This paper explores the design, development and evaluation of an early childhood literacy iPad application, focusing on the English Alphabet, called "A to Z Safari" trialled in Australian classrooms. A to Z Safari was designed to assist students in the early years of schooling with learning the alphabet and building on their knowledge of…

Over the last decades the nature and form of what children can choose to read has changed radically, partly as a consequence of rapid technological advances and the increasing dominance of the image. The research questions were: (1) "How do children learn to read and write by computer?"; (2) "How can one support children's learning…

Research has established young children's increasing use of computers and other new technologies in the home. Yet, teaching about digital texts and digital practices most often appears as an addition to early literacy instruction in classrooms where "business-as-usual" maintains an emphasis on print and print-based texts. This article…

In many analyses of children's "emergent literacy" (Clay, 1966) practices, there is little acknowledgement of children's engagement in techno-literacy practices. This article discusses findings from a survey undertaken in a working-class community in the north of England which aimed to identify the "emergent techno-literacy"…

The authors explore the interdependent relationships between learning English(es) and learning digital literacies in global contexts, and, collaborating with two women, Lu Liu and Yi-Huey Guo, who have moved and continue to move between the United States and Asia, highlight the crucial role that the practice of guanxi has played in advancing…

This paper analyses the role of computers within the nursery sector and what are viewed as the potential benefits and concerns of introducing young children to computers. It also examines how the computer is introduced and presented to young children and the form it takes. Data collection comprises a number of methods: questionnaires,…