ABSTRACT Over the past several decades, the concept of critical literacy has been applied to an i... more ABSTRACT Over the past several decades, the concept of critical literacy has been applied to an increasing range of multimodal texts mediated by digital technologies. Expressive forms such as fan-fiction, digital storytelling, and gaming have presented unique opportunities forunderstanding critical literacy practices. Within the more specific field of game studies, a growing body of scholarship demonstrates how issues of ideology, politics, and power are woven into and expressed through the medium of games – whether digital or analog. This paper builds on this tradition by offering a critical analysis of a semiotic resource that digital and analog games share – the designed processes that shape experiences of meaning-making through acts of play. Examining data from a study of teens’ participation in a library-based board game-making workshop, this paper highlights the ways participants engaged in critical literacy practices when asked to address a social issue through game design. The paper draws on techniques of discourse analysis to demonstrate how participants engaged with ideological dimensions of procedural literacy through design-centered discourse. Findings suggest that viewing game-making through the lens of procedurality can be a generative way to explore critical literacy practices in relation to contemporary social issues.
How can we, as English/Language Arts teachers, approach our work with students in a way that is r... more How can we, as English/Language Arts teachers, approach our work with students in a way that is responsive to both their lived experiences and the broader social, political, and economic realities that they face? In this article, we address this question through the lens of our own experiences as co-instructors over three years of working with first-generation college students in New Jersey’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program. After sharing some of the background and context that guided our most recent course design, we overview some of the teaching approaches we engaged to support the transitional literacy practices of our students. Finally, we close with a few “lessons learned” that reflect the challenges, tensions, and affirmations we experienced as we worked with our students throughout the summer.
Digital technologies have been consuming more of our students time and attention than ever before... more Digital technologies have been consuming more of our students time and attention than ever before. As literacy educators interested in supporting students' digital literacies, how do we strike a balance to ensure that technological tools don't become the driving force of instruction?
Research on the nature and impact of book apps or e-reading in general is still limited and infor... more Research on the nature and impact of book apps or e-reading in general is still limited and informed by diverse assumptions about the nature of these new ''texts,'' the varied forms of engagement and meaning-making associated with them, and their implications for understanding literacy and learning in the digital age. The purpose of this article is to explore the affordances and constraints inherent in an examination of children's picturebook apps through multiple analytical frameworks—in this case drawn from social semiotics, film analysis, and game studies. After outlining these frameworks in the context of our evolving new media landscape, we move on to more detailed analyses of the children's picturebook app The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from each of these perspectives. We conclude with lessons that might be learned from juxtaposing these analytical frameworks and suggest implications for literacy education, research, and practice.
This article focuses on the varying levels of interactivity associated with reading and viewing f... more This article focuses on the varying levels of interactivity associated with reading and viewing four instantiations of a fictional narrative across analog and digital media.
ABSTRACT Over the past several decades, the concept of critical literacy has been applied to an i... more ABSTRACT Over the past several decades, the concept of critical literacy has been applied to an increasing range of multimodal texts mediated by digital technologies. Expressive forms such as fan-fiction, digital storytelling, and gaming have presented unique opportunities forunderstanding critical literacy practices. Within the more specific field of game studies, a growing body of scholarship demonstrates how issues of ideology, politics, and power are woven into and expressed through the medium of games – whether digital or analog. This paper builds on this tradition by offering a critical analysis of a semiotic resource that digital and analog games share – the designed processes that shape experiences of meaning-making through acts of play. Examining data from a study of teens’ participation in a library-based board game-making workshop, this paper highlights the ways participants engaged in critical literacy practices when asked to address a social issue through game design. The paper draws on techniques of discourse analysis to demonstrate how participants engaged with ideological dimensions of procedural literacy through design-centered discourse. Findings suggest that viewing game-making through the lens of procedurality can be a generative way to explore critical literacy practices in relation to contemporary social issues.
How can we, as English/Language Arts teachers, approach our work with students in a way that is r... more How can we, as English/Language Arts teachers, approach our work with students in a way that is responsive to both their lived experiences and the broader social, political, and economic realities that they face? In this article, we address this question through the lens of our own experiences as co-instructors over three years of working with first-generation college students in New Jersey’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program. After sharing some of the background and context that guided our most recent course design, we overview some of the teaching approaches we engaged to support the transitional literacy practices of our students. Finally, we close with a few “lessons learned” that reflect the challenges, tensions, and affirmations we experienced as we worked with our students throughout the summer.
Digital technologies have been consuming more of our students time and attention than ever before... more Digital technologies have been consuming more of our students time and attention than ever before. As literacy educators interested in supporting students' digital literacies, how do we strike a balance to ensure that technological tools don't become the driving force of instruction?
Research on the nature and impact of book apps or e-reading in general is still limited and infor... more Research on the nature and impact of book apps or e-reading in general is still limited and informed by diverse assumptions about the nature of these new ''texts,'' the varied forms of engagement and meaning-making associated with them, and their implications for understanding literacy and learning in the digital age. The purpose of this article is to explore the affordances and constraints inherent in an examination of children's picturebook apps through multiple analytical frameworks—in this case drawn from social semiotics, film analysis, and game studies. After outlining these frameworks in the context of our evolving new media landscape, we move on to more detailed analyses of the children's picturebook app The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from each of these perspectives. We conclude with lessons that might be learned from juxtaposing these analytical frameworks and suggest implications for literacy education, research, and practice.
This article focuses on the varying levels of interactivity associated with reading and viewing f... more This article focuses on the varying levels of interactivity associated with reading and viewing four instantiations of a fictional narrative across analog and digital media.
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Papers by Earl Aguilera
In this article, we address this question through the lens of our own experiences as co-instructors over three years of working with first-generation college students in New Jersey’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program. After sharing some of the background and context that guided our most recent course design, we overview some of the teaching approaches we engaged to support the transitional literacy practices of our students. Finally, we close with a few “lessons learned” that reflect the
challenges, tensions, and affirmations we experienced as we worked with our students throughout the summer.
In this article, we address this question through the lens of our own experiences as co-instructors over three years of working with first-generation college students in New Jersey’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program. After sharing some of the background and context that guided our most recent course design, we overview some of the teaching approaches we engaged to support the transitional literacy practices of our students. Finally, we close with a few “lessons learned” that reflect the
challenges, tensions, and affirmations we experienced as we worked with our students throughout the summer.