Assistive Technology Interventions and Equity Within Literacy Instruction

This study examines ways to provide assistive technology interventions within literacy courses for adolescents and young adults with disabilities. Instead of separating students from their peers during reading and writing assignments, literacy teachers who implement assistive technology can support equitable access to school curricula and technology-based learning resources. Unresolved questions about teacher training and accessibility led to the problem statement: What technology resources have special education service providers found useful during literacy instruction for students with support needs? Research reporting findings from intervention studies and/or interviews with educators showed differences between activity systems in secondary and post-secondary environments. Teachers' beliefs and expectations about student characteristics and the need for individual assistance could contribute to inequities in access to literacy instruction. The thematic analysis revealed practices within literacy classes that can decrease or maintain inequities for students with support needs.

Enacting a Raciolinguistic Perspective for the “New Mainstream” in Literacy Classrooms

This chapter contributes to the conversation on reconceptualizing literacy teacher education through exploring the fallout of neoliberal sensibilities on U.S. schools. It continues to describe the new mainstream to be primarily racialized bi/multilingual students that defy the mono-mainstream assumption. The chapter then defines the mono-mainstream assumption that surreptitiously pervades educational systems with its deleterious effects on students. To combat this, the author explores how literacy teachers can enact a language architecture framework as an extension of a raciolinguistic perspective with practical classroom examples, including the terms used to describe students, their languages and literacies, how to negotiate hegemonic systems of accountability, specific pedagogical practices, and continued teacher reflexivity.

The Educators’ Datafied Present and Future: Complexity as an Approach to Developing Educators' Data Literacies

In the higher education context, an increasing concern on the technical or instrumental approach permeates attention to academics’ data literacies and faculty development. The need for data literacy to deal specifically with the rise of learning analytics in higher education has been raised by some authors, though in spite of some focus on the need to develop academics’ data literacy to embrace fair practices, this literature is often also rooted in a technical or data-driven perspective. In this paper, the authors summarize an empirical study based on 137 articles using the terms “data literacy,” “teachers,” and “faculty development,” spanning from 2014 and 2019. The findings point out that out of the total, 78 papers reviewed took an instrumental, data science-focused perspective on data literacy, were the technical abilities like extracting data and interpreting or reporting appropriately (authors, in press). Data safety and effective data management perspectives accounted for another 35 of the 137 articles. Only seven took up data literacy from a critical perspective, while only five looked at the pedagogical practice. These preliminary findings require awareness and discussion on the light of appropriate faculty development approaches and activities. We introduce some recommendations aimed at understanding data as a complex emerging phenomenon in our societies, which requires building the literacies to face their negative effects like data surveillance and algorithmic biases, but also, to uncover its emancipatory power.

Learning Presence and the Reconceptualization of Language and Literacy Teachers’ Online Professional Development

Besides teaching the way they were taught, teachers teach the way they learned (Oleson & Hora, 2014). Thus, if teachers are to be guided to teach online effectively, their learning experiences and the ways they learn online need to be understood. This study focused on second/foreign language and literacy teachers’ (LLTs) Learning Presence (LP) as they engaged online to update their teaching expertise in a formal, doctoral-level professional development program (PD). LP is defined as individuals’ self- and co-regulation of their behaviors in online environments in order to be effective learners (Shea et al., 2014). We undertook a mixed-method study involving a content analysis of 9 weeks of online seminar discussions, a 27-question survey that corresponded to Shea et al.’s (2014) LP framework and interviews with the LLTs. The prevalent patterns in the LLTs’ online engagement that emerged were in the Strategy Use and Monitoring LP categories. They demonstrated the nature of the engagement amongst LLTs, including peer-to-peer and heterarchical learning. The findings also provided evidence that when supported by the affordances of the online medium, the LLTs’ straddled “professionalization and professionalism” goals. In terms of the implications, the findings suggested a reconceptualization of three existing teacher PD models, including that of Darling-Hammond et al.’s (2017). The research’s limitations were also identified, pertaining to the way the study was structured, its instruments and their implementation, as well as the constraints of the LP framework itself. Finally, the study concluded with the next steps in research to address the limitations.

Analysis of the need to development an assessment integrated with STEM literacy

Facing the challenges in the 21st century and entering the 5.0 society era, education plays a major role in preparing quality students, students are required to have the competence to think creatively in dealing with various problems. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) literacy is a new approach developed to support learning in the 21st century. This article aims to explore the perceptions of physics teachers in the development of an integrated assessment instrument with STEM Literacy. The type of research used is descriptive qualitative with purposive sampling technique. The main respondents of this study were five high school physics teachers. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through the thematic analysis approach. The main finding of this study is that teachers have different understandings of the STEM concept in learning. Teachers do not have experience in developing between assessment and STEM Literacy. Teachers are interested in developing assessments that are integrated with STEM Literacy.

ENRICHING VOCABULARY WITH ADJECTIVES FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PUPILS’ READING LITERACY

The trend observed in the education system is that pupils often spend their free time using mobile phones or computers for entertainment. As a result, pupils have a rather modest vocabulary, which poses a problem to formulate and express their thoughts in the learning process, to describe the central thesis in more detail, for example, using adjectives.The research aim is to determine the methods used in teaching adjectives and their usefulness in the Latvian language class in order to improve pupils’ reading literacy. The research methods include analysis of corresponding theoretical and methodological literature, a teacher survey, and processing and interpretation of the data obtained. The most appropriate methods for teaching the topic “Adjective”, according to the teachers, are the explanatory illustrating and reproductive method; whereas the documents studied concerning the introduction of competency-based education recommend mainly the heuristic and research method, and this creates a relative mutual discrepancy. To promote the pupils’ reading literacy, teachers need to explore the children’s interests and use them as the basis for creating methodological materials about adjectives which correspond to modern reality and are fascinating and interesting to pupils. Such an approach would motivate pupils to appreciate the importance of using adjectives in everyday life. In the Latvian language class, when teaching the topic “Adjective”, teachers need to try and work as counsellors, gradually guiding their pupils to achieving the goal by noticing different patterns for adjectives, like competency-based education provides.

Digital Literacy: Teachers' Perceptions of Using Google Accounts in the Online Learning Process

This current study explores the teacher's perspective on the usefulness of google account in the online learning process at SMAN 1 Tambang, Riau. The teachers and other school staff did not simply implement the policy of the distance learning process. The shift from face-to-face learning activities to online learning is confusing for teachers, especially senior teachers. Teachers are challenged to be able to use technology in carrying out their duties. The digital literacy of teachers is critical in the implementation of online learning. Hence, an understanding of google classroom, google meet, and google form is an influential media aid in the learning process, especially in online learning. The research method used is a survey method. The sample in this study was 46 teachers of SMAN 1 Tambang. The results showed that 46 respondents who filled out the research questionnaire, 75% stated Strongly Agree, 23% stated Agree, and 2% stated Disagree that google accounts were instrumental in the process of online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. This result shows that the Google account is an effective learning media used in the online learning process during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, teacher mastery in the use of Google accounts is part of digital literacy that needs improvement.