An evaluation of headsprout early reading as an online parent-mediated intervention for primary school children

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic and lengthy absences from the classroom, there is a need for large-scale remedial programs to support young children to "catch-up" on literacy and numeracy skills. A stratified randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate the Headsprout Early Reading (HER) program as a parent-mediated digital literacy intervention. A between-groups design compared differences in reading-dependent outcome measures for 36 children assigned to one of three intervention groups: with support, without support, and waitlist-control. Children completed significantly more episodes when parents received implementation support from the researcher compared to the without support group. Children receiving Headsprout instructions demonstrated marginally greater gains than the waitlist-control group in posttest outcome measures;however, differences in reading outcomes were not significant between groups at posttesting. The current research provides tentative support for HER and importantly, highlights the importance of providing support for parents implementing interventions at home. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Examining the online implementation of the evidence-based sound partners reading intervention on a measure of phonics skills of kindergarten and first grade students with reading difficulties

Students who do not read proficiently by the end of first grade are likely to remain poor readers and suffer academic difficulties across all subjects during their school career (Moats, 2017). Therefore, early identification and intervention of reading difficulties are essential for students' academic success (Partanen & Siegel, 2014;Vadasy & Sanders, 2011). The SARS COVID-19 pandemic prompted unexpected school closures worldwide and limited student access to intensive reading instruction, which created an urgent need to transpose curriculum to an online synchronous format. This research study utilized a multiple baseline across participants design to examine the outcomes of synchronous online tutoring using the evidence-based Sound Partners reading intervention on a measure of nonsense word fluency scores of kindergarten and first-grade students with reading difficulties. Results suggest evidence-based reading curricula can be transposed for virtual instruction while maintaining treatment integrity;there was a positive correlation between the online Sound Partners intervention and students' phonics skills. Study findings highlight factors to consider when adapting evidence-based practices to different formats and the benefits of implementing reading interventions in a virtual setting. The results illustrate the promise of transposing evidence-based practices established in the traditional in-person classroom setting to online delivery formats to support the learning needs of students with reading challenges. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Investigating reading from screens and mind wandering in the context of standards of coherence

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine if reading purpose (study or entertainment) varied the effect of reading medium on comprehension and accuracy of perceptions of comprehension. A secondary purpose was to examine how mind wandering relates to reading medium and reading purpose. An unanticipated purpose was examining the role of emergency remote COVID-19 instruction on reading comprehension, mind wandering, as well as both preference for and use of screens and paper. Methods: In this study, undergraduate students (N = 133) were randomly assigned to reading purposes of study or entertainment as well as reading from paper (from a book) or screens (from an iPad). Results: Neither reading medium nor purpose had reliable differences in performance on the text comprehension assessment, metacomprehension, or mind wandering. Reading from one's preferred medium appeared to be related to more accurate metacomprehension. Exploratory analyses indicated less studying from paper and more task-unrelated thoughts while reading from screens after the COVID-19 learning changes. Conclusions: Reading medium may possibly have less effect on comprehension when readers have purposes for reading and the haptic experience of reading is similar by medium. Medium effects on metacomprehension and mind wandering may vary depending on characteristics of the reader. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

English-speaking and English learning students' early literacy performance before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Student reading skills observed during the COVID-19 pandemic are significantly lower than reading skills observed in same-grade students pre-pandemic (Domingue et al., 2021), and particularly for students from historically marginalized backgrounds (Amplify, 2021). Research examining COVID-related differences in reading trajectories and outcomes for students identified English learning (EL) students in particular, who have historically demonstrated heightened risk for performing well below their non-EL peers (NCES, 2019), is lacking. This study utilizes DIBELS 8 curriculum-based measurement (CBM) data from one cohort of students enrolled in a large, diverse, urban school district during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years to examine differences in early literacy skill development before and after onset of COVID-19 related disruptions to instruction. Results from this study demonstrate learning loss in decoding, blending, and sight word reading for all students from the benchmarking periods immediately before to those immediately after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Relative to Non-EL students, ELs demonstrated less substantial learning loss in decoding and blending, but not sight word reading, followed by less accelerated growth in gaps between student groups relative to pre-pandemic trajectories. EL students with more advanced English language proficiency generally demonstrated higher levels of skills than their less-English proficient peers, however patterns of growth trajectories varied widely across language proficiency groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The Cloud-powered Hybrid Learning Process to Enhance Digital Natives' Analytical Reading Skills

Analytical reading is a necessary cognitive skill for advancing to other skills required in the digital age. Thailand is focused on the instructional development and use of digital media to enhance the digital natives' analytical reading skills, which will assist learners of all ages in effectively and quickly adapting to changes in the digital environment. After the COVID-19 pandemic situation, educational institutions in Thailand have begun to embrace a hybrid learning approach like never before. The limitations of the existing learning process for boosting digital natives' analytical reading skills are the lack of integration between reading techniques, hybrid pedagogies, and emerging learning technologies to enhance learners' seamless learning experiences. Thus, this study aims to propose the Cloud-powered Hybrid Learning process (Cp-HL process) to enhance digital natives' analytical reading skills. This study consisted of two main stages in the research methodology: 1) learning process development;and 2) learning process evaluation. The developed Cp-HL process had four main learning phases: (1) preparation for hybrid learning;(2) presentation for interactive learning;(3) practice with analytical reading;and (4) progress reports on analytical reading skills. All the experts agreed that the newly developed Cp-HL process performed extremely well in terms of overall suitability. © 2023, International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications. All Rights Reserved.

The Use of Web 2.0 Tools in Mother-Tongue Instruction: Teachers' Experiences

Technological tools have affected education just as all areas of life. Especially nowadays, technological tools are highly utilized in the effective regulation of the teaching-learning process. Web 2.0 tools are included among these technological tools. Web 2.0 tools are used in mothertongue instruction as well as in all disciplines. This study is an attempt to examine the experiences of teachers who use Web 2.0 tools in mother-tongue instruction. We used the phenomenological design, which is one of the qualitative research designs, in our study. We considered the criterion sampling method in determining the participants. As the data collection tool, we administered an interview form to the teachers. Since we could not hold face-to-face meetings during the COVID-19 Pandemic, we used online platforms to interview the participants. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. We analyzed our data through the MAXQDA qualitative data analysis program and presented the results in figures. One of the notable results of our study was that mother-tongue teachers used numerous and different Web 2.0 tools in mother-tongue instruction. Another significant result of our study was that Web 2.0 tools used by teachers made a major contribution to the development of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. In addition, we concluded that the use of Web 2.0 tools in mother-tongue instruction had various contributions to both students and teachers.

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in Rural Afghanistan: Findings from a Baseline Learning Assessment of Accelerated Learning Centres

In Afghanistan, 93% of children cannot read a simple text by the age of 10. Education is not available to everyone, especially for girls and children in remote areas. A form of community-based education, called Accelerated Learning Centers (ALCs), can help close the distance barrier and meet the needs of out-of-school children and girls. In May 2021, an assessment of foundational literacy and numeracy skills of ALC students and nearby government school students was conducted. Results show that children at ALCs are learning at similar levels or better compared with children who attend government schools. This report provides insight into practices to improve education in rural areas in Afghanistan.

Speech-Language Therapist, Munich, Germany: One-to-One Intervention

As a speech-language therapist supporting English-speaking students from international schools in Munich, Germany, Shelley Hornberger shares the story of a student referred after many years of failed school and private phonics instruction. She reports significant progress made by this student, in spite of having to deliver the programme online for extended periods during the pandemic. [For the complete volume, "Systematic Synthetic Phonics: Case Studies from Sounds Write Practitioners," see ED619956.]

The impact of computer-assisted technology on literacy acquisition during COVID-19-related school closures: Group-level effects and predictors of individual-level outcomes.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closure and loss of in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 academic year across the United States, which had a profound impact on the reading development of beginning readers. In this study we tested if a research-informed educational technology (EdTech) program-GraphoLearn-could help alleviate the COVID-19 slide. We also sought to understand the profiles of children who benefitted most from this EdTech program. Methods: We tested participants' (N = 172 K-2 children) early literacy skills using a standardized measure (STAR) before and after playing GraphoLearn, and used the pre to post difference as the dependent variable. We first compared children's STAR actual and expected growth. Then we conducted a multiple regression analysis with data about engagement with GraphoLearn included as predictors. Additional predictors were extracted from GraphoLearn performance at study onset to assess children's letter-sound knowledge, rime awareness, and word recognition. Results: The difference between actual average reading growth and expected growth in a regular school year was not statistically significant. This suggests that children in our sample seem to be gaining reading skills as expected in a regular school year. Our multiple linear regression model (which accounted for R2 = 48% of reading growth) showed that older children, with higher baseline GraphoLearn word recognition, who played more units in a fixed number of days, made significantly more early literacy progress. Discussion: While lacking a control group, our preliminary results suggest that an EdTech program such as GraphoLearn may be a useful reading instructional tool during school shutdowns. In addition, our results suggest that practice with GraphoLearn was more effective and efficient when foundational instruction was already in place.

Examining the online implementation of the evidence-based sound partners reading intervention on a measure of phonics skills of kindergarten and first grade students with reading difficulties

Students who do not read proficiently by the end of first grade are likely to remain poor readers and suffer academic difficulties across all subjects during their school career (Moats, 2017). Therefore, early identification and intervention of reading difficulties are essential for students' academic success (Partanen & Siegel, 2014;Vadasy & Sanders, 2011). The SARS COVID-19 pandemic prompted unexpected school closures worldwide and limited student access to intensive reading instruction, which created an urgent need to transpose curriculum to an online synchronous format. This research study utilized a multiple baseline across participants design to examine the outcomes of synchronous online tutoring using the evidence-based Sound Partners reading intervention on a measure of nonsense word fluency scores of kindergarten and first-grade students with reading difficulties. Results suggest evidence-based reading curricula can be transposed for virtual instruction while maintaining treatment integrity;there was a positive correlation between the online Sound Partners intervention and students' phonics skills. Study findings highlight factors to consider when adapting evidence-based practices to different formats and the benefits of implementing reading interventions in a virtual setting. The results illustrate the promise of transposing evidence-based practices established in the traditional in-person classroom setting to online delivery formats to support the learning needs of students with reading challenges. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Automated Recognition of Hindi Word Audio Clips for Indian Children using Clustering-based Filters and Binary Classifier

Speech recognition systems have made remarkable progress in the last few decades but most of the work has been done for adult speech. The rise of online learning during Covid-19 pandemic highlights the need for voice-enabled assistants for children so that they can navigate the menus and interfaces seamlessly. Speech recognition for children will also be very useful to develop automated reading assessment tools. However, such technology for children is challenging for a country like India where differences in accents, diction and enunciation is significant but available children speech data is limited. Through this paper, I tried various approaches to recognize hindi word audios. Commercially available Google Speech-to-Text performs poorly with only 49.7% accuracy at recall of 0.24 while recognising audio samples containing hindi words spoken by children. Using the same dataset, I experimented with clustering algorithm and logistic regression and found that the accuracy improves upto 81% with logistic regression. The paper also highlights the importance of data preprocessing by performing noise reduction using Butterworth low pass filters. © ICNLSP 2021. All Rights Reserved.

The Effects of Mobile Blended Active Language Learning on the English Critical Reading Skills of High School Students in Thailand

Due to the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic, the use of advanced technology in language education is currently on the rise, with English education being no exception. Simultaneously, the advancement and expansion of technology provide English as a foreign language students with multiple channels and opportunities to reinforce the four skills of English (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) to varying degrees both inside and outside the classroom. While previous studies have highlighted the feasibility and sustainability of blended learning in facilitating English skills, few studies have investigated the impact of mobile blended active language learning (MBALL) on promoting the English critical reading skills of Thai high school students. In hopes of filling this gap, the present study used both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to investigate the effects of MBALL on improving Thai high school students' English critical reading skills and their opinions on the use of MBALL. Pre- and post-tests were used to compare the students' critical reading scores before and after the MBALL implementation. A questionnaire was used to determine the students’ opinions on the use of MBALL, and individual semi-structured interviews were employed to obtain more-detailed information. The results of the tests revealed that the Thai high school students' English critical reading skills had improved after implementation of the MBALL curriculum. Furthermore, the findings of the questionnaire and interviews suggested that the Thai high school students were enthusiastic about the use of MBALL. © 2022 Sciedu Press. All rights reserved.

Investigating the impact of the COVID-19 school closures and computerized reading instruction in COVID and pre-COVID times on elementary student literacy achievement

The goal of this work was to examine the effects of computerized instruction in elementary school children in the context of COVID-19 school closure and pre-COVID-19 times. Specifically, this project investigated how the program i-Ready may facilitate reading skills during COVID-19 school closure and pre-COVID in-person learning. Moreover, this project explored differences in reading skills between children who used i-Ready during the COVID-19 pandemic (i-Ready engaged) and those that did not (i-Ready nonengaged) and whether there were developmental differences in the effectiveness of computerized instruction. This work has implications for understanding the implications of computerized instruction and COVID-19 on early learning. Results demonstrated an effect of Engagement only during the time period in which students attended school or had regular virtual access to their teacher, with the engaged first and fourth graders demonstrating significantly more growth than their nonengaged peers. Additionally, more students demonstrated a lack of growth during the COVID school year than during the prior, NonCOVID, school year. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

A Theory Based Adaptive Pedagogical Agent in a Reading App for Primary Students - A User Study

The Covid19 pandemic situation stressed the importance of appropriate digital applications that foster knowledge acquisition and can be used independently. This requires empirically validated applications, adapted to and evaluated within their target group. We therefore developed a theory based mobile app for training reading skills including two games and a pedagogical agent. The app is based on a validated analogue reading intervention for second-graders, which has already been partly digitized, aiming to address the gap of theory based educational applications for children. We used the ARCS model to modify the application and especially the agent’s behavior and compared this extended version to a control version in a user study with primary school students, investigating effects on motivation and performance. The children were motivated in both conditions and performed significantly better in one of the two games in the ARCS modeled version. The app and the pedagogical agent were well perceived and could be successfully used in the home study setting without external aid by all children, which supports the applicability for applied settings. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The use of web 3.0 tools for reading skill development: case blogs in virtual education

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought drastic changes in the teaching and learning of EFL, not least through the increased use of ICT and web 3.0 technologies. As part of this phenomenon, blogs have become a widely used technique for assisting foreign language acquisition. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the use of blogs has a significant impact on the development of reading skills in English learners. The study was based on 106 participants (57 male and 49 female) from a private secondary school in the central highland region of Ecuador, with an age-range from 12 to 19 years. A nonparametric-experimental design was applied to the whole sample, who were pre-tested, given reading development instruction, and then post-tested. The pre-test and post-test were adapted from the Cambridge Preliminary English Test (PET) and consisted of 5 multiple choice comprehension questions, 5 scanning questions and 6 fill in the gap questions. In the instructional phase, the participants engaged in 6 sessions of asynchronous and 6 sessions of synchronous study, in which a variety of digital resources such as Kahoot, Nearpod, Educaplay, Liveworksheets, Padlet, Quizzis, British Council, Quizzlet and others, were employed to contribute to students' communicative competence. Data tendencies and normality were measured through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, which was 0.000;while Wilcoxon was used to corroborate the hypothesis. The results showed a significant improvement of 66.9% in the students' reading skills through the use of web 3.0 blogs. Findings of the research show that the integration of web 3.0 technologies, specifically blogs foster learners' oral and written interaction, being reading the keystone of the whole process. © 2022 IEEE.

Tuning in: Using EdTV to supplement student learning

The opportunity gap is a persistent problem in education that has been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important that education stakeholders turn to creative and engaging means to support student learning, especially during interruptions to learning. One tool that has been developed to help mitigate this disparity of resources is educational television (EdTV). The literature provides evidence that supports the positive impacts EdTV has on learning. There has been a growing surge of content targeted for children with the expansive development of web-based streaming services. The plethora of programs available can make it challenging for caregivers and educators to determine which shows are high-quality and are conducive to student learning. Through a review of the available literature, Tuning In: Using EdTV to Supplement Student Learning: A Guide was developed to help inform caregivers and educators the features of high-quality EdTV programs. This guide also includes characteristics specific to different program goals, such as social-emotional learning, math and numeracy skills, reading and literacy skills, and language development for dual language learners. The purpose of this project is to provide guidance and help caregivers and educators be critical consumers of media. The guide can be used for children in pre-school through high school. While the guide used as much empirically supported information as possible in its development, it is worth noting that the guide itself has not been empirically validated. Nonetheless, this guide can help education stakeholders begin to understand what high-quality EdTV should look like. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Comparing the effects of group administered drill interventions on pre-kindergarten early literacy skills

Children who enter school with limited literacy skills risk falling behind their peers. Early intervention could be used to remediate this issue by increasing the literacy skills of children at an early age. Early literacy skills, such as alphabet knowledge, are some of the first reading skills that children are exposed to and are often cited as necessary foundational skills for reading fluency. Drill interventions have been successfully used to teach basic academic skills to young children, but there is limited research on their use with a pre-kindergarten population. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of using drill interventions to increase the letter name knowledge of pre-kindergarten students. Sixty-six pre-kindergarten students participated in the study. Individual pre-assessments of letter name knowledge were given to all participants at the beginning of the study. Participants within each classroom were randomly assigned to one of four drill intervention conditions: incremental rehearsal, interspersal, traditional drill, or the control group. Each group, not including the control, received a letter name intervention administered via small group instruction for approximately five minutes per day, one to four times per week. Participants were individually assessed on a weekly basis to measure rate of letter name acquisition. A split-plot factorial ANOVA revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in letter knowledge between intervention and control groups. In this study, drill intervention was not effective at increasing participant letter knowledge. Several limitations, including inconsistent length of intervention sessions, absenteeism among participants, and unexpected school closure due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, negatively impacted the results of the study. While the results of the current study were not statistically significant, they provide more information on the use of drill intervention with a pre-kindergarten population. Future research in this area should focus on increasing intervention integrity and consistent scheduling while maintaining participant attention and minimizing distractions. By doing so, future studies may result in more favorable outcomes and further implications for practice for this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Reading Skills of Children with Dyslexia Improved Less Than Expected during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy.

Following school closures due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, for some months, children received only distance learning. The effects of this approach, however, are not clear for children with dyslexia. We conducted a cross-sectional comparison between children with and without dyslexia after the so-called "lockdown" and a comparison between pre- and post-lockdown parameters in children with dyslexia. We recruited sixty-five children with dyslexia (dyslexia group, DG) from an outpatient facility in Pavia (Lombardy, Italy) and fifty-two children without specific learning disabilities as the control group (CG) from summer camps in the same province. We performed neuropsychological tests to explore reading skills and an ad hoc questionnaire to explore how parents and children had experienced the measures taken to reduce spreading of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Between 59 to 63% of children with dyslexia did not reach the average expected increase of reading skills. According to their parents, they also showed greater social isolation and fewer worries about the pandemic and the school's closure. Our data indicate that children with dyslexia are at increased risk of consequences on their learning potential in case of school closure. They also seem to have a peculiar psychological experience of school closure. Specific interventions should therefore be provided to minimize the risk of negative effects on global development.