Education Commons^™

Professional Development, Digital Platforms, And Middle School Education During Covid-19, Cynthia Susan Castro

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 outbreak shifted towards online learning, requiring educators and administrators to adapt to new digital platforms and technologies quickly. The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine whether there is a significant difference in the frequency of use of digital platforms among middle schools. Secondly, it explores the relationship between teachers' attendance at professional development sessions and their integration of Nearpod lessons during the pandemic. Lastly, it investigates the relationship between the time campus principals invested in technology-related professional development and teachers' adoption of digital platforms at their respective campuses. Surveys and administrative records were …

Addressing The Lack Of Digital Literacy Learning At A Kuwaiti Higher Education Institution, Mariam Sarhan Alshammari

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan is an effort to address the lack of digital literacy learning at a Kuwaiti higher education institution. Digital literacy, and by extension, digital citizenship are critical skills to have in today’s world. Global College of Kuwait (GCK, anonymized) is a relatively new college in the region that is struggling to retain students, particularly after COVID highlighted the college’s lack of experience/preparedness with digital literacy. To tackle the problem, a reform committee was formed and tasked with finding a feasible solution to improve digital literacy learning in the college’s Foundation Program. A Foundation Program is a preparatory …

An Investigation On How Lower Primary School Teachers Are Developing Learners’ Digital Literacy Competencies: A Case Study Of A Primary School In Mtwapa, Kilifi County, Kenya, Judy Kinyanjui Wangui

Theses & Dissertations

Digital literacy has become a prerequisite in today’s learning due to the much-needed technological skills required in the 21st century for academic achievements, career development, and daily living. With the introduction of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in Kenya, studies have shown that teachers received limited in-service induction on CBC, raising questions on how teachers are developing learners’ digital literacy competencies (LDLC), yet little has been done to enhance teachers’ understanding of how this specific competence ‘digital literacy’ should be developed. This study investigated how primary school teachers are developing lower primary school LDLC. The study employed a qualitative approach that …

Content And Frames Of ©Wechat And Chinese State Media - A Critical Literacy Reflection Of The Narratives During The Early Stage Of Covid-19 Pandemic, Zhe Jing

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Governments back disruptive politics on the Internet platforms to influence people. During the global health crisis, because of the popularity and demographic penetration, ©WeChat is said to be one of these platforms. The influential dynamics, the circulated contents relevant to diasporic audiences and the app’s global users are yet to be contextually understood through the educational lens of critical literacy. This study is underpinned by a critical literacy reflective framework which synthesises components from several critical literacy practices: content and frame analysis, critical pedagogies, and specific literacy domain practices to provide guideline for the investigation. The findings demonstrate how state …

Physical To Cyber: A Case Study Of The Print And Digital Literacy Of Burgeoning Older Adult Learners, Laura Elizabeth Williams

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This intrinsic single case study explored the ways in which two older adult burgeoning literacy learners in a capital city in the U.S. Gulf South utilized the skills of print literacy and digital literacy both together and apart. This study was an investigation of print and digital literacy, individually and combined, in order to examine the way older adult burgeoning literacy learners used one kind of literacy (print) to develop the other (digital). Using semi-structured interviews, observations, and literacy journals, participants’ perceptions were explored. Findings included that fully literate older adults used their literacy to enact and maintain social connections, …

Media Ideologies And The Politics Of Digital Literacy: Discourses On Technology And Media In A Small School District In The U.S. Heartland, Chris Borntrager

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses a discourse studies approach to investigate key communicative processes by which digital technology is given situated meanings within the institution of public education, including at the level of official discourse, administrative texts, and the spoken discourse of professional educators. The discursive processes under analysis, referred to here as “institutional media ideologies,” arguably function as discursive frameworks which, akin to tactics of management in organizations, constrain the further production of discourse in a particular professional domain, including through the codification of contextualization practices, participant roles, and the social meanings of practices implicating the use of digital technology. Furthermore, …

Identifying Core Components Of Digital Literacy Initiatives For Adult Education Programs, Vivia May Dorothea Pitter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Digital literacy is a powerful tool for learners, and educational institutions and programs are tasked with the responsibility of developing frameworks, models, guidelines, or strategies within a digital literacy initiative to equip the learner. However, a lack of clarity and consensus on what constitutes digital literacy hinders developmental efforts and processes of digital literacy initiatives. The purpose of this qualitative modified Delphi study was to identify what experts agree are the core components of digital literacy initiatives that will provide clarity and consensus for adult education programs. The concerns-based adoption model’s innovation configuration dimension is the conceptual framework for this …

Developing Digital Literacy In Digital Natives: A Quantitative Study Of Digital Literacy And Niswonger Online Students, Elizabeth Pavlovich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This non-experimental, quantitative study was completed to determine if Tennessee high school students who take an online, asynchronous course better their digital literacy through the environment of online learning. The study focused on the pretest and posttest scores of Niswonger Online students during the spring and summer semesters of 2021. It grouped the high school students by location, high school size, grade level, and courses taken to assess differences in digital literacy. Finally, it evaluated overall student growth in digital literacy scores after completion of an online high school course.

Data from a pretest and posttest of Niswonger Online students …

A Podcast Designed To Discuss The Lives Of Students, Faculty, And Alumni In The San Luis Obispo Community, Sienna Addison

Journalism

This project was developed to describe the process of creating and launching a podcast for students, faculty and staff of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo to educate and inspire endeavors in entrepreneurship. The research began with the growing use of podcasting in higher education, as well as the increase in popularity and accessibility of podcasts in the last 20 years. The project was first developed by David Kozuch, a student at California Polytechnic State University in the fall of the 2019 school year and has continued to grow in the years since. Polycast is the published resulting …

Predictors Of Community Physicians’ Digital Information Retrieval At Point Of Care, Jumana Antoun

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Efficient digital information retrieval at the point of care is essential for better health care delivery. The problem is the lack of knowledge about the community physician’s digital information retrieval at the point of care. The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of the community physicians’ digital information retrieval at the point of care in eight Arab countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and whether a set of factors predicted the digital information retrieval. This study was guided by the Smith model that links professional digital practices to professional competencies, digital literacy, and technological affordances. The descriptive research …

Understanding Western Pacific Teachers’ Perceptions And Experiences Implementing Technology In The Classroom, Roque Castro Indalecio

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At a Western Pacific Region school district with six public high schools, district administrators implemented an educational technology training program (ETTP) to improve technology integration in the classroom as measured by the Effective Learning Environments Observation Tool, but there was no follow-up to determine how the teachers perceived the ETTP and to identify the experiences of teachers related to instructional technology after taking the district training. This basic qualitative study, guided by the technology acceptance model, addressed this problem in the district by exploring how the teachers perceived the technology professional development program provided by the district and the teachers’ …

Digital Literacy: The Impact Of A Blended Learning Model On Student Motivation And Achievement, Jennifer Miller

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Educators continue to search for a balance between preparing students for a marketable future and integrating face-to-face instruction. Many factors influence various educational models related to best instructional methodologies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between student perceptions regarding student motivation to read and the corresponding effect on student achievement within a blended learning environment. This mixed methods study determined whether the use of digital collaborative learning, as it applies to literacy, within a blended learning environment would have any corresponding effects on student motivation and achievement. Participants included fifth-grade students at the elementary level and …

Digital Literacies And Competencies: Examining Teacher Candidates’ Achievement, Engagement, Attitudes, And Personalized Learning In Technology Enhanced Environments, Stefano Vacca

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Teachers and students are increasingly operating in classrooms where the presence of digital technology impacts both parties across numerous facets related to teaching and learning. In an attempt to comprehend this dynamic, the current research aimed to understand the relationship from the perspective of the educator, acknowledging that today’s teachers are tasked with guiding students to become global, 21st century citizens who are capable of appropriately engaging with the opportunities and challenges put forth by digital technology. Therefore, this research aimed to examine teacher candidates’ (TCs’) a) attitudes towards digital technology, b) ability to manifest personalized learning experiences, and c) …

Multi-Touch Books In Higher Education: A Study Of Educational Leadership And Policy For Schools Of Education, Jason M. Cascio

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Technology points to gaps in higher education adoption of learning technologies where decisions are based on a digital tool’s efficacy and unique capabilities, rather than the role they play in effective teaching and learning (Grush, 2019). Higher Education institutions and their faculty postpone technical decision-making. This results in an educational system ill-equipped to meet the needs of students, faculty, and sufficient digital fluency of graduates and the workforce. By integrating current, interactive tools into teaching materials, such as multi-touch books, or iBooks, faculty can meet their students’ learning needs, thereby improving competencies and ability to track their assessment and engagement …

The Impact Of A Smartlab Implementation On Rural Schools In North Dakota, Tonya M. Greywind

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This mixed methods quasi-experimental phenomenological study investigated the impact that a SmartLab® implementation had on four rural schools in the state of North Dakota. This study featured semi structured interview questions for facilitators, semi-structured focus group questions for students, and a digital literacy pre and post assessment (DLA) that was administered to students. This study looked at student learning in terms of twenty-first century skills, teacher and student perspectives in terms of student learning as well as teacher perspectives on the impact of the SmartLab® on their own teaching methods.

Two facilitators from two of the four schools were interviewed …

One To One Device Initiative Implementation In A Rural High School In Mississippi, Roxanne Hall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractOne-to-one device initiatives provide access to digital learning for students; however, little is known about how this process occurs in rural schools. Implementing a one-to-one device initiative may have positive effects on student access to digital technologies as well as student and teacher efficacy when sufficient training happens beforehand. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the implementation of a one-to-one laptop initiative in a rural high school in Mississippi, focusing on policy development and stakeholder views. The conceptual framework of implementation science and theoretical frameworks of normalization process theory and adaptive implementation guided the research. The …

Developing An Assessment Framework: Measuring Digital Literacy Of Interior Design Students In A Digital Drawing Course, Somang Yang

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study provides a foundation to measure students’ level of learning based on education theory for digital technology and meaningful technology theory for digital literacy. There has yet to exist an effective assessment tool that can evaluate students’ digital literacy. To provide initial insight into the digital technology integrated course development, Wacom pen-tablet and Autodesk Sketchbook were utilized to create an interior design curriculum for undergraduate college students. The findings of this study shed light on the necessity of assessing new technology for integration into coursework in higher education. There are five themes that an instructor must examine when …

A Phenomenological Study Exploring The Adoption Of Social Networking Platforms To Achieve Digital Literacy For All Learners, Anila Sweitzer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this proposed phenomenological study was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of teachers, administrators, and instructional technology professionals during integrations of social networking platforms for educational purposes to enhance classroom instruction focused on improved academic achievement and digital literacy. Specifically, the study focused on understanding the experiences of teachers, administrators, and instructional technology professionals within K-12 public school districts responsible for having implemented 21st-century technology skills into classroom instruction with the use of online interviews. This study was grounded on Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory as a framework with social networking platforms being the innovation.

The study …

Teacher And Student Perceptions Of Digital Skills: A Qualitative Case Study, Dawn B. Prescott

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The idea that today’s learners possess uniquely advanced digital skills continues to persist in the field of education, yet a significant void may exist between the formal digital literacy skills today’s students possess and the essential skills they need to be digitally competent, lifelong learners. The purpose of this research study was to explore teachers’ and students’ perceptions of students’ digital literacy for learning. These two research questions guided the study: 1) How do teachers perceive their students’ digital literacy skills as effective for learning? and 2) How do students perceive their digital literacy skills as effective for learning? Calvani, …

Locating The Critical Component In Technological Pedagogical And Content Knowledge ( Tpack ): An Examination Of How Graduate Students Recruit Tpack And Critical Digital Literacy Into Classroom Practices., Vicki Ann Hosek

Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this study were to gain an understanding of how practicing teachers believe they are prepared to meaningfully and critically integrate technology into their classroom practices; and to understand how practicing teachers recruited those beliefs into their teaching practices. This included gaining an understanding of what they believed led to their engagement in the critical dimensions of technology use in their teaching practices. This mixed-methods study contained two phases. In Phase 1, 58 graduate students in a College of Education completed a newly developed Critical Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (C-TPACK) survey containing likert-scale and open-ended questions. A subset …

A Mixed Methods Exploratory Study Of Digital Literacies In Higher Education, Susan K. Shannon

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examines the assessment of digital literacy in higher education using Kurtz and Peled’s (2016) digital literacy framework and assessment instrument. As information and communications technologies have grown over the last part of the 20^th century and the first part of the 21^st century, so has the socio-cultural environment (Kurtz & Peled, 2016; Roxin & Rusitoru, 2016). Literacy has grown from a simple concept involving the ability to read and write to a complex concept that includes many more competencies. A review of the literature shows the emergence of many new literacies (Šorgo, Bartol, Dolničar, & …

Igeneration Students' Approach To Technology As A Learning Tool, With An Affinity For Social Media Technology, André S. Dyer

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this survey design study, with a qualitative follow-up component of teachers’ perspectives, was to determine if educators’ assumptions about iGeneration students’ use of technology reflects the students’ actual behaviors when using technology inside and outside the classroom. The literature review highlighted relevant assumptions in regard to behaviors of the iGeneration students and their attitude towards technology from a holistic point of view. A survey design study was conducted to identify the interaction effect between teachers and students with consideration to different teaching approaches and delivery of content as use of educational technology per teacher differs. The methods …

Digital Technology, Literacies, And Identity: Experiences Of Historically Marginalized Adolescents, Daniel Olufemi Dr.

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

New media and digital technologies shape the literacy practices and identity development of adolescents (Ellison, 2014, Barton & Hamilton, 2000; Perry, 2012; Lotherington & Jenson, 2011). Research into this phenomenon has largely focused on the general adolescent population. However, this narrative inquiry focuses on the experiences of four adolescents of color in New York City who live in poverty. Participants in this study visit a neighborhood library to access computers and the Internet. The researcher conducted semi-structure interviews in the library to evoke narratives about participants’ use of digital media and observed participants as they used the library computers. Analysis …

Digital Literacy Adoption With Academic Technology: Namely Digital Information Literacy To Enhance Student Learning Outcomes, Nancy Adam-Turner

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

This study explores Arts & Science faculty and librarians’ attitude of learning theory and perceptions of digital literacy (DL) and how digital information literacy (DIL) might improve and enhance student learning outcomes. Digital literacy (DL), information literacy (IL), and digital information literacy (DIL) consists of interaction with academic technology (AT) programs and tools. The objectives are: the rise of IL within the parameters of DL and discuss the birth of DIL, examine the modes of adoption and explore the levels of inclusion for faculty and librarians’ concepts of DL with DIL instruction with AT, define the IL phenomenon, and how …

Integrating Digital Literacy And Traditional Print Text: A Focus On Struggling Readers During Guided Reading, Andrea Heckman-Hughes

Dissertations

This action research examines how digital literacies can be integrated into guided reading groups with struggling readers. It looks closely at the way a well-planned text set, both digital and print, can support struggling readers in their literacy learning. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) and multimodal analysis, I analyzed observations, interviews, and documents to understand how struggling readers engaged with both digital and print texts, transliteracy skills, as well as with each other. Findings revealed that the support of a text set, both teacher and student driven, supported student engagement, comprehension, and development of transliteracy skills. With teacher support, students …

Going 1:1- Writing Policy To Support The 21st Century Student: A Policy Advocacy Document, Tracey K. Landry

Dissertations

In an effort to prepare its graduates with the 21^st century skills of problem solving, collaboration, technology savvy, creativity, and information literacy and to close the learning gaps between students who have access to technology and those who don’t, this study proposes that District 123 create a policy to support a 1:1 Chromebook initiative. Using Browder’s needs analysis model, the impact of a 1:1 program is analyzed through the educational, social, political, economic and moral frames (Browder, 1995). It is determined that a 1:1 program can transform teaching and learning by giving equal access to technology, by incorporating student-driven …

Educational Technology And Innovation Capacity In Arkansas Public Schools, Allie Nicole Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We all have high hopes for our educational system. As they stress the need for 21st century learning, governments recognize the importance of innovation and creativity in schools and invest resources to develop learning environments that foster these qualities. This thesis adapts Crosling, Nair, and Vaithilingam’s (2015) model to provide a framework for studying factors that contribute to a creative learning ecosystem (intellectual capital development, 21st century literacies, climate for innovation, and integrity of the system), the quality of the educational system, and the system’s innovation capacity. A survey of 126 Arkansas high school teachers, indicates that two variables, student’s …

Urban English Language Arts Teachers’ Stories Of Technology Use: A Narrative Inquiry, Bridget Abbas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Technology use in high-minority, low-income middle school ELA classrooms is defined by traditional instructional practices (Applebee & Langer, 2013; Attewell, 2001; Boser, 2013; Cuban, 2001; Lankshear & Knobel, 2008), barriers to access (O’Dwyer et al., 2005; Purcell et al., 2013; Warschauer & Matuchniak, 2010), and inequalities in use (Banister & Reinhart, 2011; Beers, 2004; Gorski, 2009; Makinen, 2006; Powell, 2007; Reinhart et al., 2011; Dijk, 2003, 2006; Warschauer et al., 2004). This characterization, or grand narrative, of technology use is echoed and challenged by this narrative inquiry. Here the stories of two ELA teachers frequently using technology in instruction and …

Excavating Eportfolios: What Student-Driven Data Reveals About Multimodal Composition And Instruction, Amanda M. Licastro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The pedagogical practice of asking students to compose in open, online spaces has grown rapidly in recent years along with an increase in institutional and financial support. In fact, in July 2013, the Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL) announced the “coming of age” of ePortfolios as the percentage of higher education students using ePortfolios rose above the 50% mark in the U.S. (“About”). There are a host of constituent assertions that support the use of open online writing platforms in college-level courses. These claims include that writing publically cultivates digital literacy through broader audience awareness, facilitates interactivity …

Creating A Lifeline Back To Books For Adolescent Boys Through Multimedia Enhanced Read-Alouds, Jana Wilkening Mcnally

Dissertations

Due to a growing concern regarding the reading motivation levels of adolescent males, educators have been encouraged to broaden their definition of literacy beyond the traditional fiction novel. This study sought to target the reading motivation levels of unmotivated adolescent boys through the use of a multimedia-enhanced read aloud (MERA). Research questions included: (a) How does the implementation of the MERA impact the reading motivation of adolescent male students? (b) How does the implementation of the MERA impact the reading motivation of unmotivated adolescent male students? (c) How does the implementation of the MERA impact the reading motivation of adolescent …