New Literacy Opportunities and Practices of Latino/a Children of Poverty In and Out of School

Abstract

This case study examines new literacy opportunities and practices of 28 Latino/a children from grades one to seven in a South Texas colonia, or unincorporated area. Data sources were 24-hour literacy logs, two rounds of interviews, and participant observations. The children reported limited school work related to digital literacies; the technology they accessed outside of school focused on entertainment, communication with friends, and mostly non-challenging video games. We discuss participants’ ingenious ways of circumventing any lack of access, their underlying social practices of community sharing, and Thirdspace possibilities of the tutorial center that respondents attended.

Keywords

• new literacies
• lantino/a students
• elementary school
• texas
• usa
• technology-related
• social practices