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ERIC Number: EJ943525
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1449-5554
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Using Computer-Based Instruction to Improve Indigenous Early Literacy in Northern Australia: A Quasi-Experimental Study
Wolgemuth, Jennifer; Savage, Robert; Helmer, Janet; Lea, Tess; Harper, Helen; Chalkiti, Kalotina; Bottrell, Christine; Abrami, Phil
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, v27 n4 p727-750 2011
The effectiveness of a web-based reading support tool, ABRACADABRA, to improve the literacy outcomes of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students was evaluated over one semester in several Northern Territory primary schools in 2009. ABRACADABRA is intended as a support for teachers in the early years of schooling, giving them a friendly, game and evidence-based tool to reinforce their literacy instruction. The classroom implementation of ABRACADABRA by briefly trained and intensively supported teachers was evaluated using a quasi-experimental pretest, post-test control group design with 118 children in the intervention and 48 in the control. Children received either a minimum of 20 hours of technology-based intervention or regular classroom teaching. Results revealed both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students who received ABRACADABRA instruction had significantly higher phonological awareness scores than their control group peers. The effect size for this difference was large ([eta][superscript 2]=0.14). This finding remained when controlling for student attendance and the quality of general non-technology-based literacy instruction. Limitations of the study and implications for effective practice in remote and regional contexts are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)
Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. Ascilite Secretariat, P.O. Box 44, Figtree, NSW, Australia. Tel: +61-8-9367-1133; e-mail: info@ascilite.org.au; Web site: http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A