations as to convert the elements of
the original situation into a unified whole” (Dewey, 1991/1938 p 108).
Indeterminate situations are those in which a person finds conflict between current
needs and realities. The indeterminacy can range from feeling cold to being puzzled
about an historical event. That feeling of indeterminacy is then the driving force of
inquiry causing the individual to put on a coat in the former case or to make a trip to
a library or the Internet, in the latter. In each case, the inquirer seeks to establish a
unified whole, one that replaces the indeterminacy with a unity. Inquiry is not a
purely mental act, separate from action: putting on a coat can be as much an instance
of “directed transformation” as reading a text. In fact, it is the integration of mind
and body in action that constitutes the transformative aspect of inquiry.
This account is descriptive, not prescriptive. The “controlled or directed
transformation” of indeterminate situations is simply what we do as purposive
organisms. Learning is our capacity to reflect upon that transformation and to realise
that we can achieve a unified whole when faced with similar situations in the future.
In that sense, inquiry-based learning is not a method or an option to consider for
teaching and learning; instead, it is what happens when people do learn.
The emphasis in Dewey’s concept of inquiry is on transformation, on remaking the
world along with ourselves. Because situations often include interactions with others,
inquiry typically involves collaboration. The usual categories (teacher/pupil,
technology/concept, knowledge/skill) are replaced with a need to understand the
process of transformation: What means are employed to transform an indeterminate
situation? What are the varied roles played by tools, ideas and people in inquiry?
How does an inquirer evaluate the unity of a situation? How do multiple inquirers
coordinate their activities? How do individual experiences and needs coordinate with
those of the community?
For Dewey, and others involved with this educational perspective, the problems of
education were not located in what we teach or how we teach, but rather in the
breakdown of connections between individual and community, between formal
learning and lived experience and between the means and ends of problem solving.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
30
From this perspective, the situation set up within formal education is often so far
removed from the situation of life outside that learning has no meaning and remains
in what Dewey calls a “water-tight compartment” (Dewey, 1991/1938 p 48).
Drawing from Dewey’s four impulses, his stages of reflective action and the
fundamental idea that learning begins with the curiosity of the learner, we can
envision a spiral path (Figure 1) of inquiry: asking questions, investigating solutions,
creating, discussing our discoveries and experiences, and reflecting on our new-found
knowledge and asking new questions (Bruce & Bishop, 2002). Each step in this
process naturally leads to the next: inspiring new questions, investigations and
opportunities for authentic teachable moments. Each question leads to an exploration,
which in turn leads to more questions to investigate (Bruce & Davidson, 1996).
Figure 1. The Inquiry Cycle
We need to interpret the cycle as suggestive, neither the sole, nor the complete,
characterization of inquiry-based learning. Inquiry rarely proceeds in a simple, linear
fashion. The five dimensions in the process - ask, investigate, create, discuss, reflect -
overlap, and not every category or step is present in any given inquiry. Each step can

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
31
be embedded in any of the others, and so on. In fact, the very nature of inquiry is
that these steps are mutually reinforcing and interrelated. Together, they comprise a
cycle that can be used to inform and guide educational experiences for learners.
Ask reminds us that inquiry develops
from a question or problem arising out of
experience. Meaningful questions are
inspired by genuine curiosity about real-world experiences and challenges. Viewed in
process terms, one can say that a question or a problem comes into focus, and the
learner begins to define or describe what it is, for example:
What makes a poem poetry?
Where do chickens come from and how does an egg ‘work’?
Why does the moon change shape?
But inquiry does not always start with a well-articulated question; questions
themselves arise from reflection and action in the world, including dialogue with
others. Elspeth Huxley states this well:
The best way to find things out ... is not to ask questions at all. If you fire
off a question, it is like firing of a gun - bang it goes, and everything takes
flight and runs for shelter. But if you sit quite still and pretend not to be
looking, all the little facts will come and peck round your feet, situations
will venture forth from thickets, and intentions will creep out and sun
themselves on a stone; and if you are very patient you will see and
understand a great deal more than a man with a gun does.
(Huxley, 1959 p 272)
Investigate relates to the varieties of
experience possible and the many ways in
which we become part of an
indeterminate situation. It suggests that opportunities for learning require diverse,
authentic, and challenging materials and problems. Because experience includes
interactions with others, there is also a moral dimension to inquiry. Similarly,
physical, emotional, aesthetic, and practical dimensions are inherent in inquiry, and
are not merely enhancements or add-ons.
Ask
Investigate

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
32
Through investigation, we turn curiosity into action. Learners gather information,
study, craft an experiment, observe, or interview. The learner may recast the
question, refine a line of query, or plunge down a new path that the original question
did not, or could not, anticipate. The information-gathering stage becomes a self-
motivated process that is owned by the engaged learner.
Create picks up the “controlled or
directed transformation” part of Dewey’s
definition. This term insists that inquiry
means active, engaged hands-on learning. Inquiry thus implies active creation of
meaning, which includes new forms of collaborating and new roles for collaborators.
As information begins to coalesce, the learner makes connections. The ability at this
stage to synthesise meaning is the creative spark that forms new knowledge. The
learner now undertakes the creative task of shaping significant new thoughts, ideas
and theories extending his/her prior experience.
Although inquiry has a personal aspect to
it, it is also part of our participation in a
community. Discuss involves listening to
others and articulating our own understandings. Through discussion (or dialogue),
construction of knowledge becomes a social enterprise; learners share their ideas and
ask others about their own experiences. Shared knowledge is a community-building
process, and the meaning of their investigation takes on greater relevance in the
context of the learners’ society. Learners compare notes, share experiences, and
discuss conclusions, through multiple media, including now online social networks.
Reflect tells us that only the inquirer can
recognise the indeterminate situation and
further, say whether it has been
transformed into a unified whole. Reflection means expressing experience, and
thereby being able to move from new concepts into action. Reflection may also
mean recognising further indeterminacies, leading to continuing inquiry. Reflection
is taking the time to look back at initial questions, the research path and the
conclusions made. The learner steps back, takes stock, makes observations and new
decisions. Has a solution been found? Do new questions come to light?
Create
Discuss
Reflect/Express

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
33
And so it begins again; thus the circle of inquiry.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
34
The Inquiry Cycle and the Irish Primary School Context
This research does not stand alone. It should be considered alongside other Irish
primary school research and policy documents. In this section we situate the Inquiry
Cycle within the philosophy of the Irish Primary Curriculum. We also show how the
cycle is supported by recent publications on the use and integration of ICT in Irish
schools.
The Irish Primary School Curriculum and the Inquiry Cycle
The Irish Primary School Curriculum was completely revised in 1971 and brought
child centered education to the core of classroom activity. The key principles
underlining the curriculum put the individual learner’s holistic development through
discovery and active learning as the basis for a revised pedagogy. The Department of
Education and Science conducted a major review of the 1971 curriculum during the
1980s and 90s which culminated in a 1999 revision. This very comprehensive review
further reinforced child centered education:
An important goal of the curriculum is to enable children to learn how to
learn, and to develop an appreciation of the value and practice of lifelong
learning.
(Primary School Curriculum Introduction, 1999 p 7)
Since the publication of the curriculum there have been many societal and
technological changes in Ireland and these have impacted how schools address
learning and teaching. The philosophy underpinning the curriculum is the basis for
schools’ pedagogical practices and it recognises the need for schools to respond to
changing circumstances. In addition, various educational agencies have published
other reports and recommendations to assist schools in reforming practice to take
account of the ever changing societal influences on education. The Introduction to the
Curriculum acknowledges that it should not be static but should respond to change:
Change also involves new behaviours and practices, and ultimately new
beliefs and understandings. It involves changes in what people know and
assume.
(Primary School Curriculum Introduction, 1999 p 62)

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
35
The curriculum makes reference to the importance of using ICT in literacy
development but the scope of the reference is limited by the technology that existed
in 1999. The English Curriculum states:
The ability to use information and communication technologies can also
help to enhance the child’s language development. It can be an important
resource in developing reading, comprehension and information retrieval
skills. The facility of word-processing can not only encourage and help
the child in drafting, editing and rewriting but can underline the fact that
this operation is an intrinsic part of the writing process. Because
language is a feature of every curriculum area these and other
applications of information and communication technologies to learning
and teaching can have relevance for the child’s development throughout
his/her school experience.
(Primary School Curriculum English: Content, 1999 p 9)
The Inquiry Cycle, as we have defined it, is a recursive process of Ask, Investigate,
Create, Communicate and Reflect. The cycle is based on the same principles of
discovery learning we see in the primary school curriculum.
Ask reminds us that inquiry develops
from a question or problem arising out of
experience. Meaningful questions are
inspired by genuine curiosity about real-world experiences and challenges.
The curriculum emphasises that the impulse for learning is the child’s sense of
wonder at the complexity of the world, the desire to understand it, and the
spontaneous impetus to explore it through play. First-hand experience that actively
engages the child with the immediate environment and with those who live in it is the
most effective basis for learning (Primary School Curriculum Introduction, 1999).
Through investigation, we turn curiosity
into action – learners gather information,
study, craft an experiment, observe or
interview.
Once the object of inquiry is decided the learner must investigate and seek solutions
to the questions in mind. This is the process of active learning through hands on
Ask
in the Curriculum
Investigate
in the
Curriculum

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
36
investigation either individually or through cooperative working. It is at this stage
that the learner will choose the tools for the investigation. The curriculum states “It
is an underlying principle of the curriculum that the child should be an active agent in
his or her own learning” (Primary School Curriculum Introduction, 1999 p 14).
The learner now undertakes the creative
task of shaping significant new thoughts,
ideas and theories extending his/her prior
experience. The learner has discovered
enough information to commence the creation of an artefact which reflects the
knowledge gained. In the case studies observed in this research such a process
involved pupils using digital tools and media.
Through discussion (or dialogue),
construction of knowledge becomes a
social enterprise. Learners share their
ideas and ask others about their own
experiences. The essential element of learning for the learner is the expression of the
new understanding through a medium of their choice. Communication can take
many forms and must involve others and have an audience. The curriculum states:
In a rapidly changing society effective interpersonal and intrapersonal
skills and skills in communication are essential for personal, social and
educational fulfilment. The ability to think critically, to apply learning
and to develop flexibility and creativity are also important factors in the
success of the child’s life.
(Primary School Curriculum Introduction, 1999 p 7)
Much learning takes place through the interaction of language and experience.
Language helps the child to “clarify and interpret experience, to acquire new
concepts and to add depth to concepts already grasped” (Primary School Curriculum
Introduction p 15).
One of the principles on which the English curriculum is based is that the child
learns through language, that he/she can use language to clarify images and so
facilitate the cognitive organisation of concepts and ideas (see, Primary School
Curriculum English: Content, 1999).
Create
in the
Curriculum
Communicate
in the
Curriculum

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
37
In the inquiry cycle the learning takes
place through consideration of the
previous steps and the understanding
gained through this process of reflection.
The curriculum states:
Conceptual development is not necessarily a linear process. It may take
place on a number of planes simultaneously or through the making of an
intuitive leap. Having dealt with particular knowledge, ideas and skills at
a simple level, the child should have the opportunity to return to them at
regular intervals in order to deepen his or her understanding.
(Primary School Curriculum Introduction, 1999 p 14)
The Irish Primary Curriculum and Literacy
As this research is concerned with digital literacy and how technology impacts on
traditional literacy it is prudent to consider what the curriculum says about the
learning of English:
The English curriculum is concerned not just with language learning but
with learning through language
(Government of Ireland, Primary School Curriculum English: Content, 1999 p 2)
Language learning is an integrated process in which it is difficult to separate the
functions of oral language, reading and writing:
All three are intimately related and each interacts with the others in a
myriad of ways.
(Primary School Curriculum English: Content, 1999 p 2)
Much of what the child learns and the way he/she learns it comes from:
.... interaction of language and experience. Through naming, describing,
classifying and modifying things and ideas, knowledge is extended and
the command of language developed. In this way language subsumes
experience.
(Primary School Curriculum Introduction, 1999 p 6)
Reflect
in the
Curriculum

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
38
We suggest that, as evidenced by the above extracts, the Primary Curriculum
advocates a social practice approach to literacy. In the words of the curriculum
“language subsumes experience”. Overall, the model of learning, based on the
Inquiry Cycle is very much in keeping with the principles outlined in the 1999 Irish
Primary School Curriculum.
The Inquiry Cycle and ICT Integration in Irish Primary
Schools
More recently, publications from the National Council for Curriculum and
Assessment (NCCA), National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) and the
Department of Education and Science provide resources on integrating the new
technologies into the curriculum. There is a wealth of advice now available to
encourage and support teachers to refine their current classroom pedagogy to reflect
the new affordances offered by the use of digital media to enrich learning for their
pupils.
In this section we outline how the Inquiry Cycle fits in with 3 other recent
publications:
1. ICT in Schools - Inspectorate Evaluation Support and Research Unit
2. Investing Effectively in Information and Communication Technology in Schools
2008-2013 – The Report of the Minister’s Strategy Group
3. The NCCA Framework (Revised) – A Structured Approach to ICT in
Curriculum and Assessment
1 ICT in Schools – Inspectorate Evaluation Studies
This is a very comprehensive report and in reviewing it here we can gain some
understanding of the issues surrounding ICT in education which set the context for
looking at how the Inquiry Cycle and ICT are interrelated. The report was published
in 2008 and it is an evaluation of the infrastructure, planning and use of information
and communications technology in teaching and learning conducted by the

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
39
Inspectorate in primary and post-primary schools during the school year 2005/06.
The report details the infrastructure in schools and makes recommendations for
policy development:
The pedagogical rationale for promoting ICT in schools is concerned
with the use of ICT in teaching and learning. It is intimately related,
therefore, to the economic and social rationales, but ICT also has
additional application in the teaching and learning process. It provides
teachers with a range of new tools to facilitate traditional pedagogies; it
also and perhaps more importantly, presents the teacher with the
potential to develop new teaching methods. For the student growing up
in a culture of all-pervasive technology, ICT provides new, and more
exciting and relevant, learning opportunities.
(ICT in Schools 2008 p 5)
Another important factor for the use of technology in the classroom is the skill set of
the teacher. The report states:
Teachers were asked to state their perceived level of proficiency in a
number of important ICT skills areas. An analysis of the responses to
this question showed that the majority of teachers do not consider
themselves proficient in a wide range of ICT skills and applications. In
addition, the majority of teachers report their ability to use ICT-facilitated
methods and to assess the potential of computer applications and the
internet as low.
(ICT in Schools 2008 p 109)
It is not surprising then that the report finds in general, that ICT usage in the
classroom is low and there is a lack of understanding and confidence among teachers
in learning how to use technology in their teaching. The report states:
It is clear from this examination that the use of ICT is somewhat limited
in primary schools, and that the potential for using ICT to develop critical
life skills, such as communication, problem-solving and independent
working skills, is not being realised.
(ICT in Schools p 116)

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
40
The report highlights the potential role for ICT to support quality teaching and
learning in our primary schools. However, this is currently only occurring in a small
number of schools and the majority of Irish primary teachers are struggling to embed
ICT into their daily classroom routines. The report also makes many useful
recommendations regarding the integration of ICT into classroom practice which
provide an important backdrop and impetus to the research questions addressed
here.
2 Investing Effectively in Information and Communications Technology in
Schools 2008- 2013 – The Report of the Minister’s Strategy Group
The notion of learning as inquiry permeates the pedagogic approaches suggested in
the Minister’s Strategy Group Report. New tools for learning afforded by digital
technology in schools provide pupils with new ways to experience the world and
make meaning. New digital technologies may provide a rich variety of stimuli
through multimedia, the Internet and mobile devices. Curiosity and questioning can
be stimulated in new ways and these affordances are recognised in the Strategy
Group report:
Appropriately integrated into what teachers do, ICT facilitates
exploration, creativity and interdisciplinary work. When used well, ICT
enriches learning and enhances teaching. It invigorates classroom
activities and is a powerful motivational tool that encourages learners to
progress in more personalised and self-directed ways.
(Investing Effectively in Information and Communications Technology in Schools, 2008-2013
The Report of the Minister’s Strategy Group, 2008 p 1)
With many new tools available for research, pupils can now use digital tools to frame
and investigate meaningful questions. Digital devices, now cheaply available, can
facilitate new methods for recording, storing and showcasing students’ work. Skills
such as collaboration, problem solving and effective presentation – all important in
knowledge economies – are greatly facilitated by new technologies.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
41
Our growing knowledge economy requires an ICT-literate, creative and
entrepreneurial workforce which confidently uses ICT for invention,
problem-solving and knowledge creation.
(p 1)
Digital technology enables students to create new content and new forms of
creativity and expression. In a world where digital content is freely available and
easily shared, students in school can now become users, creators and contributors to
the world of media rich content. The Strategy Group Report states:
The pursuit of creativity and inventiveness are now pivotal skills in a
knowledge economy and the embedding of ICT in learning can greatly
facilitate their development.
and
Creativity has always been a highly regarded attribute in society. Now it
has been identified as a pivotal competence in the networked society and
knowledge-based economy.
(p 1 summary)
The need for expression and communication drives how we interact with others in
society. New technology has empowered us to find many diverse ways to express
our ideas and show our creativity. The Strategy Group Report also recognises this:
Web 2.0 will facilitate greater interactivity and user-generated content
activities. It is crucial that young people acquire the ICT and related
skills to take full advantage of these new communication interfaces and
opportunities.
(p 2)
New experiences are given their fullest value when they can be integrated with what
is already known through a process of reflection. This is what drives the learner to
ask additional questions or seek improvements to what has been created. It prompts
further investigations and so continues the cycle of inquiry learning. The Strategy
Report states:

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
42
Full participation in our knowledge society increasingly requires
confidence and fluency in personal ICT usage. The very nature of
learning is changing. Teaching must take account of the ICT-enabled
styles and methods of learning that students have experienced outside the
classroom.
(p 2)
3 The NCCA ICT Framework - A Structured Approach to ICT in Curriculum
and Assessment
The NCCA ICT Framework was published in 2007 and provides teachers with
guidelines on the integration of ICT in their teaching. The focus of the framework is
to help teachers develop ICT literacy in pupils. They framework identifies 15
learning outcomes that may be applied to four areas of learning defined as:
• exploring the potential of ICT to create, communicate, and
collaborate to organise and produce information (Area C).
• understanding and applying knowledge of the functions of ICT
including safe practice, maintenance and ergonomics (Area F).
• developing a critical appreciation of the role of ICT in society and
habits which reflect ethical and responsible use of ICT (Area S).
• using ICT for thinking and learning including managing enquiry,
assessing information, solving problems, and expressing ideas across a
range of curriculum areas (Area T).
(ICT Framework A Structured Approach to ICT in Curriculum and Assessment (Revised
Framework), 2007)

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
43
The ICT Framework and practical online support for teaching and learning are
available on the ACTION2 website at http://action.ncca.ie. The site describes many
sample activities for each level designed as exemplars for teachers to emulate. The
intention is to build this on-line resource and more exemplars will be added over
time. The online introduction to the NCCA ICT Framework states:
The ICT Framework offers schools a structured approach to using ICT in
curriculum and assessment by identifying the types of learning with ICT
(including knowledge, skills and attitudes) appropriate for students
during the period of compulsory education. The ICT Framework is not a
curriculum area or a syllabus. It is not presented as an add-on to
teaching and learning but as a tool to help teachers to integrate ICT in
teaching and learning. The Framework provides a guide to teachers for
embedding ICT in curriculum and assessment across curriculum
subjects. It is an enabling Framework.
The NCCA also published a consultative document in December 2004, “Curriculum
Assessment and ICT in the Irish Context: A Discussion Paper”. This paper devoted
an entire chapter to discussing emergent literacy definitions culminating in a vision of
ICT literacy:
All students will leave school as capable independent learners, able to use
ICT confidently, creatively, and productively, able to communicate
effectively, able to work collaboratively, and to critically evaluate, manage
and use information.
(NCCA, 2004 p 29)
The NCCA has articulated a clear role for ICT within the primary curriculum and is
actively developing a series of exemplars to showcase how teachers are embedding
ICT into their classroom teaching. Their ICT framework document builds on the
work of their 2004 consultative document to provide teachers with ideas and support
on how to embed ICT across the curriculum.
2 ACTION stands for Assessment, Curriculum and Teaching Innovation on the Net.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
44
Definition of Digital Literacy in primary school contexts
In this review we began by exploring the notion of literacy and we provided a brief
historical perspective on the connections between literacy and power. We also
showed how literacy is connected with communication and argued for a situated
conception of literacy as beyond a stated set of skills. In our view, literacy is
associated with the practices of society and it is best understood in reference to the
shared meaning associated with these practices. Therefore we can describe the
“world” of literacies rather than literacy.
We also provided a brief review of the emergence of the concept of computer
literacy in the last 30 years. The early emphasis was on the science of computing and
computer competence was associated with programming and technology. With the
evolution of everyday digital technologies a new emphasis on practical application
and the functional advantages of technology emerged. The concept of digital literacy
was introduced and two definitions were tabled: Gilster (1997) and Martin (2006).
We then considered the connection between digital literacy and print literacy and a
number of other research studies were discussed. The connection between these
literacies is more complex that might first be expected and of particular note was the
way people used traditional (print) literacies in new technology contexts.
We presented a model of learning based on the Inquiry Cycle and demonstrated how
this view of learning is espoused in the Irish Primary Curriculum and in a number of
publications dealing with ICT and learning and teaching in Irish school contexts.
We are now in a position to propose our definition of digital literacy appropriate for
Irish primary school contexts. Taking into account the previous discussion, the
definition will have the following characteristics:
• It will be based on a situated view of literacy and therefore it will be
context specific - in this research the appropriate context is the
primary school classroom.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
45
• It will be based on the practices associated with primary school
classrooms - in this case teaching and learning practices.
• Literacy is shared rather than individual.
• Our model of learning is based on the Inquiry Cycle.
• Our model of teaching involves structuring activities to support
Inquiry Cycle learning/
We therefore propose the following definition of digital literacy:
Digital literacy in primary schools involves pupils and teachers using
digital technology to enable, sustain and enrich all aspects of the inquiry
cycle of learning as: ask, investigate, create, discuss and reflect.
In this definition we suggest that digital literacy involves pupils and teachers using
technology for a purpose and we are clear that the purpose relates to the inquiry cycle
of learning.
The definition suggests three ways in which digital media practices can enhance the
Inquiry Cycle:
• Firstly, practices can enable the cycle by offering new entry points
such as taking pictures for investigating or facilitating discussion
through on-line connection;
• Secondly, practices can sustain the cycle through expansion as in
when new questions arise from reflection facilitated by reviewing
creative outputs such as a photo story or web site;

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
46
• And thirdly, digital media practices can enrich the Inquiry Cycle by
facilitating different modes of experience and engagement such as
visual (the fine detail of the flower), aural enrichment (the sound of
the wind), narrative, music, text and symbols.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
47
Method
The goal of this research was to develop a framework for conceptualising digital
literacy in the context of Irish primary education and to investigate digital media
practices in the classroom. To achieve this we sought to establish a new contextual
definition for digital literacy and a means to describe the current practices in schools
with reference to this definition.
In the previous section we provided a theoretical overview leading to a new
definition of digital literacy. A framework may be regarded as an extension of a
definition into practice. It is a conceptual tool – a way of thinking about the
consequences and application of ideas.
There is a need for a useful framework to help teachers, policy makers and other
educators understand the connection between digital literacy and the learning and
teaching practices in the classroom.
The starting point for such a framework is to reference the practices and activities
that take place in the classroom. Obviously, the goal of classroom activity is to bring
about learning and as such, we grounded our digital literacy framework in a
conception of learning centered on the Inquiry Cycle.
The initial framework was devised as a series of components and organised in the
form of a checklist to be used by the researchers to rate classroom activities. The
intent was for this Component Checklist to form the basis of the eventual digital literacy
framework. The component checklist was devised specifically for this research and
was subject to review and improvement throughout the lifespan of the project. The
checklist facilitated observers to classify classroom activities along ten parameters
based on the theoretical models discussed above.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
48
Table (a) Elements of the
Component Checklist
Ask
Investigate
Create
Collaborate
Reflect/Express
Participation (depth)
Participation (scope)
Print literacy
Media ecology
Use of digital media
Tables (I) to (XVI) presented in Appendix 2 demonstrate how the component
classification system captured and rated the activities in project classrooms. To
illustrate this process we present the five classifications for the component Ask in
Table (b) below.
Table (b) Classifications for the component
Ask
Significant questions e.g. recognising both the affordances and the
constraints and/or the nature of the mediation of the topic
Inquiries tend to be more purposeful
Inquiries tend to be somewhat limited in scope
Some inquiry but questions are disconnected from one another,
from other aspects of learning and from lived experience
Little evidence of questioning or inquiry

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
49
In this way observers were able to describe classroom activities in terms of learning
as inquiry and to provide additional data on student participation (in terms of depth
and numbers), the integration of print literacy, the use of media and artefacts (media
ecology) and finally, a rating for digital literacy.
The structure of the checklist also served to focus on the specific questions of this
research namely the nature of student engagement and participation, the degree to
which such activities foster traditional (print) literacy skills, and the adequacy of the
newly developed framework as a tool to describe digital literacy in classroom
contexts.
The school visits and observations took
place during the period Monday 18th
February to Friday 11th of April, 2008.
The four schools involved in this research were:
School 1 - Scoil San Seamus CBS Primary, Basin Lane, James Street, Dublin
8, Principal Mr Joe Tulie
School 2 - Mater Dei National School, Basin Lane, James Street, Dublin 8,
Principal Sr. Rita Wynne
School 3 - Presentation Primary School, Warrenmount, Dublin 8, Principal
Eileen O’Connell (now Margaret Ryan)
School 4 - Francis Street CBS, Francis Street, Dublin 8, Principal Fiona
Collins
Prior to the study all of the participating teachers and school principals were invited
to a meeting with the research team. At this meeting the process of investigation was
explained and teachers were invited to contribute as fully as possible to the research
process. It is the view of the Research Team and the Steering Group that the role of
teachers in this research was more akin to co-investigators rather than subjects under
Participating Schools

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
50
study. We wish to acknowledge that we received excellent co-operation from all of
the participating schools and teachers.
We asked teachers to select an appropriate activity for researchers to observe during
the two school visits. We suggested that teachers devise an appropriate project. It is
important to note researchers did not prescribe the activities or the media to be used
– the choice of project was left entirely up to the teacher. For the purposes of this
research, each class was classified as a ‘case’.
The research team was divided into pairs of ‘observers’, each pair being responsible
for one case. The research observers were: Leo Casey, Chip Bruce and Abi Reynolds
from National College of Ireland, Gerry Shiel and Laura Coffey from the
Educational Research Centre and Clifford Brown from the Digital Hub
Development Agency.
Each school was asked to put
forward two classes to participate
in this research, one class at grade
3 and one at grade 4. In Presentation Primary School, 4th Class is split into two
groups and the school requested both be involved. We therefore studied eight
classes which became eight cases.
The eight cases are as follows:
Case 1 ‘Bills New Frock’ Fourth Class, Scoil San Seamus CBS
Case 2 ‘Vikings’ Fourth Class, Mater Dei NS
Case 3 ‘The Digital Dog’ Fourth Class, Francis St CBS
Case 4 ‘How to Make a Banana Split’ Third Class, Scoil San Seamus CBS
Case 5 ‘The Three Little Pigs’ Third Class, Presentation Primary School
Case 6 ‘Fractions’ Third Class, Francis St CBS
Case 7 ‘Memories’ Fourth Class (1) & (2), Presentation Primary School
Case 8 ‘St Patrick’, Mater Dei National School
Research Cases

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
51
Data Collection and Analysis
Our unit of analysis was a class project
carried out by a specific teacher; for
example, a typical case involved a project
based on the creation of a clay animation figures on the Vikings.
Data were collected from a number of sources and using a range of methods
including:
• Classroom observation using the Component Checklist
• Interviews with school principals and teachers
• Collection of digital artefacts of student project outcomes
• Photos, audio recordings and contemporaneous notes
• All of the researchers collaborated using a protected research support web
site that facilitated the extensive input of data and component ratings.
Researchers were required to conduct two class observations per case and interview
the class teacher before and during the project.
The timeline below indicates the sequencing of interviews and observations:
----------X1------- O1 ------------class---project------------------ O2----X2----------Î
X1 first teacher interview X2 second teacher interview (optional)
O1 first class observation O2 second class observation
In addition, interviews were conducted with the school principals or where
appropriate, ICT coordinating teachers.
Component Checklists
A special secure research web site was constructed to facilitate the input of data by
each of the observers following the school visits. Researchers observed in pairs and
each individual researcher was required to independently classify the activities using
Sample and Cases

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
52
the Component Checklist. Classifications were posted to the research site after each
visit. At the end of the data collection process observers compared their individual
ratings with those of their counterparts. If there was a difference in classification this
was discussed and an agreed classification was arrived at. The Component Checklist
Summary Tables presented in Appendix 2 are those agreed between each pair of
observers.
This strategy of initial independent classification and later comparison served to
reduce the subjectivity of the process. The web site also facilitated a common shared
interpretation of the checklist classifications among the different observers.
Improvements were made to some of the component checklist descriptors in
response to feedback from observers following the first field visits.
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
The second stage of analysis involved the development of an Inquiry Cycle Activity
Summary (ICAS) for each case. The ICAS is derived from an interpretation of the
data and it represents the researchers’ view of the relationship between class activities
and the dimensions of the Inquiry Cycle. The ICAS tables are intended as broad
summaries and are based on the span of the project rather than an individual class.
It is important to note that the concept of the ICAS was arrived at as a result of the
research process. It represents the combined view of the research team as the most
appropriate framework to consider the project activities and the relationship between
these activities and the Inquiry Cycle.
The Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary suggests that the project (or case) be presented
as the connection between classroom activities and elements of the Inquiry Cycle –
Ask, Investigate, Create, Discuss and Reflect - Table (c) below shows the template
used to organise this finding.
In this way the full span of class activities was considered with respect to each of the
Inquiry Cycle dimensions. This structure represents a suggested framework within
which digital and print literacies may be considered within primary class contexts.
We also present a blank version of the Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary which may be
used as a planning tool for teachers (see Appendix 1).

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
53
Table (c) Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
How is…
Ask
Investigate
Create
Communicate
Reflect
facilitated by activity centered on:
Teacher?
Group work?
Print media?
Digital media?
Other materials?

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
54
Findings
How the findings are presented
Researchers worked in pairs to gather data and to agree on an overall rating for each
class project that was observed. The cases presented in the findings of this report are
compiled from observations, interviews with the class teacher and interviews with the
school principal. Insights from digital artefacts and other materials were also taken
into account.
There are four sections to each case:
(1) Case Description
(2) Observer Component Checklists Summaries (see Appendix 2)
(3) Digital Literacy Classification (see Appendix 3)
(4) Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
55
Case 1 ‘Bill’s New Frock’
Scoil San Seamus CBS is an inner city
urban school and has been classified by
the Department of Education as DEIS
Band One school (in receipt of significant
extra educational support). It is an all-boys school with 140 pupils in 2nd to 6th
class. Over 25% of the school population are newcomer pupils. The school has
extra staffing for pupils with special needs and a language support teacher for pupils
whose first language in not English. The principal is a strong advocate of the use of
technology in teaching but feels that the school is under resourced in terms of
hardware and technical support.
This class comprises 23 boys and their project was to make digital videos of pupil
interviews on questions arising from a novel they read in class called Bills New Frock.
After some spelling exercises the teacher
organised a discussion on girls and why
sometimes boys don't like them. The
pupils worked in pairs and discussed ‘things they find annoying’ – they were asked to
rate these on a scale of one to five. They then were asked to think about what they
find annoying about girls; examples such as girls’ obsession with their appearance and
“they keep talking all the time” were discussed. This exercise became the preparation
for pupils recording their opinions to camera. While recording, they adopted roles as
interviewer and interviewee. The teacher arranged for a pupil from 6th class to act as
the camera operator and the class used cue cards to assist in the filming.
The aim of the project was to help the boys develop thinking skills and oral fluency
and give them confidence to speak to camera. The pupils had to think of suitable
questions to ask and answers to give and prepare their interviews prior to filming.
They watched the videos in school and the boys were very proud of what they had
achieved.
Scoil San Seamus CBS,
4th Class Boys
Activity

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
56
• The Observer Component Checklist Summaries for Case 1 ‘Bill’s
New Frock’ are presented in Appendix 2 of this report as Table (i)
and Table (ii)
• The Digital Literacy Classification is presented in Appendix 3 of
this report
Case 1 ‘Bill’s New Frock’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
Ask
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Sets up question: What do you find annoying?
Group work Pupils discuss examples from their own experience
Print media The novel provides a story as backdrop to the inquiry
Digital media
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
57
Case 1 ‘Bill’s New Frock’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Investigate
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises and assigns roles (interviewer and
interviewee)
Group work Pupils discuss consequences
Print media
Digital media Pupils prepare for video recording
Other materials
Create
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises for older pupil to operate video camera
Group work Pupils work in pairs – interviewer and interviewee
Print media Pupils write and read cue cards
Digital media Interviews are recorded
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
58
Case 1 ‘Bill’s New Frock’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Discuss
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises video playback on computer
Group work
Print media
Digital media Pupils review videos
Other materials
Reflect
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Elicits reports from groups
Group work Pupils report on the experience
Print media Further reading from the novel with new insights
Digital media
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
59
Case 2 ‘The Vikings’
Mater Dei National School is an inner city
school and has been classified by the
Department of Education and Science as
DEIS Band One. The school has 250 pupils.
Boys are not catered for in this school after 1st class (the move to another school) -
there are only girls from 2nd to 6th classes. The school has one computer in each
class room and also has a computer room. Literacy is a concern for the school and
the principal feels that the use of computers is very beneficial for literacy skills
development. She reports that there is a good culture of technology use in the
school thanks to the school's involvement in
the Digital Hub's Learning Initiative.
This project involved 4th class girls who were
learning about the Vikings as part of their History lessons. The aim of the project
was to make an animated movie about a day in the life of a group of Vikings arriving
to settle in Ireland. They began by making a storyboard for the movie wherein they
planned the scenes, dialogue and actions to take place. They then designed and
constructed miniature sets and small characters for the movie using modelling clay
for the characters and other art materials for the sets. The movie was made by taking
a series of digital still images with small adjustments made between each still to create
an animated effect. The scenes were subsequently edited and text, visual effects,
music and dialogue were added through the use of dedicated animation software
(Frames).
The teacher divided the class into groups and each group prepared a scene for the
movie. This group activity involved writing, drawing and discussion on how the
ideas of each group could be used. Each member of the group was assigned a
specific role - the group roles were: leader, time-keeper, recorder and reporter. The
teacher prepared for the group work by revising previous lessons on how to work in
groups and the tasks for each role as members of the group.
Groups constructed the sets during their art classes and everyone was given an
opportunity to use the digital camera when the scenes were being recorded. The girls
Mater Dei National
School, 4th Class Girls
Activity

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
60
had to use their creativity and imaginations to plan, construct, shoot and edit the
movie. They used the knowledge learned in History class to visualise and interpret
the difficulties Viking settlers might have faced. The project integrated many aspects
of the school curriculum - history, language (written and oral), art, music and drama.
The girls also learned about the processes involved in film making including skills in
using a camera to frame shots, animation, sound editing and image editing.
• The Observer Component Checklist Summaries for Case 2 ‘The
Vikings’ are presented in Appendix 2 of this report as Table (iii) and
Table (iv)
• The Digital Literacy Classification is presented in Appendix 3 of
this report
Case 2 ‘The Vikings’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
Ask
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Links project to class work in History
Group work Pupils plan the story scenes in groups
Print media The storyboard planning template is used
Digital media
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
61
Case 2 ‘The Vikings’,
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Investigate
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises and assigns roles (leader, time-keeper,
recorder and reporter)
Group work Pupils collaborate to create sets and characters
Print media Pupils document the narrative
Digital media Pupils prepare for photo taking
Other materials Art materials – modelling clay, cardboard, paint
Create
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises pupils to use camera and move characters
Group work Pupils use camera and laptop to create animation in
groups
Print media Storyboard used as reference
Digital media Pupils edit animation and add narrative
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
62
Case 2 ‘The Vikings’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Discuss
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises showing of animation
Group work
Print media
Digital media Pupils review animation
Other materials
Reflect
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Elicits responses from pupils
Group work Pupils report on process and final animation
Print media Further research about Vikings in Ireland
Digital media DVD creation
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
63
Case 3 ‘The Digital Dog’
Francis Street CBS is an inner city school
and has been classified by the Department
of Education and Science as DEIS Band
One school. The school has 145 pupils,
ranging from 2nd to 6th class, with two special classes. There are 13 teachers.
The Principal reported that the introduction of technology into teaching and learning
has enhanced the ethos and the culture of the school. The school is now recognised
for its use of the technology in the classroom and has won awards for its innovative
approaches. Using digital tools has allowed the school to engage and empower the
children, especially those in early years and increase their self-esteem and confidence.
This was a class project for fourth class
boys. During English, the boys had just
read The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog.
For this project, the boys were broken up into 6 groups and each group was asked to
pick a chapter of the book to work with.
The aim of this activity was to create a ‘digital story’ of the chapter. To do this the
boys first used storyboards to create their own stories based on chapters from the
book. They then made clay figures to create characters from their story. Once the
clay was set, the boys set up figures in ‘scenes’ which were based on their
storyboards. They then took digital photos of each scene and transferred these to
the computer. Then using software called Photostory, the boys put together a digital
presentation, complete with photos, captions and music.
With the teacher supervising, each group worked independently, undertaking each
activity in turn and deciding among themselves which story and character they would
use. The children had to use their imagination to make characters, interpret the
story, learn about the plot etc. The activity combined art - sketches, colouring, clay
figures, collage backdrops - with group work - planning, sharing work, dispute
resolution – with use of technology - audio files, editing software, picture software -
as well as reading and writing.
Case 3
Francis Street CBS,
4th Class Boys
Activity

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
64
• The Observer Component Checklist Summaries for Case 3 ‘The
Digital Dog’ are presented in Appendix 2 of this report as Table (v)
and Table (vi)
• The Digital Literacy Classification is presented in Appendix 3 of
this report
Case 3 ‘The Digital Dog’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
Ask
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Promotes reflection: "What is your favourite part of
the book?"
Group work Pupils select a chapter, discuss various events from
the book, consider elaborations
Print media The novel provides a story backdrop to the inquiry
Digital media
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
65
Case 3 ‘The Digital Dog’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Investigate
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises groups to start project
Group work Discuss and agree on chosen scene and requirements
Print media Pupils use storyboard planners
Digital media Pupils prepare for photo taking
Other materials Pupils use a variety of art materials
Create
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises groups to take photos
Group work Make clay figures from scenes, take pictures
Print media Add suitable captions
Digital media Pupils photograph clay figures to produce clay
animation, select and edit background music, write on
the computer, record narration
Other materials Clay figures, collages, dioramas

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
66
Case 3 ‘The Digital Dog’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Discuss
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organise showing of Photo Story on whiteboard
Group work Negotiate favourite scenes and which characters to
include. Choose music together.
Print media Pupils refer back to the text to check details
Digital media Pupils review Photo Story movies
Other materials Pupils share their work on a bulletin board
Reflect
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Elicits responses from groups
Group work Pupils report on the movie creation - discuss final
projects
Print media Further reading from the novel with new insights
Digital media Pupils present their digital creations to the class and
to visitors, soliciting feedback
Other materials Displayed in the classroom for visitors to see and for
further reflection on what has been learned

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
67
Case 4 ‘Banana Split’
Scoil San Seamus CBS is an inner city
urban school and has been classified by
the Department of Education as DEIS
Band One school. It is an all-boys school
with 140 pupils in 2nd to 6th class. Over 25% of the school population are
newcomer pupils. The school has extra staffing for pupils with special needs and a
language support teacher for pupils whose first language in not English. The
principal is a strong advocate of the use of technology in teaching but feels that the
school is under resourced in terms of hardware and technical support.
This project was carried out by third class
boys - 23 boys in the class. It was a short
duration project over two weeks and the
aim was to develop a slide show on how to make a banana split. To start, the boys
discussed what ingredients they would need to make the banana split. The teacher
presented the recipe and instructions and reviewed key vocabulary words using cards.
She helped them to preview the steps involved to make a banana split. They boys
then photographed their work as they made the banana split. They worked in groups
to make banana splits and there was much fun in the eating of the finished product.
The class then used Photo Story 3 to make the slide show of the process. They had
to order the photos, add text and effects to the images and add background music to
the presentation. With the support a language teacher, they engaged in much
discussion about suitable music and made a very appropriate selection. The boys
made four movies and the following week had a showcase in school of their work.
The project helped the boys develop their reading skills through following
instructions to create the banana split and there was a lot of work done by them in
describing orally how they made the movies. The boys felt they had learned new
words and learned how to crop digital images. The use of the digital camera and
computer gave the project an added stimulus and the boys enjoyed the practical
aspects of making the banana split and the use of the technology to capture their
work and tell their story.
Scoil San Seamus CBS,
4th Class Boys
Activity

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• The Observer Component Checklist Summaries for Case 4
‘Banana Split’ are presented in Appendix 2 of this report as Table
(vii) and Table (viii)
• The Digital Literacy Classification is presented in Appendix 3 of
this report
Case 4 ‘Banana Split’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
Ask
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Initiates discussion on deserts and cooking
Group work Pupils discuss their favourite deserts and discuss steps
for making a banana split
Print media Teacher reviews key vocabulary words on cards and
uses large poster-size instructions for recipe based on
discussion
Digital media
Other materials

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Case 4 ‘Banana Split’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Investigate
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises groups for making banana splits and taking
photos of the process
Group work Pupils collaborate to plan the making of the desert
Print media Pupils use the poster size recipe
Digital media Pupils prepare for photo shooting
Other materials Collection of ingredients for desert
Create
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Directs the groups in the desert creation and assists
pupils with Photo Story movie
Group work Groups make banana splits, take photos and then
make Photo Story movies, with support form
resource teacher
Print media Use of the printed recipe
Digital media Pupils use Photo Story software to create movies
about making banana splits
Other materials Recipe ingredients

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Case 4 ‘Banana Split’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Discuss
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises video playback on computers
Group work Discussion on the process
Print media
Digital media Pupils review videos
Other materials
Reflect
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Elicits reports from groups
Group work Pupils report on the tasting of the deserts
Print media Pupils write reflections
Digital media
Other materials

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Case 5 ‘The Three Little Pigs’
Presentation Convent Primary School is a
DEIS Band One primary school in the
inner city of Dublin. Approximately 320
pupils attend the school with pupils from
29 different countries speaking 28
different languages. As a result, there are 4 dedicated language teachers. The school
serves boys and girls up to and including first class, and girls-only from second to
sixth classes. The school has a teacher who works full time as ICT co-ordinator; she
maintains the school's hardware and software. She works co-operatively with class
teachers in their classrooms to support them with project development and
implementation as well as advancing literacy and numeracy through ICTs. She also
supports the school’s network. The school has recently purchased 30 laptops, which
are used in the computer room and in classrooms. She allocates one day per week to
technical maintenance. According to the co-ordinator, ICTs are integrated across the
curriculum, though their efforts are not yet reflected in improved standardised test
scores.
The Three Little Pigs project was carried
out with 3rd class. The aim of this project
was to develop the literacy skills of the
girls through the creation of an animated movie with a fairy tale as the theme.
The completed production tells the story of the Three Little Pigs and their attempts
to build a house strong enough to protect them from the big bad wolf. The
animation was made through storyboarding the movie into 12 scenes. The class was
divided into groups and each group had to build a background for the scenes to be
used in the taking of the photographs. Digital still cameras mounted on tripods were
used for the photo shooting and then the images were downloaded to laptops for
editing. Using software called Frames the class added titles, transitions and recorded
the dialogue. The groups had to script the narrative and they delivered it orally with
dramatic effect.
Presentation Convent
Primary School,
3rd Class Girls
Activity

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There was a need for collaboration and decision making in the groups to ensure they
completed the movie successfully. The girls were familiar with animations such as
Wallace and Gromit and had a good idea of what they wanted to achieve.
• The Observer Component Checklist Summaries for Case 5 ‘The
Three Little Pigs’ are presented in Appendix 2 of this report as Table
(ix) and Table (x)
• The Digital Literacy Classification is presented in Appendix 3 of
this report
Case 5 ‘The Three Little Pigs’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
Ask
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Teacher asks pupils about fairy tales they know
Group work Pupils discuss what fairy tales they will animate
Print media Books of fairy tales
Digital media
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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Case 5 ‘The Three Little Pigs’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Investigate
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises and assigns pupils to groups
Group work Pupils plan the animations
Print media Printed planning storyboards
Digital media Pupils prepare for photo taking
Other materials Art materials for set and character creation
Create
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises groups for photo shooting and character
movement
Group work Pupils create characters and sets
Print media
Digital media Each scene is shot for animation made using Frames
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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Case 5 ‘The Three Little Pigs’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Discuss
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises animations for playback on computer
Group work Pupils comment on each animated movie
Print media Pupils read other fairy tales
Digital media Pupils review animations
Other materials
Reflect
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Teacher discusses the project with pupils
Group work Pupils write reflections
Print media Further reading of fairy tales
Digital media
Other materials

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Case 6 ‘Fractions’
Francis Street CBS is an inner city school
and has been classified by the Department
of Education and Science as DEIS Band
One school. The school has 145 pupils,
ranging from 2nd to 6th class, with two special classes. There are 13 teachers.
The Principal reported that the introduction of technology into teaching and learning
has enhanced the ethos and the culture of the school. The school is now recognised
for its use of the technology in the classroom and has won awards for its innovative
approaches. Using digital tools has allowed the school to engage and empower the
children, especially those in early years and increase their self-esteem and confidence.
This observation took place during a
Mathematics class, where the teacher was
using an interactive whiteboard to teach
fractions in a revision class. The teacher used the interactive whiteboard to explain
fractions, the equivalence of shape, set and number. The interactive shapes on the
whiteboard provided a visual representation of concepts such as division and
fractions (a pie divided in 2 and then divided again). Pupils were encouraged to think
about the outcomes prior to seeing them on the screen. The teacher also provided
examples of fractions as applied to money – pupils were invited to think about going
to the shops with 50c to spend and to consider if they spend 25c or half of that, how
much would they have left?
The class was seated in semicircle in front of the whiteboard – pupils either raised
their hand to respond to questions or in some instances, individual pupils were asked
to respond by the teacher.
This case was not based on a student project or activities – it was a revision class,
there was no group work and pupil engagement was limited to answering questions
and observing the teacher instruction using the interactive whiteboard. The
Component Checklist Summaries for this case demonstrate the contrast in ratings
between teacher instruction and pupil-led inquiry. The observers noted that this was
Francis Street CBS,
3rd Class Mixed
Activity

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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a revision class and as such, somewhat of an outlier in comparison to the other cases
in this report.
• The Observer Component Checklist Summaries for Case 6
‘Fractions’ are presented in Appendix 2 of this report as Table (xi)
and Table (xii)
• The Digital Literacy Classification is presented in Appendix 3 of
this report
Case 6 ‘Fractions’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
Ask
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Sets up question “what are fractions?”
Group work Pupils give examples from their own experience
Print media The interactive whiteboard software on fractions
Digital media Interactive whiteboard
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
77
Case 6 ‘Fractions’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Investigate
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Leads the lesson using questions and illustrations
Group work Pupils respond to questions on fractions
Print media Maths books used in class
Digital media Pupils see fractions on interactive whiteboard
Other materials
Create
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher
Group work
Print media
Digital media
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
78
Case 6 ‘Fractions’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Discuss
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Shows illustrations for discussion and sets activities
for pupils
Group work Pupils work on activities
Print media Maths books and copies
Digital media Interactive whiteboard
Other materials
Reflect
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Elicits answers from pupils and discusses the
outcomes, considers other contexts
Group work
Print media
Digital media
Other materials

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Case 7 ‘Memories’
Presentation Convent Primary School is a
DEIS Band One primary school in the
inner city of Dublin. Approximately 320
pupils attend the school from 29 different
countries speaking 28 different languages.
As a result, there are 4 dedicated language
teachers. The school serves boys and girls up to and including First class, and girls-
only from Second to Sixth classes. The school has a teacher who works full time as
ICT coordinator for the school and she maintains the school's hardware and works
co-operatively with class teachers in their classrooms to support them with project
development and implementation as well as advancing literacy and numeracy through
ICTs. She also supports the school’s network. The school has recently purchased 30
laptops, which are used in the computer room and in classrooms. She allocates one
day per week to technical maintenance. According to the co-ordinator, ICTs are
integrated across the curriculum, though their efforts are not yet reflected in
improved standardised test scores.
There are two fourth classes in the school
with 15 girls in each class. Both classes
carried out the same project under the
direction of the class teacher and the ICT coordinator of the school. The aim of the
project was to develop short movies about the earliest memories the girls had. There
was much discussion about the topic with many personal stories recounted.
The girls were asked to bring in photos of themselves growing up from family
albums. Not everyone was able to do this so three groups were established, and each
one approached the project differently. Those who had photos used a scanner to
create digital images for their project. The second group took digital cameras home
and took images of their families for their projects. The third group used teddy bears
and brought them to various locations in the school where they photographed them.
Once each group had their images on laptop computers they were asked to write
some sentences about each image and then select music form the computer to use
Presentation Convent
Primary School,
Two 4th Classes
Activity

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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with their story. The classes were shown how to use Photo Story software to add
effects and text to their images and then they added the selected music. The groups
made a total of 19 movies and there are many varied stories and memories captured
in them. The teachers felt the girls learned a lot from the project and that the focus
was very much on literacy development. They also felt that they were learning digital
skills incidentally through the work.
• The Observer Component Checklist Summaries for Case 7
‘Memories’ are presented in Appendix 2 of this report as Table (xiii)
and Table (xiv)
• The Digital Literacy Classification is presented in Appendix 3 of
this report
Case 7 ‘Memories’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
Ask
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Asks the question: “what are your earliest memories?”
Group work Pupils discuss examples from their own experience
Print media The pupils write about memorable events in their
lives
Digital media
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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Case 7 ‘Memories’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Investigate
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises groups and assigns roles within groups
Group work Pupils discuss their project and plan the movies
Print media Storyboard templates are used to plan
Digital media Pupils prepare for photo taking
Other materials
Create
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises groups to take photos and assists with
using the software
Group work Pupils take photos and edit movies on laptops
Print media
Digital media Pupil use digital cameras and laptops
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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Case 7 ‘Memories’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Discuss
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises movie show and tell class
Group work
Print media Pupils write about their movie
Digital media Pupils review videos of other groups
Other materials
Reflect
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Elicits reports from groups
Group work Pupils interview parents and grandparents out their
memories
Print media Reading of documents pupils brought from home
Digital media
Other materials

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Case 8 ‘Saint Patrick’
Mater Dei National School is an inner city
school that has been classified by the
Department of Education and Science as
DEIS Band One. The school has 250
pupils. Boys are not catered for in this
school after 1st class and there are girls
only in 2nd to 6th classes. The school has one computer in each class room and also
has a computer room. Literacy is a concern for the school and the principal feels
that the use of computers is very beneficial for literacy skills development. She says
there is a culture of technology use in the school thanks to the school's involvement
in the Digital Hub’s Learning Initiative.
This project involved a special-needs
English class made up of 5 pupils from
4th class, one from 5th and one from 6th
class. The girls were learning about Saint Patrick and were using books provided by
the teacher to find out about his life. The aim of the project was to make a Podcast
about Saint Patrick in Ireland. This took the form of a radio show and the girls
played the roles of reporters at the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, interviewing
spectators and then St. Patrick himself. The project process involved learning about
St. Patrick’s life and then planning a radio show schedule. The pupils scripted
questions for the interviews, selected introductory music and sound effects for the
show, made the recordings using a microphone and computer, edited and added the
clips and then outputted the show as an MP3 file for sharing.
The teacher organised the group and questioned them about St Patrick before
introducing the project and the technology to be used. Pupils worked in groups to
write about the project, prepare questions for the interviews and research the life of
Patrick. The group multitasked in the sessions and took turns trying the podcasting
software to learn how to use it. All pupils participated in the recording of the radio
show and had to role play as interviewers or respondents. The project combined
reading, writing and drama in a collaborative setting. The use of podcasting software
in the project was new for all pupils and they all agreed that it was very engaging
project.
Mater Dei National
School,
Special Needs Class
Activity

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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• The Observer Component Checklist Summaries for Case 8 ‘St
Patrick are presented in Appendix 2 of this report as Table (xv) and
Table (xvi)
• The Digital Literacy Classification is presented in Appendix 3 of
this report
Case 8 ‘Saint Patrick’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
Ask
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Asks the question: “What did you do on St. Patrick’s
Day?”
Group work Pupils recount their activity on the day
Print media Books about the story of St. Patrick are used
Digital media Pupils introduced to recording hardware
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
85
Case 8 ‘Saint Patrick’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Investigate
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises groups and assigns roles for making the
podcast (interviewer and interviewee)
Group work Pupils plan the podcast: music, sound effects and
script for show
Print media Podcast planning templates used for scripting
Digital media Pupils prepare for audio recording
Other materials
Create
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises groups to make recordings and others to
write about St. Patrick
Group work Pupils record podcast
Print media
Digital media Microphones and podcasting software used
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
86
Case 8 ‘Saint Patrick’
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Discuss
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Organises podcast playback
Group work Pupils discuss the podcast
Print media Pupils write about St. Patrick
Digital media Pupils review podcast
Other materials
Reflect
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher Elicits views from groups on making podcasts
Group work Pupils reflect on what they liked about making
podcasts
Print media Further reading about life of St. Patrick
Digital media
Other materials

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Discussion and Conclusions
Addressing the research questions
We suggested at the start of this report that the fundamental question that needs to
be addressed through research is: “how do digital media practices relate to teaching
and learning practices in the Irish primary school”? We indicated that when we use
the term ‘practices’ we mean the goals and activities that take place in the classroom
and in general, these are directed toward the achievement of learning outcomes. In
this research we gave equal emphasis to both sides of this relationship – we looked at
the constraints and affordances of digital media and we looked at the nature of
learning and teaching practices.
We argued that the best way to consider digital literacy is to adopt the situated and
social practice view of what literacy really means. In this approach literacy is seen as
embedded in practice and less emphasis is placed on literacy as a set of skills. To
illustrate this point consider the following example taken from Case 4 Banana Split –
where the practices in the classroom centered on the learning task of how to make a
banana split. We observed several literacies embedded in this task – the teacher had
provided a list of steps on a poster in advance of the activity and pupils were
provided with an opportunity to memorise and write down these steps. During the
group work (making the banana split) they could refer to the notes they had
previously written and they were also asked to write a report as they completed the
task. The pupils were also provided with cameras to take pictures and they knew that
in the future these pictures would be used to create a picture story. However, during
the banana-split-making activity the cameras were just part of the process – working
in groups one pupil peeled the banana, one poured the cream, one wrote down the
steps and one took the pictures. This is an example of embedded literacy – there was
no sense that the digital camera was any more or less important than the banana!
Taking pictures was part of the practice it was not the sole reason for the practice.
The pupils were not overly concerned with the technical aspects of the digital camera
but they did appreciate that they were documenting for the future.
The keyword here is ‘embedded’ – we found that teachers organised activities that
supported learning by inquiry and that the use of digital media was integrated into

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this process. Thus the Inquiry Cycle model of learning, discussed in this report, is an
appropriate framework within which to consider the impact of new digital media
practices. The questions we consider below arise from these conceptions of digital
literacy and learning; they were tabled at the beginning of this report and are
reconsidered here in light of the findings of this research.
(i) How should we define digital literacy?
The theoretical review pointed to a conception of digital literacy as situated practice.
The following context specific definition of digital literacy was proposed:
Digital literacy in primary schools involves pupils and teachers using
digital technology to enable, sustain and enrich all aspects of the inquiry
cycle of learning as: ask, investigate, create, discuss and reflect.
How are teachers using digital technologies in the classroom?
Our investigation of the current practices in the four schools observed for this
research are summarised as follows:
• The use of digital technology was generally observed as embedded in
structured learning activities directed at curriculum learning outcomes rather
than as an end in itself.
• Teachers use tools such as the digital camera, audio devices and class
computers to engage pupils in different roles and to facilitate inquiry learning
and group work.
• Digital outputs such as photo-stories, podcasts and video served as project
goals and were usually the culmination of a broad range of preparation and
production activities.
How can we relate digital media to instructional practice?
The classroom projects demonstrate how the teachers and pupils worked together to
produce digital artefacts. Through this process the development of digital literacy
and learning are seen to be take place in tandem. Many of the project themes were

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founded within the pedagogy of child centered learning and utilised the elements of
the Inquiry Cycle to allow the pupils to engage collaboratively in the activities.
It is important to state that the observers noticed that the notion of creating a digital
media output (animation, Photo Story etc.) served as a stimulus within the early
preparatory written work and engaged the pupils at a level that may not have been
evident had the projects only involved paper based outputs.
Within the preparatory and production lessons we found that the communications of
the pupils were purposeful and showed high levels of participation. Many of the
projects involved the pupils actively engaged in inquiry using objects, text and digital
tools.
The Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary, for which a full template is provided in
Appendix 1, is a key outcome of our work. A condensed version was introduced
earlier as Table (C) and is reproduced below for convenience.
Table (c) Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary
How is…
Ask
Investigate
Create
Communicate
Reflect
facilitated by activity centered on:
Teacher?
Group work?
Print media?
Digital media?
Other materials?

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A related question is how to measure or classify digital literacy in classroom contexts;
Table (d) below suggests a progression scale. This scale works in a similar manner to
the Component Checklist presented earlier. The table is useful in assessing the
extent to which participation and engagement leads to meaningful learning – it could
be argued that the use of digital media promotes engagement and participation but
this in itself may not be sufficient for academic uplift. The table provides a useful
reference to ensure progression toward more meaningful learning.
At the end of the research observers were asked to use this scale to rate the overall
levels of digital literacy observed in the 8 cases. Appendix 3 presents these ratings
for each of the cases.
The levels relate directly to the definition that is presented above. At the lowest level
there are no digital media practices in use. This is essentially a null classification and
without additional evidence one cannot determine whether non-use is as a result of
choice or lack of resources, skills or opportunity.
The next level up sees digital media practices directed at learning the technical and
operational skills. This is really the ‘getting to know’ stage that we are all familiar
with when we begin to use a piece of software or technology for the first time.
One level up from this is ‘usage’. At this level using digital media is seen as the
objective rather than a part of a process. In this mode we make a recording for the
sake of making a recording.
At the next level digital media practices enable and sustain inquiry learning. This is
perhaps, the immediate ideal for primary classroom practices contexts. The emphasis
is on experience and task and digital media are a means rather than the goal of
learning.
At the highest level we suggest digital media practices as transforming and changing
the nature of inquiry. Here media practices extend the reach of the classroom and
open up new forms of engagement and making meaning, including novel uses of
technologies, connections with the community beyond the school, and critical
analysis.

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Table (d) Digital Literacy Classification
Digital Literacy
Digital media practices transform the inquiry cycle of learning
Digital media practices act toward enabling and sustaining the inquiry cycle of learning
Digital media practices act toward usage skills
Digital media practices act toward learning technical skills
Digital media practices not used
How can we compare and relate digital literacy to print literacy?
Reading and writing activities were frequently integrated into the planning and
content components of digital productions. In some cases, teachers reviewed basic
reading skills (e.g., identifying key words, reading sentences in a set of instructions).
In others, the focus was on constructing digital content in response to books already
read. In still others, pupils composed cue cards in making a film added text captions
to digital photographs.
A key element of the projects was the blending of print literacy teaching strategies
with the use of digital tools. In the case “Bills New Frock” there was animated group
discussion on a book-based topic that later dovetailed to video interviews. Likewise
in the case “The Vikings” the girls used storyboarding techniques to plan animation
scenes and action to take place.
Limitations of this study
Within the constraints of the study, it was not possible to examine in depth the
effects of digital literacy activities on pupils’ general reading development. The
projects described here represent a snapshot of the activities in which the pupils in
the participating schools engage, and a longer study would be necessary to identify

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specific effects of digital literacy activities on literacy achievement, or to investigate
the long-term effects of these activities on subsequent learning and school success.
We worked with only four schools, chosen both because they were disadvantaged
and because we knew there some digital literacy practices in place. It is clear that we
must be very cautious in generalising from these results to all primary schools.
However, based on work that both we and others have done, it is reasonable to
conclude that ordinary schools are capable of using digital media productively and
that teachers with modest support can significantly enhance learning in the
classroom, even in low-resource circumstances.
This study involved data from teacher and school principal interviews, classroom
observations and digital artefacts – in this research we did not seek the views of
parents nor did we examine the use of media in the home setting. Future studies
would need to incorporate these variables for a more complete analysis of the
learning dynamic.
This research facilitated the development of new tools to support pedagogy in
primary schools – namely the Observer Component Checklist and the Inquiry Cycle
Activity Summary. We proposed a new definition of digital literacy appropriate for
primary schools and a Digital Literacy Classification (Table d). The scope of this
research did not extend to investigate how these new tools will be implemented at
class, subject or school levels – there are many practical challenges to be addressed
and no doubt these models will evolve over time.
Discussion and Recommendations
Digital media practices engage, sustain and enrich inquiry learning in primary schools.
The real challenges and opportunities arising from new technology are pedagogical
and not necessarily technical. As digital technologies evolve - the trend is for
simpler, more intuitive devices (e.g. digital cameras) and the barrier of technical skills
is diminished - there are myriad opportunities to harness digital technologies for
learning. However, adequate support structures for teachers will be required so that
effective practices can be developed and shared. Today we require our primary
schools to provide a rich learning environment for children of all backgrounds and

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abilities and now more than ever we potentially have the tools and practices to make
this a reality.
We have stated that the projects had digital media outputs but we note that the
schools were limited in the amount of digital resources at their disposal. This placed
pressure on the pupils and teachers in terms of access to the technologies and the
timeframes to complete their projects. Levels of engagement and interaction would
be greater if the classes were better resourced. For projects to be described as
‘transformational’ in terms of digital literacy greater access to resources and support
for professional development of teachers will be required.
Several specific recommendations arise from the findings of this research:
(1) Digital literacies should be considered as embedded in the pedagogic practices of
primary school classrooms. As such, when we seek to nurture and develop
specific digital skills in pupils we should do so through inquiry learning activities
that act toward broader curriculum goals.
(2) Teacher pre-service training and professional development in relation to the use
of digital media in the classroom should centre on pedagogic rather than
technical competences. We argue that there is little value in emphasising digital
usage as an end in itself and suggest that the emphasis should be placed on
instructional strategies that harness digital technologies for learning outcomes.
We have provided an Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary template to support this
process (see Appendix 1). Use of these checklists ensures that the focus can be
on meaningful learning rather than just class participation.
(3) Project learning, group work, field trips, creative expression and many other
teaching strategies that foster inquiry learning are given new impetus, vitality and
effectiveness through the integration of digital media in these strategies. In this
regard, we observed a variety of digital tools in use in primary classrooms: digital
cameras, video cameras, audio recording devices, animation, picture story and
text captioning software. We recommend that schools consider the pedagogic
potential of a broad range of digital technologies alongside the more frequent
emphasis on the need for more and better computers and network access.
(4) The relationship between digital literacy and traditional (print) literacy is complex
and we suggest that the most useful approach for primary teaching is to consider

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how ICT skills and reading and writing skills are closely connected in everyday
use. Activities that involve the use of scripts, storyboards, captions and narrative
are examples of situations where print literacy skills may be furthered through
digital media activities. International research has shown that teachers need to
actively structure such opportunities to harness the full learning potential. We
recommend that during teacher training and professional development special
attention is given to instructional strategies that combine print literacy and digital
literacy activities.
(5) We found evidence that digital media promote high levels of engagement and
participation in classroom activities. This may be due to the fact that digital
outputs such as podcasts, videos, photo stories or animations act as broad project
goals capable of providing meaning and purpose to a range of activities. Group
work involving different roles (such as photographer and note taker) and capable
of involving pupils of different abilities and different learning styles were found
to be useful in facilitating high-levels of engagement. We believe that these high
levels of engagement, if sustained over time, will lead to improved performance
including but not limited to, print literacy scores. We recommend that in teacher
pre-service training and professional development special attention is given to
instructional strategies that promote inquiry, participation, inclusion, and diverse
roles for working in groups.

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
95
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Appendix 1
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary - A Tool
for Planning
Project Name
Planned Classroom Activities and the Inquiry Cycle
Ask
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher
Group work
Print media
Digital media
Other materials
Investigate
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher
Group work
Print media
Digital media
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
98
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Create
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher
Group work
Print media
Digital media
Other materials
Discuss
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher
Group work
Print media
Digital media
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
99
Inquiry Cycle Activity Summary (continued)
Reflect
Activity centered on… Description
Teacher
Group work
Print media
Digital media
Other materials

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
100
Appendix 2
Component Checklist Summary Tables

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
101
Observer’s Comments
1 Opportunities for divergent thinking in activities building up to the interviews
2 Reluctant rating (next one up is too big a jump) - observed investigation with potential for further inquiry - rehearsed interviews but not scripted
3 We saw potential for further use of the media but they were not realised
4 Hands-off approach to the media although rich expression was in evidence not all of the practices encouraged this to fullest extent e.g. formality of video interviews - we note however that the
content was authentic
Table (I) Case 1 Bill’s New Frock
Ask Investigate Create Discuss/Communicate Reflect/Expression
Significant questions e.g. recognising
both the affordances & the
constraints and/or the nature of the
mediation of the topic
Pupils initiate their own
investigations based on their own
learning needs or perceived needs of
the community
Lasting value or use; pupil’s work
becomes a basis for further action &
learning
Pupils act to communicate beyond
their peers for message rather than
affirmation
Rich expression of ideas & feelings;
learning growing out of expressive
activities
Inquiries tend to be more purposeful1
Pupils direct investigations in a
structured, problem-solving manner
to achieve a goal
Pupils decide on appropriate mix of
media to express their outputs
Pupils share their work & learning with
one another, they use diverse media to
connect with & learn from other
Pupils frame the story/message using
media to add meaning
Inquiries tend to be somewhat
limited in scope
Investigations occasionally result in
further inquiries; they incorporate
things they are learning using various
media & other aspects of the
curriculum
Pupils collate or build a story, edit
and select elements3
Pupils are focused on the
story/message rather then the technical
details of the media4
Pupils use different voices and
perspectives to tell/describe
Some inquiry but questions are
disconnected from one another, from
other aspects of learning, & from
lived experience
Pupils do find information or explore
phenomena, -investigations typically
only teacher-driven, short-term, & do
not lead to further inquiry2
Pupils create: their constructions -
typically in just one medium (text or
oral) not well-connected to inquiry
questions or reflections
Pupils focus on the technical aspects of
the creation/collaboration
Pupils narrate, tell, describe in a
simple way
Little evidence of questioning or
inquiry
Little evidence that pupils investigate
phenomena, gather data, explore
questions, or gain new knowledge
through active inquiry
Little evidence of create/construct
activity
Nearly all of pupil work is solitary or
in a restricted mode just between the
teacher & the pupil
Little evidence of meaningful
expression

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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Table (II) Case 1 Bill’s New Frock
Participation
Depth Participation
Scope or number Print Literacy Media Ecology Use of Digital
Media
Pupils show deep involvement in
learning; activities are well
integrated with other aspects of the
curricula and/or their lives beyond
the school1
All pupils absorbed throughout
Texts used as a tool or component of
creative planning or expression
Diverse set of tools for working in
different media - full integration of
digital technologies with other tools
for learning
Digital media are themselves the
object of inquiry
Pupils actively participate in
activities that are goal orientated
High levels of enthusiasm and
engagement
Texts used to revise/reflect/develop
Decision capacity for ‘right tool for the
job’ Digital media are used transparently
with emphasis on task rather than the
tool
Learning in limited to specific task
& disconnected from other forms of
learning; little evidence of carryover
to new problems
Everyone engaged at some point but
not always2
Texts used to organize and to
document the project3
Some digital tools, use limited to
specific purposes, little integration
with other ways of learning 4
Everyone (pupils & teachers) use
media hands-on but in a limited way
Some levels of engagement but
patchy and unconnected
Most but not all of class engaged
throughout
Texts are in use but little connection
between texts and other activities
Digital media not observed but an
expectation of future use Outside experts or teacher required to
support use of digital media
Pupils are disengaged & passive
Very low levels of participation an
engagement throughout
No evidence of texts
Little or no use, or intent to use, digital
tools & environments
No evidence of use or expectation of
use of digital media
Observer’s Comments
1 Nature of content on gender
2 Some pupils were obviously tired or slightly reluctant to engage
3 Texts used: novel, cue cards and posters - no storyboard
4 Formal approach to videoing

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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Observer’s Comments
1 Scope of questions was limited in the beginning but ultimately more questions regarding the Vikings, the medium and the project in general were discussed
2 Pupils added their own experiences and personalities - applied what they had learned to their own story including historical knowledge
3 The groups discussed ideas on how to make the scenes - changes were made as the discussion continued
4 Although the class worked collectively towards one output there was also evidence of individual inputs
5 The final output included pupils own expressions providing further narrative and texture
Table (III) Case 2 Vikings
Ask Investigate Create Discuss/Communicate Reflect/Expression
Significant questions e.g. recognising
both the affordances & the
constraints and/or the nature of the
mediation of the topic
Pupils initiate their own
investigations based on their own
learning needs or perceived needs of
the community
Lasting value or use; pupil’s work
becomes a basis for further action &
learning
Pupils act to communicate beyond
their peers for message rather than
affirmation
Rich expression of ideas & feelings;
learning growing out of expressive
activities
Inquiries tend to be more purposeful1
Pupils direct investigations in a
structured, problem-solving manner
to achieve a goal
Pupils decide on appropriate mix of
media to express their outputs
Pupils share their work & learning with
one another, they use diverse media to
connect with & learn from other4
Pupils frame the story/message using
media to add meaning5
Inquiries tend to be somewhat
limited in scope
Investigations occasionally result in
further inquiries; they incorporate
things they are learning using various
media & other aspects of the
curriculum2
Pupils collate or build a story, edit
and select elements3
Pupils are focused on the
story/message rather then the technical
details of the media
Pupils use different voices and
perspectives to tell/describe
Some inquiry but questions are
disconnected from one another, from
other aspects of learning, & from
lived experience
Pupils do find information or explore
phenomena, -investigations typically
only teacher-driven, short-term, & do
not lead to further inquiry
Pupils create: their constructions -
typically in just one medium (text or
oral) not well-connected to inquiry
questions or reflections
Pupils focus on the technical aspects of
the creation/collaboration
Pupils narrate, tell, describe in a
simple way
Little evidence of questioning or
inquiry
Little evidence that pupils investigate
phenomena, gather data, explore
questions, or gain new knowledge
through active inquiry
Little evidence of create/construct
activity
Nearly all of pupil work is solitary or
in a restricted mode just between the
teacher & the pupil
Little evidence of meaningful
expression

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
104
Table (IV) Case 2 Vikings
Participation
Depth Participation
Scope or number Print Literacy Media Ecology Use of Digital
Media
Pupils show deep involvement in
learning; activities are well
integrated with other aspects of the
curricula and/or their lives beyond
the school
All pupils absorbed throughout
Texts used as a tool or component of
creative planning or expression
Diverse set of tools for working in
different media - full integration of
digital technologies with other tools
for learning
Digital media are themselves the
object of inquiry
Pupils actively participate in
activities that are goal orientated1
High levels of enthusiasm and
engagement2
Texts used to revise/reflect/develop
Decision capacity for ‘right tool for the
job’ Digital media are used transparently
with emphasis on task rather than the
tool
Learning in limited to specific task
& disconnected from other forms of
learning; little evidence of carryover
to new problems
Everyone engaged at some point but
not always
Texts used to organize and to
document the project3
Some digital tools, use limited to
specific purposes, little integration
with other ways of learning 4
Everyone (pupils & teachers) use
media hands-on but in a limited way5
Some levels of engagement but
patchy and unconnected
Most but not all of class engaged
throughout
Texts are in use but little connection
between texts and other activities
Digital media not observed but an
expectation of future use Outside experts or teacher required to
support use of digital media
Pupils are disengaged & passive
Very low levels of participation an
engagement throughout
No evidence of texts
Little or no use, or intent to use, digital
tools & environments
No evidence of use or expectation of
use of digital media
Observer’s Comments
1 Group learning
2 The group work was busy but some pupils participated to a greater extent than others
3 They used storyboards with dialogue as well as wall charts and learning from history books (from the previous year)
4 This was the first time class had used this technology
5 Progression of digital skills observed

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
105
Observer’s Comments
1 Impressed with pupil’s close and careful reading - how they though about the story and its meaning- they needed to think and understand deeply in order to make the storyboard
2 Good group work around specific tasks – not going beyond the specific goal of portraying the chapter
3 Good variety of media: text, oral, clay, paper, music, images, camera, fonts, but most pre-selected by teacher - excellent output for creativity pupils express for themselves
4 Good activity to encourage group work and collaboration - mostly led by the groups rather than teacher
5 Variety of media to express feelings and ideas about the story - pupils express themselves as both individuals and groups in a variety of ways
Table (V) Case 3 The Digital Dog
Ask Investigate Create Discuss/Communicate Reflect/Expression
Significant questions e.g. recognising
both the affordances & the
constraints and/or the nature of the
mediation of the topic
Pupils initiate their own
investigations based on their own
learning needs or perceived needs of
the community
Lasting value or use; pupil’s work
becomes a basis for further action &
learning
Pupils act to communicate beyond
their peers for message rather than
affirmation
Rich expression of ideas & feelings;
learning growing out of expressive
activities
Inquiries tend to be more purposeful1
Pupils direct investigations in a
structured, problem-solving manner
to achieve a goal
Pupils decide on appropriate mix of
media to express their outputs
Pupils share their work & learning with
one another, they use diverse media to
connect with & learn from other4
Pupils frame the story/message using
media to add meaning
Inquiries tend to be somewhat
limited in scope
Investigations occasionally result in
further inquiries; they incorporate
things they are learning using various
media & other aspects of the
curriculum2
Pupils collate or build a story, edit
and select elements3
Pupils are focused on the
story/message rather then the technical
details of the media
Pupils use different voices and
perspectives to tell/describe5
Some inquiry but questions are
disconnected from one another, from
other aspects of learning, & from
lived experience
Pupils do find information or explore
phenomena, -investigations typically
only teacher-driven, short-term, & do
not lead to further inquiry
Pupils create: their constructions -
typically in just one medium (text or
oral) not well-connected to inquiry
questions or reflections
Pupils focus on the technical aspects of
the creation/collaboration
Pupils narrate, tell, describe in a
simple way
Little evidence of questioning or
inquiry
Little evidence that pupils investigate
phenomena, gather data, explore
questions, or gain new knowledge
through active inquiry
Little evidence of create/construct
activity
Nearly all of pupil work is solitary or
in a restricted mode just between the
teacher & the pupil
Little evidence of meaningful
expression

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
106
Observer’s Comments
1 Integration of activity across the curriculum: art, English, music, tech skills, writing -good group work around specific tasks
2 Very engaging activity involved all pupils at all times while we were in class
3 A lot of use of texts as both input and output - story originated from book - pupils continuously reflected on their story - rich reader response
4 In this case, not so much deciding about the tool, but using an array of tools very effectively
5 Media used as means to an end but also for IT skills
Table (VI) Case 3 The Digital Dog
Participation
Depth Participation
Scope or number Print Literacy Media Ecology Use of Digital
Media
Pupils show deep involvement in
learning; activities are well
integrated with other aspects of the
curricula and/or their lives beyond
the school
All pupils absorbed throughout2
Texts used as a tool or component of
creative planning or expression3
Diverse set of tools for working in
different media - full integration of
digital technologies with other tools
for learning
Digital media are themselves the
object of inquiry
Pupils actively participate in
activities that are goal orientated1
High levels of enthusiasm and
engagement
Texts used to revise/reflect/develop
Decision capacity for ‘right tool for the
job’4 Digital media are used transparently
with emphasis on task rather than the
tool5
Learning in limited to specific task
& disconnected from other forms of
learning; little evidence of carryover
to new problems
Everyone engaged at some point but
not always
Texts used to organize and to
document the project
Some digital tools, use limited to
specific purposes, little integration
with other ways of learning
Everyone (pupils & teachers) use
media hands-on but in a limited way
Some levels of engagement but
patchy and unconnected
Most but not all of class engaged
throughout
Texts are in use but little connection
between texts and other activities
Digital media not observed but an
expectation of future use Outside experts or teacher required to
support use of digital media
Pupils are disengaged & passive
Very low levels of participation an
engagement throughout
No evidence of texts
Little or no use, or intent to use, digital
tools & environments
No evidence of use or expectation of
use of digital media

DIGITAL LITERACY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
107
Observer’s Comments
1 Pupils participated actively in the lesson - they were quite spontaneous in answering questions about what they had learned
2 The activities and goals were set by teacher
3 Artefacts (storyboards, media, photographs etc.) have potential lasting value - these could be reviewed in the future to be used for language learning
4 The media we observed were the digital camera, use of notes, the ingredients and discussion
5 Added meaning by way of slide show, photographs, text, music and eating the banana splits!
Table (VII) Case 4 Banana Split
Ask Investigate Create Discuss/Communicate Reflect/Expression
Significant questions e.g. recognising
both the affordances & the
constraints and/or the nature of the
mediation of the topic
Pupils initiate their own
investigations based on their own
learning needs or perceived needs of
the community
Lasting value or use; pupil’s work
becomes a basis for further action &
learning3
Pupils act to communicate beyond
their peers for message rather than
affirmation
Rich expression of ideas & feelings;
learning growing out of expressive
activities
Inquiries tend to be more purposeful
Pupils direct investigations in a
structured, problem-solving manner
to achieve a goal
Pupils decide on appropriate mix of
media to express their outputs
Pupils share their work & learning with
one another, they use diverse media to
connect with & learn from other4
Pupils frame the story/message using
media to add meaning
Inquiries tend to be somewhat
limited in scope1
Investigations occasionally result in
further inquiries; they incorporate
things they are learning using various
media & other aspects of the
curriculum2
Pupils collate or build a story, edit
and select elements
Pupils are focused on the
story/message rather then the technical
details of the media
Pupils use different voices and
perspectives to tell/describe5
Some inquiry but questions are
disconnected from one another, from
other aspects of learning, & from
lived experience
Pupils do find information or explore
phenomena, -investigations typically
only teacher-driven, short-term, & do
not lead to further inquiry
Pupils create: their constructions -
typically in just one medium (text or
oral) not well-connected to inquiry
questions or reflections
Pupils focus on the technical aspects of
the creation/collaboration
Pupils narrate, tell, describe in a
simple way
Little evidence of questioning or