Using computer-based instruction to improve Indigenous early literacy in Northern Australia: A quasi-experimental study

Wolgemuth, Jennifer R.; Savage, Robert; Helmer, Janet; Lea, Tess; Harper, Helen; Chalkiti, Kalotina; Bottrell, Christine E.; Abrami, Philip C.

doi:10.14742/ajet.947

Cited by 29 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The results indicated that ABRA produced statistically significant effects on measures of letter-sound knowledge. This specific pattern of effects of ABRA on letter knowledge replicates patterns reported in four previous researcher-led internal validity trial studies of ABRA ( Comaskey et al, 2009 ; Savage et al, 2009 ; Wolgemuth et al, 2011 , 2013 ). The results of the present study also replicate the findings reported in the only existing external validity cluster RCT trial of ABRA ( Savage et al, 2013 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

A cluster randomized control field trial of the ABRACADABRA web-based reading technology: replication and extension of basic findings

2014

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The present paper reports a cluster randomized control trial evaluation of teaching using ABRACADABRA (ABRA), an evidence-based and web-based literacy intervention (http://abralite.concordia.ca) with 107 kindergarten and 96 grade 1 children in 24 classes (12 intervention 12 control classes) from all 12 elementary schools in one school district in Canada. Children in the intervention condition received 10–12 h of whole class instruction using ABRA between pre- and post-test. Hierarchical linear modeling of post-test results showed significant gains in letter-sound knowledge for intervention classrooms over control classrooms. In addition, medium effect sizes were evident for three of five outcome measures favoring the intervention: letter-sound knowledge (d= +0.66), phonological blending (d = +0.52), and word reading (d = +0.52), over effect sizes for regular teaching. It is concluded that regular teaching with ABRA technology adds significantly to literacy in the early elementary years.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

A cluster randomized control field trial of the ABRACADABRA web-based reading technology: replication and extension of basic findings

2014

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“…Many studies show that the use of technology in preschool education positively affects children's learning and increases their motivation (Huffstetter et al, 2010;Wolgemuth et al, 2011;Cakıroğlu and Taşkın, 2016;Kocaman-Karoglu, 2016). On the other hand, the use of computer and television in preschool children will be beneficial and appropriate as long as they are under the supervision of parents, but it shows that interaction with technology adversely affects the developmental characteristics of the child and learns negative attitudes and behaviors outside the parental control (Güngör, 2014).…”

Section: Discussion Conclusion and Suggestionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Parents’ Attention on the Technology Usage of Children between the Ages of Four and Six

Biber

Kayis

Kopuk

et al. 2019

Asian Journal of Education and Training

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The aim of the study was to determine the technology usage characteristics of children between the ages of 4-6 and to determine whether these characteristics differ according to parental attention. This research is a relational screening model. The study group of the research consists of 117 children and their parents aged 4-6 years who attend independent kindergartens and kindergartens at elementary schools in Karesi and Altıeylül districts of Balıkesir province in 2018-2019 academic year. As data collection tool, "Personal Information Form" that includes demographics of children and their parents prepared by researchers, "Technology Use Questionnaire of Preschool Children of 4-6 Years" prepared by researchers, and "Parental Attention for Children Scale" that was developed by Campbell et al. (1986) and adapted by Sucuoglu et al. (2015) in order to determine parental attention for children were used. Descriptive analyses were performed, scale reliability was calculated, distribution of data was examined, and difference tests were applied depending on the distribution. In addition, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) post-hoc tests and independent samples t-test were used. In the Parental Attention for Children Scale, while there was a linear relationship between the mother and father forms and its sub-dimensions; there was a linear relationship between the level of "Attention for Control", a the sub-dimension of father form, and survey questions. Despite the high interest in control, it was observed that children's use of technology was high.

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“…The ABRA programme has had some support from smaller efficacy RCTs (see, for instance, and Wolgemuth et al, 2011) and a bigger effectiveness trial . randomly allocated 174 pupils into three groups: a synthetic phonics intervention group, an analytic phonics intervention group, and a classroom control group.…”

Section: Background Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Raudenbush, S. W., Liu, X., Congdon, R. and Martinez, A. (2008) 'Optimal Design for Longitudinal and Multilevel Research: Documentation for the "Optimal Design" Software', http://sitemaker.umich.edu/group-based/optimal_design_software Wolgemuth, J. R., Savage, R. S., Helmer, J., Lea, T., Harper, H., Chalkiti, K., Bottrell, C. and Abrami, P. (2011) 'Using computer-based instruction to improve indigenous early literacy in Northern Australia: A quasi-experimental study', Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 27, pp .727-750.…”

Section: Future Research and Publicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As in the original report, we analyse the effects of two methods of small group tuition for Year 1 pupils in English schools on measures of literacy. One of these methods used an ICT programme (Abracadabra) which has some supporting evidence from small randomised controlled trials (RCT) efficacy studies in other countries (see, for instance, and Wolgemuth et al, 2011) and a bigger effectiveness trial . The other method is identical in content (i.e., used materials that replicate the ICT intervention), but does not use the computer programme (Non-ICT intervention).…”

Section: Executive Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Evaluation of Teaching Assistant-Based Small Group Support for Literacy

McNally¹

2015

http://isrctn.com/

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Security rating awarded as part of the EEF peer review process Executive Summary The project Abracadabra (ABRA) is a 20-week online literacy programme composed of phonic fluency and comprehension activities based around a series of age-appropriate texts. Four 15-minute sessions per week are delivered by a teaching assistant (TA) to groups of three to five pupils. This report summarises the findings of a randomised controlled trial assessing the impact of ABRA on literacy outcomes for Year 1 pupils. The trial also assesses the impact of an offline, paper and pencil version of the same intervention (referred to here at 'the non-ICT intervention'). There were 51 participating schools and 2,241 pupils at randomisation, and a total of 48 schools and 1,884 pupils were included in the final analysis (84% of the initial pupils at randomisation). The trial took place between October 2014 and May 2015. Fifty-one schools were randomly assigned to either receive some version of the intervention or to act as a 'control' school delivering business as usual. In the schools receiving the intervention, pupils were randomised to receive one of the following options: (1) ABRA, (2) the non-ICT intervention, and (3) standard literacy provision. The process evaluation involved observing sessions to understand a variety of factors in the intervention. These included an evaluation of which elements contributed to successful implementation, the perceptions and experiences of TAs and project leads, levels of pupil engagement, and the mechanisms behind the estimated impacts. This was an efficacy study, due to the involvement of the developer in the delivery of the programme. The study was funded by the Education Endowment Foundation and Nominet Trust as part of a funding round focusing on the use of digital technology to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children. How secure are the findings? These findings have moderate to high security. The trial was a three-armed randomised controlled trial that featured randomisation between schools that received ABRA and the non-ICT intervention and schools that continued normal literacy provision. It also involved randomisation within the schools that received interventions, between ABRA, the non-ICT intervention, and pupils that received standard literacy provision. The trial was large and the pupils who received the intervention were similar to the pupils in the comparison group; 16% of the pupils were not included in the analysis because they did not complete all the tests at the end of the trial. Key conclusions 1. The children who received ABRA, or its offline alternative were found to make two and three months' progress in literacy respectively compared to the children who received standard provision. This positive result would be unlikely to occur by chance. 2. For both ABRA and the offline alternative, the impact for children eligible for free school meals and children with below average pre-test outcomes was larger than for all pupils. 3. Successful implementation contributed to a well-desi...

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Using computer-based instruction to improve Indigenous early literacy in Northern Australia: A quasi-experimental study

Cited by 29 publications

References 35 publications

A cluster randomized control field trial of the ABRACADABRA web-based reading technology: replication and extension of basic findings

A cluster randomized control field trial of the ABRACADABRA web-based reading technology: replication and extension of basic findings

The Effect of Parents’ Attention on the Technology Usage of Children between the Ages of Four and Six

An Evaluation of Teaching Assistant-Based Small Group Support for Literacy

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