Providing Telepractice in Schools During a Pandemic: The Experiences and Perspectives of Speech-Language Pathologists.

PURPOSE: The main objective of this study was to gain insight into school-based speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') perspectives on and experiences with telepractice as a service delivery model at the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic. A better understanding of the facilitating and challenging factors that belie telepractice-based services will guide the creation of training and resource development to further support remote speech-language services in schools. METHOD: Four focus group sessions using a semistructured format were conducted with 22 school-based SLPs from 14 states in the United States. The focus groups provided an opportunity for SLPs to reflect on their telepractice experiences, including pros and cons, necessary knowledge and skills, factors impacting telepractice service delivery, and student and family participation. Inductive thematic analysis was used to describe the collective experiences and perspectives of the participants. RESULTS: Three themes regarding telepractice emerged: technology use, locus of control for decision making, and student and family engagement. Participants reported experiencing a range of successes and challenges when attempting to meet students' needs and identified gaps in resources and school capacity for telepractice. CONCLUSIONS: The findings revealed how school SLPs experienced telepractice service delivery during the remote learning portion of the 2019-2020 school year due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study increases our understanding of factors that facilitated and challenged the effective delivery of speech-language services via telepractice. To assist SLPs in future telepractice efforts, implications for professional development and further research are provided.

Librarian views of the ACRL Framework and the impact of covid-19 on information literacy instruction in community colleges.

Community colleges offer a unique context in higher education and yet specific guidance on implementing the ACRL Framework in community colleges is lacking. Semi-structured interviews with 30 community college librarians who had instruction duties explored the state of the implementation of the Framework in community colleges and the effect of the recent pandemic on information literacy instruction (ILI). The Framework is most lauded for its effect on the design and delivery of instruction, but its components mainly underpin ILI rather than being explicitly taught. The pandemic limited one-shot information literacy instruction but opened up opportunities for embedding librarianship in online courses. The value of this study lies in the potential for identifying opportunities for improving ILI in community colleges, based on a better understanding of librarians' attitudes and experiences of their instructional roles. Community college librarians with responsibility for ILI can be more fully supported when their instructional challenges are better understood.