Apps, iPads, and Literacy: Examining the Feasibility of Speech Recognition in a First-Grade Classroom

Informed by sociocultural and systems theory tenets, this study used ethnographic research methods to examine the feasibility of using speech recognition (SR) technology to support struggling readers in an early elementary classroom setting. Observations of eight first graders were conducted as they participated in a structured SR-supported writing center four days a week for five months. Participant observation, field notes, transcripts of audio and video recordings, and student artifacts (classroom worksheets, SR screenshots, and writing center compositions) were used to document students' use of SR as they wrote assigned compositions. Data analysis was recursive and ongoing. Constant comparison of in actu theoretical notes was used to form provisional patterns and develop and refine hypotheses. Triangulation of data sets, triangulation of informants, and negative case analyses were used to (dis)confirm hypotheses. Findings indicate that using SR was supportive of these struggling readers. Previous concepts of SR as an isolated entity and of the Language Experience Approach as cumbersome and reifying teacher hegemony are examined. Graphosemantic awareness, new literacies, and the possibilities for supporting struggling readers of all ages across expansive geographies are discussed. Finally, child safety, tensions between student independence and lost opportunities for teacher metacognitive modeling, questions about encoding as a viable or antiquated skill, and the need for additional research conducted in classroom settings to grasp sociocultural insights are discussed.