Writing and Digital Skills

• In Event: Digital Literacy in Adult Education

Abstract

Objectives: Adults need writing and digital skills to take the high school equivalency exams, to communicate in their personal and professional lives, and to participate in civics and community life. The primary purpose of the Writing in Adult Secondary Education (W-ASE) Project (funded by IES) is to create a writing curriculum for adults who are at the 3-6 Educational Functional Levels (EFL) so that they can write an argumentative essay which will meet the standards necessary to pass the essay component of the high school equivalency exams. Students will be taught digital skills because the writing will be done using a Word processing program. Additionally, the project will design a professional development model that trains teachers to utilize this curriculum in their own classrooms.
Theoretical framework: This project is informed by research on a variety of cognitive and social processes, including discourse knowledge (Hayes & Flower, 1980; Torrance & Galbraith, 2006); cognitive process strategies (Hayes, 1996; MacArthur & Graham, 2016); motivation and self-efficacy (Graham & MacArthur, 1988; Graham, Harris, & Mason, 2005; Hidi & Boscolo, 2006; Pajares & Valiante, 2006); and self-regulation (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987). Additionally, research on basic writing skills and the importance of adult literacy shaped the overall theory of change and designs of the intervention (Graham, Berninger, Abbott, Abbott, & Whitaker, 1997; MacArthur, 2013; Morphy & Graham, 2013).
Techniques: To inform curriculum development, we are currently collecting data from both ASE students and teachers, including an “in-house” developed Digital Writing Assessment battery which assesses the digital writing skills and attitudes in digital environments among adult students; a teacher survey on the writing practices and attitudes in ASE classrooms; and both student and teacher interviews. These sources of information will help inform the types and levels of scaffolding for digital writing needed in the curriculum. An advisory board has helped inform the initial curriculum development, with input from adult literacy researchers and adult literacy practitioners from the field helping to shape content and deployment. Digital skills and knowledge are infused throughout the curriculum, for learners to effectively compose argumentative essays simulating the high school equivalency test environment which requires typing the essay on a computer. The curriculum and its associated practitioner materials will go through several phases of iterative development and field trials, culminating in a pilot study which will test the promise of the curriculum’s effectiveness.
Curriculum materials: The curriculum materials include posters, PowerPoint slides, and short videos. All writing activities will take place on laptops which will be provided to the learners.
Significance: Our project will add to the body of knowledge about the digital writing skills of adult learners, and the current state of instructor preparation to teach writing in adult literacy programs. The curriculum will help reduce the digital inequities of adult learners by providing practice in digital writing environments. It is hoped that the online components of the W-ASE curriculum and professional development model will make it scalable and help to increase adult learners’ access to evidence-based writing instruction, digital skill development, and self-regulated strategy development.

Authors

• Daphne Greenberg, Georgia State University
  Presenting Author

• Chris Miller
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer Martinez
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cynthia Puranik, Georgia State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Zoi Traga-Philippakos, University of Tennessee
  Non-Presenting Author

• Charles A. Macarthur, University of Delaware
  Non-Presenting Author