Nancy, thank you so very much for posting all of this to the listserv.
The work and findings from AlphaRoute are so instructive in this area
because you have indeed made things happen for learners with low
literacy and been able to share your findings with the rest of us.  The
survey was enlightening.  Keep up the dissemination efforts - we need to
continue to learn from your work!

Heidi



-----Original Message-----
From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:technology-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of nancy.friday at alphaplus.ca
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 1:37 PM
To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [Technology 1072] Re: findings on evidence of improvement of
literacy and language skills through technology



Hi Everyone,

Nancy Friday here from the AlphaPlus Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
I have
been reading this discussion all week, intending to respond, and now its
Friday
and I am going to make this happen!

The AlphaPlus Centre is a provincial adult literacy resource centre
providing
resource, technology and information support to over 300 adult literacy
sites
across Ontario in the English, Native, Deaf and Francophone communities.
As a
direct result of significant funding changes particularly at the
National level,
AlphaPlus is engaged in a strategic planning process to re-position
ourselves
within the new adult education environment in Ontario.

For over 10 years now we have managed and developed an online learning
environment called AlphaRoute.  You can learn more about AlphaRoute and
try it
out at: www.resources.alpharoute.org

For the past 4 years we have been working with sites across Ontario to
realize
as much as possible true distance delivery of literacy skills
development and
opportunity.

We have couched our practice in research and have produced research
reports that
speak to varying degrees depending on the report to the subject of this
discussion this week.

In 2000 I believe we received funding fromthe Office of Learning
Technologies, a
branch of Human Resources Development Canada, to explore the efficacy of
online
learning for adult literacy students.  We grappled with how to approach
the
research question for a couple years during the time that the AlphaRoute
Web-based learning environment was being used by literacy students in
programs
across Ontario.  We decided to approach the research by asking literacy
students
who had used AlphaRoute for a period of time.  142 learners from 42
literacy
programs across Ontario participated in a telephone survey.  The
questions asked
if and how using AlphaRoute impacted on their reading and related
literacy
skills, did the use of AlphaRoute impact on their use of computers at
home, use
of email, use of the Internet,  how has using AlphaRoute impacted on the
way
they learn and their motivation to continue, how important and what
kinds of
support are important and critical to online learning?  Our report is
called
What difference does it make? - Literacy learner perspectives on
Web-based
learning with AlphaRoute (2003).  Here's a link to the full report:
http://alphaplus.ca/images/pdf/Whatdifferencedoesitmake.pdf
The use of AlphaRoute as reflected in this report was as a supplement to
onsite
literacy learning and primarily but not exclusively, learners were
accessing
AlphaRoute using computers at their literacy program.  So not a distance
learning application at that time.

In 2001 AlphaPlus partnered with an agency called Contact North in
northern
Ontario and two established adult literacy programs, one French and one
English,
to explore how and if AlphaRoute could be used to support distance
delivery of
literacy programming.  Contact North provided computer access to adult
literacy
students in two communities that did not have literacy programs.  The
two
literacy programs provided mentors to support the learning at a distance
of
literacy learners in the remote towns.  AlphaRoute and supplemental
learning
software were used for learning content, learning management, and
interactice
communication between learners and mentors.  This was a very small
project.
What we learned from it was that distance learning support was possible,
that
partnering to create the access path for students was necessary and
workable,
but that there were some missing pieces, significantly a way to do
assessment at
a distance was one missing piece.  We also started to realize that
distance
learning wouldn't be more cost effecitve than onsite learning.

Starting in 2003, AlphaPlus and four literacy programs across Ontario
with
significant funding from our national and provincial partners, managed a
larger
exploration of how literacy skill development can be offered at a
distance.
This effort was carried out as formal research, under the guidance of
Dr. Paul
Porter from Sonoma State University in California and Matthis Sturm from
the
AlphaPlus Centre.  A report on the result of that research, called
Crossing the
Great Divides: Distance learning and flexible delivery in Adult Basic
Education
(2006) is availalbe at http://distance.alphaplus.ca

I will ask Matthias to share what he has learned from this research that
speaks
to the efficacy of distance learning in adult literacy.

And I'll stop for now.

Nancy in Toronto







"Silver-Pacuilla, Heidi" <HSilver-Pacuilla at air.org> on 06/13/2007
09:32:50 AM

Please respond to The Technology and Literacy Discussion List
      <technology at nifl.gov>
 

 

 



                                                              
                                                              
                                                              
 To:      technology at nifl.gov                                 
                                                              
 cc:      (bcc: Nancy Friday)                                 
                                                              
                                                              
                                                              
 Subject: [Technology 1055] findings on evidence of           
          improvement of literacy  and language skills        
          through technology                                  
                                                              







Hello everyone - here is another chunk of my data to share for member
checking with you.  Does this resonate?  Can you share an example that
confirms or challenges these findings?

**My key question to the group is: What has been your experience with
the lowest skilled students?

Thanks!  Heidi Silver-Pacuilla

++++++++++++

To recap, I am posting preliminary findings (and not my full methodology
or bibliography since both are currently incomplete) from the published
and posted literature on adult online literacy and language learning.  I
hope you find them validating or provocative (or both!) and can join in
a lively discussion of what's actually happening in your school or
program.

This is the second of the three main areas I am sharing with the
listserv: program implementation issues, evidence of improvements of
basic literacy and language skills, and student skills and dispositions
associated with successful technology-based and online learning.

Here are some key findings from the review of studies reporting evidence
of improvement of basic literacy and language skills:

There is growing evidence that adult learners' work with computer-based
or online materials that are supplemental to adult literacy and ESOL
classes contributes positively to their overall literacy and language
acquisition plus complementary learning skills.  The evaluations
reviewed were of supplemental materials available to students with some
type of program support (on-site trained teacher or support person,
support person available online, tech support available through the
program, and/or automated feedback system in the program) and varying
degrees of integration with the regular class curriculum.

Importantly, the supplemental materials and online interfaces were
either uniquely developed or chosen for adult literacy and language
learners.  Programs have documented successful use of these materials
with all levels of students, including those with the lowest levels of
literacy and English proficiency.

Quantifying specific academic skills achievement is difficult to
pinpoint, but several significant studies report learning gains
attributable to the supplemental use of technology in instruction and
practice. It must be acknowledged that there is still no "body of
evidence" with repeated and comparable studies that can definitely
answer questions about particular interventions used with particular
literacy or language levels with predictable results.

How do these findings correlate with your experience and knowledge?
----------------------------------------------------
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===========================================================
Nancy Friday
AlphaRoute Coordinator
AlphaPlus Centre  (http://alphaplus.ca)
Telephone: (416) 322-1012 x.305
Fax: 1-800-788-1417
TTY: 1-800-788-1912
nancy.friday at alphaplus.ca
============================================================


----------------------------------------------------
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