The context of early literacy and ICT

Many countries throughout the world have recently made significant investment in educational ICT. In the UK, for example, the government has spent in excess of £2 billion on ICT kit for schools and in ‘training’ teachers to use the technology. Children and teachers are now clearly expected to function and develop within an online community and net- work, while (in the UK) schools are appraised, judged, measured and regu- lated through a series of online reports, league tables and data available to those with access to the Internet. As we move from ‘e-learning’ (electronic learning) to ‘m-learning’ (mobile learning), using small multifunction devices and out of the computer suite and into the classroom (not before time), there is a need to comprehend the accelerating technological change in our daily educational and working lives.

One important question is how these initiatives combine so that the potential of ICT is fully utilised to support young children’s emerging literacy. McFarlane (1997) has cautioned against curriculum models being far removed from ‘authentic’ learning. She argues that a literacy curriculum should respect and respond to children’s own ideas and per- ceptions. Godwin and Perkins (1998) and Marsh and Hallet (1999) also

LITERACY AND ICT IN THE EARLY YEARS

have reservations about curriculum frameworks that are imposed and pre- scribed by central government. As Dombey (1998: 41) points out, learning literacy in the early years is very complex. She suggests that adequate consideration needs to be given to factors that move children into literacy and the changing nature of literacy as ICT influences practice. Recently there have been a plethora of online sources promoting the use ICT in literacy teaching and learning. The limitation of some of these resources is that they are mainly focused on a narrow print based view of literacy and are for older children. Goodwyn et al. (1997) and Marsh and Hallet (1999) and Marsh (2004) advocate an approach which considers a far more complex and broadly conceived model of literacy that recognises the many varied practices involved in meaning making and includes the spoken word and written and visual text. Further, along with Whitehead (1999), the emphasis is on literacy practices that are located within a meaningful context where purpose is the prime consideration.

It can be argued that there are considerable benefits for learning when using ICT to promote literacy. These benefits can be realised within the literacy curriculum and at other times. Despite the recent increased fund- ing of ICT resources in schools however, there are still some major issues concerning teacher’s experience of ICT, access, curriculum application, management and resources that are hindering the realisation of this potential. Access remains a critical issue. For example, there is a tendency to assume that World Wide Web means that the whole world is connected to the Internet but approximately 96 per cent of the world’s population is not. There are clear divisions based on class, ‘race’, gender, age and geography, both within the UK and the rest of the world. As children from affluent socio-economic backgrounds usually have greater access to new technology it becomes vital that schools equip children, at all levels, with the appropriate ICT skills and experience (Waller 2004). For Rivalland (2000), the challenge for governments, policy writers and educators is to resource schools in such a way that powerful forms of electronic literacy can be made available to all children, most particularly those children who are already marked with the inequities of poverty, illness and other forms of social inequity. She asserts that:

No longer can any of us who are involved with childcare, pre-schools or schools be excused for blaming the homes and parents of these children, because such children make up a large sector of our population. Finding ways of connecting to the interests and literate practices of these children is an essential part of the early literacy work to be done by all of us who work with children.

(Rivalland 2000: 8) Some early years educators, however, are very sceptical about the ben-

efits of young children’s use of computers. Healy (1999) raises concerns

The context of early literacy and ICT