Software encourages literacy
Philip Abrami believes that literacy has a profound impact on future success for people and the economy.
photo by Andrew dobrowolskyj
Increasing the average literacy of Canadians by just 1 per cent would lead to an increase of over $18 billion in our annual gross domestic product, according to Statistics Canada.
Philip Abrami, Director of the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP), does not need to be convinced that early effective education has a measurable long-term positive impact on a society. In fact, he’ll waste no time trying to convince you.
“If children are not successful academically by Grade 3, they won’t be successful later on.”
Abrami has been working with his CSLP colleagues to develop ways to reach children early and get them reading. He knows there’s a lot to do.
“Twenty-five per cent of 16-year-olds in Canada cannot function in an acceptable fashion. That means that they can not follow the instruction booklet that comes with a DVD player.” He added that the level of illiteracy can be as high as 50 per cent in certain urban areas.
“If you can’t read, you can’t succeed in your other subjects, either.”
So Abrami and the CSLP team of researchers have been developing a variety of different software programs designed to be used in the classroom to help children learn to read.
One of the programs, Alphie’s Alley, is designed to help students who are falling behind. It is already used in 1,200 schools. The program is adaptable to various contexts and can be developed with a particular community in mind.
“All of our development work is based on careful analysis. We test prototypes in the classroom in a series of small and large field experiments.” Abrami said. Programs are reworked after every stage of testing to ensure that they are as effective and responsive as possible.
“We have evidence that it really works. If it doesn’t, we redesign it.”
CSLP also is behind another initiative, ABRACADABRA, which encourages literacy for all students at the early elementary level. The program is adaptable to various contexts and can be developed with a particular community in mind.
A third software tool is ePEARL, a multimedia electronic portfolio that supports the process of self-regulated learning.
For Abrami, whether standing in front of a classroom, developing a software program or integrating the web into classroom activity, the fundamental principles remain the same.
“The importance of learning is maximized when the context is relevant to the learner.”
Finding ways to create that relevance has been driving him since he became CSLP director in 1988.