Using Apps to Support Disciplinary Literacy and Science Learning

Apps, specialized programs used on mobile computers, can be used in innovative ways to enhance science and literacy learning. With the skilled guidance of their teachers, students can exploit app affordances for learning and acquire disciplinary literacies unique to science. This article showcases a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of adolescent & adult literacy Vol. 56; no. 7; pp. 554 - 564
Main Authors Castek, Jill, Beach, Richard
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Wiley-Blackwell 01.04.2013
Subjects
Active Learning
Computer Mediated Communication
Computer Oriented Programs
Computer Software
Concept Mapping
Content Area Reading
Cooperation
Handheld Devices
Inquiry
Literacy
Middle School Students
Middle School Teachers
Notetaking
Science Instruction
Visual Literacy
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Summary:Apps, specialized programs used on mobile computers, can be used in innovative ways to enhance science and literacy learning. With the skilled guidance of their teachers, students can exploit app affordances for learning and acquire disciplinary literacies unique to science. This article showcases apps that help students to access information, make sense of it, and create their own products that include rich visual representations. We also describe teaching approaches that support the close reading of science texts through the use of note-taking and annotation apps. Classroom examples that are featured illustrate that these app affordances are not simply in the apps, but rather, fostered by how the teachers exploit these affordances to achieve their own particular learning objectives. As we become more familiar with new apps as educational tools, we need to be mindful about how these tools strategically in ways that best enhance our students' own learning. (Contains 3 tables, 2 figures, and 8 online resources.)
ISSN:1081-3004
DOI:10.1002/JAAL.180