Developing digital proficiencies of English learners in adult education

Hauge L, Durgunoğlu AY and Stewart J (2024). Developing digital proficiencies of English learners in adult education. Frontiers in Education 9-2024.

This short article reports the findings of a digital pilot study  evaluating the effectiveness of  a specific digital literacy component, “Finding information online”  in the CILIA-T (Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology Support) curriculum  which is designed for adult English language learners in the United States.  The digital literacy component of CILIA-T focuses on six digital competencies: 1) Functional Skills/Navigation Skills ((2) Finding and Evaluating Digital Information (3) Responsible Digital Citizenship (4) Technology Troubleshooting (5) Comprehension and Integration (6) Communication, Collaboration, and Creation.

The study addresses the following research questions:

1. How effective was the lesson (content and the activities) on building foundational digital skills and adult learners’ understanding of the concepts?

2. How did adult learners and the teachers view the instructional content?

3. How were the participants’ background characteristics related to the development of their digital proficiencies?

There were 29 participants in the study based in three high-intermediate/low advanced ESL classes in three locations in a large U.S. city. The students had access to tablet and laptop computers and had some experience in logging on to their school accounts and had learned how to access English language programs in their classes.

Researchers partnered with instructors to introduce part of the digital literacy content of the CILIA-T curriculum. Pre- and post tests assessing fourteen specific digital literacy skills such as using a browser, navigating websites, finding information, evaluating the quality of online information (complete list is on p.3) were conducted and analyzed, and instructors and students were surveyed to evaluate the usability and usefulness of the curriculum.

The findings of the study indicate that explicit instruction in digital literacy skills led to meaningful improvement for all participants.  Participants with higher levels of education and those with greater experience in using digital technology had higher post-test scores.

The researchers note the increasing importance of digital literacy in daily life, for effective communication and in the world of work. In that context teaching specific digital literacy skills, increasing class time for differentiation of instruction and providing students with more opportunities to practice their digital skills could benefit all students and particularly lower-level language learners.

Retrievable from:

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1386738/full