Abstract
This paper critically discusses literacy education programs in times of a strong revival of structuralist and behaviorist-oriented literacy policies and practices. Leveraged by neoliberal educational agendas, the so-called Science of Reading (SoR) movement seemed to gain even more strength as a salvationist alternative in face of the post-pandemic alarming rise in illiteracy, whose impacts have mostly targeted children and youth from global south countries. Such a gloomy literacy scenario coincides with the mushrooming of a plethora of literacy apps aimed at helping children to improve their literacy skills. Concerned with the fact that most of these literacy apps are not designed under an interdisciplinary and collaborative work between the fields of game design, literacy, and education, I ponder: to what extent do these literacy apps reinforce conventional literacy practices despite all claims of innovation around digital technologies? To what extent do literacy teachers critically position themselves from a pedagogical and ethical perspective whenever using or recommending these literacy apps to families? These are questions which I intend to address through a brief data analysis on some children literacy apps followed by a description on how this debate unfolds in the undergraduate course “Multiliteracies and digital media: implications for language education” as part of the literacy education program from the School of Education at USP (FEUSP).
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Literacy, Apps, Critical, Education, Teachers, Agency
