“OMG can I have your meme lesson? TY”: Affective literacies and collegial meaning-making in digitally-mediated participatory networks

Abstract

As representative and communicative resources change the educational landscape, research indicates the importance of teachers developing increasing competencies and confidence in the use of appropriate digital tools and texts for learning. The present study traced the semiotic consequences of digitally-mediated participatory networks for educators who were positioned as designers of learning experiences as they worked on developing and demonstrating digitally mediated instructional approaches . Using methods of digital ethnography, data sources included 300+ blog posts and responses, multimodal digital compositions from in-class work by pre-service teachers, expert teacher demonstrations, online use logs, and fieldnotes on classroom activities. This research identified and described the affective literacies and new relationships for meaning-making that emerged as educators engaged in digital, participatory networks. The study extends understanding of the roles of affective literacies and collegial meaning-making in the process of learning to design digitally mediated instruction.