MOBILE LITERACIES - ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IS THE NEW 'COOL': ACQUISITION, LEARNING AND PRACTICE OF TRANSNATIONAL URBAN AMERICAN YOUTH

This is a research study of the digital literacy practices of junior level high school students whose goal was to matriculate to four-year universities. This study analyzes the relationship between the academic achievement and mobile literacy practices of fourteen low-income urban youth from the United States who were enrolled in a rigorous afterschool and summer residential college preparedness program. This research examines the skills and knowledge these youth developed through mobile literacies, the relationships that existed between their mobile literacy skill development and those necessary for academic achievement, and the impact of acquisition and learning on their literacy practices.