School is text heavy, but the brain learns through both linguistic and non-linguistic processes. The current study explored transmediation of student work on digital tools at elementary, middle, and high school levels in a mid-sized urban school district where all students are issued an iPad as a part of a long-standing 1:1 digital learning initiative. The current study was unique in looking at mid-to-large urban, public schools, researching elementary, middle, and high school grades, and using participants involved in a long- running 1:1 where a common device was used in all classrooms studied. Using a grounded theory approach in a design-based research structure, three classrooms were explored through pre- and post-interviews, collection of student artifacts, and video capture of three learning design experiments. A literature review establishes historical background, past and future policy implications, the changing nature of today’s learning environment, and a basis for the research. As a result, transmediation of work on digital tools was found to improve writing, speed up learning, make abstract concepts concrete, and increase student ownership of learning in the process. Beyond the research findings, the researcher identified the Transmodal Student Work Model as a new, research-based structure for learning with digital tools.

Keywords: multimodal, transmediation, educational computing, digital learning, grounded theory, dual coding theory, design-based research, iPad, one-to-one, 1:1, revision, revise, photo, video, audio, digital sketch, learning model