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.)
Descriptors: Control Groups, Intervention, Phonological Awareness, Attendance, Foreign Countries, Emergent Literacy, Reading Instruction, Indigenous Populations, Quasiexperimental Design, Instructional Effectiveness, Web Based Instruction, Pretests Posttests, Intermode Differences, Educational Quality
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