Abstract:
The increasing use of digital technologies in the daily lives of children is evident in contexts such as Australia, and for most children at least part of this is as a result of applications (apps) being used on internet-enabled devices. Children are using these apps for play and learning and as such are often engaging with apps both in education and home settings. The popularity of these apps means that teachers and families act as consumers of these products and are faced with choices and decisions about which apps are best and most likely to support literacy learning. In order to make sense of these various literacy and reading apps, educators and families use search filters to identify relevant apps for their purposes, and this introduces dimensions of algorithmic filtering and recommendations into the mix of which apps are purchased and used by young children.
In this paper we report on a project where the aim was to investigate issues related to the purchase and use of apps as literacy learning resources by first considering the search results that appear when literacy and reading apps are searched using different categories and particular search terms. We will first report the findings of an analysis where we conducted purposeful searches using keywords and categories on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, before undertaking a content analysis of the apps that were recommended by these search processes. The point was to highlight the apps that appear in the top searches based on algorithms, which are embedded within the App Stores, in order to better understand how large companies are using algorithms as a marketing practice in the early literacy space. We followed this with an analysis of three apps that featured on both App Stores as a result of our searches to consider the representations of literacy learning, and indeed literacy learners, foregrounded. Given the ubiquitous nature of digital technology in classrooms and homes, and the increasing use of apps as learning resources by young children, understanding more about the apps and their utility, or otherwise, is critical.
In this paper we report on a project where the aim was to investigate issues related to the purchase and use of apps as literacy learning resources by first considering the search results that appear when literacy and reading apps are searched using different categories and particular search terms. We will first report the findings of an analysis where we conducted purposeful searches using keywords and categories on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, before undertaking a content analysis of the apps that were recommended by these search processes. The point was to highlight the apps that appear in the top searches based on algorithms, which are embedded within the App Stores, in order to better understand how large companies are using algorithms as a marketing practice in the early literacy space. We followed this with an analysis of three apps that featured on both App Stores as a result of our searches to consider the representations of literacy learning, and indeed literacy learners, foregrounded. Given the ubiquitous nature of digital technology in classrooms and homes, and the increasing use of apps as learning resources by young children, understanding more about the apps and their utility, or otherwise, is critical.