It’s a familiar assignment faced by many upper-elementary students. When researchers first visited a Grade 5 classroom, the children were busy writing stories that would appeal to their chosen Grade 2 reading buddies.
The students were effectively building on their literacy skills, but knowing less than 10% of students in schools get the opportunity to design and create using technology, researchers encouraged the class to take the project a few steps further. The children would develop their own e-books, or talking books for their Grade 2 buddies. The result was knowledge-building in action, as the students relied on their familiarity using e-text and digital readers, while using multiple forms of representation, including importing graphics and using voice-overs.
In the midst of a project in which the students were fully engaged, a significant challenge came to light – where would the e-books be placed so that a student interested in a bound copy of the story could find the new version of the story that they created? This issue highlights an important effect of this assignment – students became aware they were creating something new for known and unknown others to use. They were re-making what was already available in new ways, and generating new knowledge about how their school library can properly accommodate their digital work.
