Reading

toc all about reading - learning to read - promoting and supporting new readers * [|grade-level reading] passion purpose results

Needs & challenges

 * [|report 18m new teachers required] for every child in the world to receive a primary education, new study from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) - world will be short of 18 million primary school teachers, 13 million in the low income countries, five million in the industrial economies


 * provide quality primary education to all children. The greatest challenge lies in sub-Saharan Africa, which will need to expand its teaching force by 68%. http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/media-centre/newsletters/february-2007


 * 7xx m adults are illiterate


 * distance education for teacher training has become widely used in many developing countries. A study by the International Extension College in Cambridge has examined how training teachers by distance education reaches beyond the students themselves and aids development in the wider community. conducted in Guyana, Uganda and Nigeria http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/media-centre/newsletters/february-2007


 * Corruption has been identified as a major drain on the effective use of resources for education. In some countries as much as 80% of the total funds allocated to schools by education ministries are lost to ‘leakage’. The International Institute for Educational Planning http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/media-centre/newsletters/february-2007

Need more information ...
 * programs in place - what is working, what is needed for sustainability, replication
 * specific needs, locations where reading guides could benefit from online education, how to get training to them
 * contacts in areas with ability to use resources and provide benefit to community targeting but not limited to women and girls

Existing programs

 * national programme, Reading Recovery, was implemented to help those children who were struggling the most with reading. It is aimed at six-year-olds and entails 4 months of individual daily half-hour sessions with a trained teacher costing £2 000 per child. Why? Because each child who leaves primary school unable to read will go on to cost government at least £50 000 in the form of specialist teaching in secondary school, dealing with truancy, paying social benefits to adults who are more likely to be sick and unemployed, and the fall-out from increased crime. http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/media-centre/newsletters/february-2007

Learning to Read

 * learning to read - research, process
 * helping new readers - information for reading guide
 * supporting reading guides - community of practice, introductory training, information exchange, knowledge construction

who needs help - children and adults who are learning to read
 * initial contact - introduction, readiness
 * traditional print - books, download / print
 * reading guides - web access, direction / training, resources, support

what they need - reading guides, materials, online training and support for reading guides
 * recruit reading guides - requirements, commitment, roles, responsibilities
 * provide training, materials, support for reading guides
 * connect reading guides with learners
 * support learners, reading guides

plan & actions
 * research, consult experts - best practices, experience, leverage, effective models
 * find collaborators - authors, developers, mentors, local contacts/organizations of readers and guides, reading projects
 * develop process, training - course design, instruction, policy and administration, and learners and learning
 * open source material - print, audio, video - acquire / develop appropriate content, permissions
 * workshops, mentoring for guides
 * introduce reading networks - guide, monitor
 * support guides, readers
 * replicate on a larger scale beyond the boundaries of the individual projects

assumptions, constraints, requirements ???
 * motivation - readers, guides are available and want/need assistance
 * means - some online access, interest/ability to use web for training, support, monitoring, feedback, access to content
 * plenty of appropriate open source content available - existing or developed
 * process can be supported remotely
 * find / coordinate readers, guides
 * costs - infrastructure, internet access for guides
 * volunteer guides - reading at ? grade level, time commitment
 * volunteer coordinator - monitor guides, readers progress, reporting, feedback, local support

Guidelines
This is what reading guides will learn to use as the process for guiding new readers they are working with. [|Put Reading First] Becoming a reader involves the development of important skills, including learning to: http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/reading_first2.html
 * use language in conversation
 * listen and respond to stories read aloud
 * recognize and name the letters of the alphabet
 * listen to the sounds of spoken language
 * connect sounds to letters to figure out the “code” of reading
 * read often so that recognizing words becomes easy and automatic
 * learn and use new words
 * understand what is read

Developing Reading Guides Online
This is the process for online learning for reading guides. This is intended to scalable and replicatable. Basic open course elements are provided as an example, but participants in each cohort are encouraged to develop their own localized processes and content, as the cohort progresses through the stages.
 * 1) Access & Motivation - exploring the technology and access to it. Winning the learner’s trust, motivating participants
 * 2) Socialisation - social processes and ‘community building’
 * 3) Information Exchange - exchanging information and performing tasks, interaction with the course content and with other participants and the moderator
 * 4) Knowledge Construction - knowledge development, discussion activities and group dynamics
 * 5) Development - reflection and group learning

http://www.atimod.com/e-tivities/5stage.shtml http://www.elearning-reviews.org/topics/pedagogy/communication/moderating/2002-salmon-etivities/

XO - MIT Laptop Project
Although somewhat slow getting started and at $188, still more expensive than the target $100, the "Little Green Laptops" are starting to make their presence known, and benefiting the children who receive them.

Laptop Project Enlivens Peruvian Hamlet AP Centerpiece: MIT Spinoff's Little Green Laptop a Hit in Remote Peruvian Village http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GadgetGuide/wireStory?id=4047622

Information literacy

 * [|Information Literacy Tutorials]

Learn more...

 * open education - some education / learning resources that are freely available