DIP: EMBRACEing English Language Learners with Technology

DIP: EMBRACEing English Language Learners with Technology DIP: EMBRACEing English Language Learners with Technology Synopsis of Program: Through the Cyberlearning: Transforming Education program, NSF seeks to integrate advances in technology with advances in what is known about how people learn to better understand how people learn with technology and how technology can be used productively to help people learn, through individual use and/or through collaborations mediated by technology; 2 better use technology for collecting, analyzing, sharing, and managing data to shed light on learning, promoting learning, and designing learning environments; and design new technologies for these purposes, and advance understanding of how to use those technologies and integrate them into learning environments so that their potential is fulfilled. Of particular interest are technological advances that allow more personalized learning experiences, draw in and promote learning among those in populations not served well by current educational practices, allow access to learning resources anytime and anywhere, and provide new ways of assessing capabilities. It is expected that Cyberlearning research will shed light on how technology can enable new forms of educational practice and that broad implementation of its findings will result in a more actively-engaged and productive citizenry and workforce. Cyberlearning awards will be made in three research categories, each focusing on a different stage of research and development: Exploratory (EXP), Design and Implementation (DIP), and Integration and Deployment (INDP). The Cyberlearning program will also support small Capacity-Building Projects (CAP) and a Cyberlearning Resource Center (CRC). REU Supplement: DIP: EMBRACEing English Language Learners with Technology This request is for an REU Supplement for the currently funded proposal, DIP: EMBRACEing English Language Learners with Technology. Intellectual Merit: EMBRACE is an acronym for Enhanced Moved By Reading to Accelerate Comprehension in English. The goal of the proposal is to greatly accelerate English reading comprehension for elementary-aged English Language Learners (ELLs). We are taking the already-tested Moved by Reading intervention and developing it for the iPad and including a) bilingual instruction in the operation of the application, b) vocabulary help in Spanish and English, c) and intelligent tutoring system that uses log data to select the syntactic complexity of the texts, d) game elements, and e) components to encourage social learning. Each of these elements is tested both using small-n, iterative design research as well as formal experiments. At the end of the funding period, we will have a proven system that we hope will significantly address a long-standing societal problem. Broader Impact: The major societal impact will be to raise the reading comprehension of a large and growing segment of society, namely, Latino ELL students. On average, reading test scores for these children are dismal. At the national level, in 2011, ELLs scored 33 points below the national average on the 4th grade NAEP (2011) reading comprehension test. Specifically, 69% of ELLs scored below basic, 31% at basic or above, and 7% at proficient (compared to only 28% below basic for non-ELLs nationally). In Arizona, the outlook for ELLs is worse; in 2011, 86% of ELLs scored below basic, compared to 42% of all children in Arizona. Programs that enhance ELLs reading comprehension have the potential to help close the achievement gap between ELLs and non-ELLs. More locally, we have an impact by contributing to the STEM training of both graduate students (two are currently working on the project) and undergraduates (two are currently working on the project). This request is for funding to increase that impact by hiring two Latino undergraduates.