Learning, Attitudes and Perceptions: Evaluating Teachers Acquiring Competence with Online Literacy Programs for Children

Given the prevalence of computer software in educational settings, it is important to establish the efficacy of software for teachers in the classroom. One free software program, ABRACADABRA (ABRA), has been demonstrated to be effective in the development of literacy skills in young children (e.g. Wolgemuth, et al., 2014). The present study evaluated the impact of teachers’ literacy knowledge and comfort with technology with respect to professional development workshops providing training in the implementation of ABRA. Two cohorts of teachers were drawn from Canada and one from Kenya. A total of 64 female teachers (Mage= 38.26, SDage =11.22) completed two surveys one prior to training and one after. Outcomes indicated that participants’ knowledge of literacy did not significantly vary across locations; however, their confidence in teaching four areas (reading fluency, writing, comprehension, and alphabetics) of literacy did vary as a function of location, with Kenyan teachers yielding the highest teaching confidence. Across all locations, participant’s confidence in teaching early literacy increased following the workshop. Perceived comfort using technology and comfort teaching with technology were highly correlated, but no differences were observed for perceived comfort across cohorts. Overall, there were no differences among the teachers in these perceptions, however, teachers with previous professional development related to literacy expressed more confidence teaching literacy than those who had no previous professional development. Qualitative analyses confirmed some well-established barriers and successes for these teaching workshops

Learning, Attitudes and Perceptions: Evaluating Teachers Acquiring Competence with Online Literacy Programs for Children

Given the prevalence of computer software in educational settings, it is important to establish the efficacy of software for teachers in the classroom. One free software program, ABRACADABRA (ABRA), has been demonstrated to be effective in the development of literacy skills in young children (e.g. Wolgemuth, et al., 2014). The present study evaluated the impact of teachers’ literacy knowledge and comfort with technology with respect to professional development workshops providing training in the implementation of ABRA. Two cohorts of teachers were drawn from Canada and one from Kenya. A total of 64 female teachers (Mage= 38.26, SDage =11.22) completed two surveys one prior to training and one after. Outcomes indicated that participants’ knowledge of literacy did not significantly vary across locations; however, their confidence in teaching four areas (reading fluency, writing, comprehension, and alphabetics) of literacy did vary as a function of location, with Kenyan teachers yielding the highest teaching confidence. Across all locations, participant’s confidence in teaching early literacy increased following the workshop. Perceived comfort using technology and comfort teaching with technology were highly correlated, but no differences were observed for perceived comfort across cohorts. Overall, there were no differences among the teachers in these perceptions, however, teachers with previous professional development related to literacy expressed more confidence teaching literacy than those who had no previous professional development. Qualitative analyses confirmed some well-established barriers and successes for these teaching workshops

Assessing blended and online-only delivery formats for teacher professional development in Kenya

AbstractThe present study compared the learning and experiences of Kenyan teachers randomly assigned to either an online or a blended 12-week intensive teacher professional development program (TPD). The TPD addressed the fundamentals of early literacy development as well as how to use early literacy software to support students learning. TPD outcomes were assessed through surveys, course performance and discussion elements. Teachers demonstrated pre- to post-test gains in domain knowledge, lesson plan construction and comfort teaching early literacy skills. Few differences were observed between the online versus blended formats. However, teachers endorsed a blended instructional format over online-only or in-person formats. Challenges regarding resources and infrastructure were identified as barriers to technology integration within the classroom. Some cultural challenges were identified as potential barriers for young learners using software developed in Western countries. Overall, both online and blended formats appear to be effective TPD delivery systems for Kenyan teachers, however, findings highlighted challenges that need to be addressed to optimize learning when using technology. Future research recommendations include broadening the teacher sample to assess potential differences due to regionalism, associated differences in access to resources, and further examination of teaching experience on learning in the two types of online formats