Appropriation of literacy technologies in the classroom: reflections from creative learning design workshops with primary school teachers

Background: Approaches to teacher professional development, such as learning designs (LDs), can facilitate primary school teachers' appropriation of literacy technology in the classroom. LDs are detailed learning activities and interventions designed by teachers to plan their use of technology. Methods: Using a creative design methodology to carry out a series of LD workshops with teachers, we aimed to understand how primary school teachers envision learning and teaching with two distinct technologies designed to support children's reading skills: a game and an e-reader. Employing systematic qualitative content analysis, we compared LDs developed by teachers for each technology. Results: Our study shows that while principles of teacher instruction are consistently incorporated across the LDs, the design of each technology plays an important role in how teachers plan their students' learning and focal reading skills. Further, teachers' perception of the technology is as important as the features of the design. Compared with the e-reader, the game is perceived as an individual practice activity with less opportunities to learn with peers. Finally, across both technologies, teachers envision supporting additional literacy skills, beyond those designed in the technology, highlighting the importance of explicitly facilitating LDs intended to foster within-subject learning. Conclusions: These findings raise a new set of considerations on how to support teachers to design literacy learning and teaching activities with technology, and also offer a new methodological approach to facilitate LDs in future research and teacher training. Highlights What is already known about this topic Professional development supports teachers to appropriate literacy technologies in the classroom. The learning design approach has been shown to facilitate professional development by placing teachers in the role of the designer. The learning design approach can support and complement existing pedagogical approaches in the classroom, as well as to foster socio-constructivist learning. What this paper adds In the context of literacy, teachers rely on the learning aims of the technology and its pedagogical approach to determine how and what their students will learn. Teachers embed learning with peers when the technology aligns with existing social practice in the classroom. Teachers reappropriate literacy technology designed to support reading skills to extend into other literacy skills, such as writing and oral language. Implications for theory, policy or practice The paper offers a learning design methodology to support teachers in creating activities that integrate literacy technologies in the classroom. The methodology includes strategies that support teachers to embed learning with peers alongside reflecting a broad coverage of literacy learning objectives.