Dr. Hiller Spires

Senior Research Fellow and Professor

Projects

• Crystal Island 8
• New Literacies Collaborative
• Having Our Say
• The Narrative Theater
• Crystal Island 5

Research Papers

1. Having Our Say: Middle Grade Student Perspectives on School, Technologies, and Academic Engagement
   

   Growing consensus among policy makers and educators alike suggests that our education system must be transformed to address the needs of a global society as well as the needs of the 21st century student. Often overlooked as a resource, students can contribute a valuable perspective on education. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to learn from middle grades students, through surveys and focus groups, what engages them to achieve in school. The findings, which centered on student perspectives of school, uses of technologies in and out of school, and academic engagement, are viewed within the context of global changes and the new demands that this trend places on education. (Keywords: technologies, academic engagement, middle grades, student perspectives.)

2. New Literacies in the US and China: Middle Grade Teachers Confront the Issues
   

   Central to closing the gap between in-school and out-of-school student technology use is teachers’ dispositions and uses of technologies to support student engagement with new literacies in the classroom. This study presents findings from surveys and focus groups with American and Chinese teachers in an attempt to understand both groups’ perspectives on integrating new literacies into their teaching.  Results indicate that although American and Chinese teachers are operating under different policies in their respective countries, their experiences with school changes prompted by the integration of new literacies have similarities. One notable difference was the significantly higher value Chinese teachers assigned to creativity and innovation in contrast to American teachers, which may be a result of current American testing policies. Teachers from both countries are eager to create educational experiences that help students become active global citizens and recognize the role of new literacies in achieving this goal.

3. 21st century skills and serious games: Preparing the N generation
   

   Ensuring that all students have the opportunity to participate fully in society is a daunting challenge for educators. Central to this challenge in the 21st century is changing how we view learning. Serious games, an area that is gaining momentum in education, has potential to transform how we view learning as we meet the fast- paced, ever-changing demands of modern life and work.  Forging a conceptual bridge between serious games and 21st century workplace skills, this chapter: 1) defines evolving characteristics of the 21st century learner, 2) synthesizes proposed 21st century skills from different disciplines, and 3) analyzes how certain features of serious games can promote the highly valued 21st century skills of expert problem-solving and complex communication. The chapter closes with a call for more thoughtful empirical studies in order to establish a research base that ultimately will affect policies around the use of serious games in school settings.

4. Scaffolding the TPCK Framework in Reading and Language Arts: New Literacies and New Minds
   
5. The Awakening of Young Adolescent Education in the People’s Republic of China
   
6. New Media Literacies, Student Generated Content, and the YouTube Aesthetic
   
7. Middle Grades Students and Game-Based Learning: Creativity, Engagement, and Writing Achievement