Poor literacy is problematic in today's society since all information is digital or printed. Access to information influences inclusion. However, a recent report shows that as many as 1 in 10 students leaves primary school with low literacy in NL (I. Christoffels, et al, 2016). Today’s digital society offers new learning opportunities for children with literacy problems. “A is for APP” (APPS) unlocks these digital learning opportunities to improve literacy in struggling readers in European primary schools. The project will support and train primary school teachers to use ICT-based methodologies and reading-fluency apps in a classroom setting for the benefit of struggling readers. Our project’s objectives are: (1) Define the typical characteristics of appropriate apps for reading fluency and outline how to use these apps in a diversified approach for struggling readers in the classroom. (2) Create hands on tools with and for teachers allowing them to use this knowledge in the day-to-day inclusive teaching practice. (3) Raise awareness and build an international community centred around the possibilities of literacy apps for struggling readers involving all relevant stakeholders, including app developers and policymakers. The APPS consortium consists of 11 partners: 4 primary schools, 3 national centers for learning disabilities, and 4 universities, located in Belgium (BE), the UK, the Czech Republic (CZ), and the Netherlands (NL). The project is supported by 8 associated partners. APPS will provide: (1) An in-depth stakeholder needs analysis identifying the needs of all relevant stakeholders concerning reading fluency in the classroom. This will be accompanied by a transferable stakeholder engagement strategy report (IO1). (2) A community building platform enabling active interaction with all stakeholders during and after the project (IO2). (3) An inventory and critical appraisal of (the characteristics of) existing reading fluency apps for BE, NL, and UK (IO3). (4) A pilot test and qualitative evaluation of 5 reading fluency apps in the primary schools in BE, NL, and UK (30 pupils per school; during 4 months) in order to choose one best app per school for further ABAB-testing (cfr. result 6). (5) Translation and adaptation, beta-testing, and dissemination of an existing reading fluency app to the Czech language (IO5) for further ABAB-testing (cfr. result 6). (6) An ABAB single-case experiment (30 pupils per school; 1 app per school; during 4 months) to evaluated the selected reading fluency apps in BE, NL, UK and CZ. (7) A toolkit for teachers in the 3 project languages (English, Dutch and Czech), offeringtips, hands-on guidelines and good practice examples of how to deliver a diversified approach in the context of app use by struggling readers in the classroom. (8) An IT literacy curriculum for struggling readers (10-11 years old), developed in close collaboration with educational policymakers (IO6). (9) Three sets of recommendations on reading fluency for teachers and parents; for national and European educational policymakers and for literacy app developers (IO7). (10) Monitoring and evaluation of changes in attitudes, confidence, competence, and reading levels of the 120 pupils throughout the 36 months. (11) Training of and together with primary school teachers on using reading fluency apps in the classroom and organising classroom practice catering for differentiation to varying levels of readers. (12) Tools and innovations available for a wide network of stakeholders through engagement activities and targeted dissemination (including 12 national multiplier events, 1 international multiplier event and the use of eTwinning). APPS will not only analyse and evaluate several existing reading fluency apps and best teaching practices in different European countries, it will also define the typical characteristics of apps that actually work. Moreover, APPS is a collaboration of primary schools, literacy researchers, and national centers for learning disabilities across four European countries, making it possible to finally fill the theory-to-practice gap on literacy and ICT education at a European level. The IT-literacy curriculum for struggling readers (aged 10-11 years) will create the necessary framework for teachers to apply a diversified practice when dealing with reading fluency and it will provide policymakers with the information needed to implement this at a national or European level. Long term benefits of APPS include the implementation of the IT-literacy curriculum in primary schools and an improved knowledge among primary school teachers on how to use apps in a diversified classroom setting. This will benefit struggling readers all over Europe and will reduce the risks of them falling behind in society due to their literacy problems. For the Czech republic a major benefit of the APPS project is the translation/adaptation of a Czech reading fluency app, since no such app exists yet.
AisforApp bridged the Gap The overall aim of the A is for App project was to improve the literacy, and more specific the reading fluency, of struggling readers in primary schools throughout Europe. Its focus was to encourage the use of innovative teaching practices based on digital opportunities. A is for App supported primary school teachers to use diversified, ICT-based methodologies and reading-fluency apps in a classroom setting for the benefit of struggling readers. A is for App thereby bridged the gap between existing (academic) knowledge on effective methodologies for struggling readers, and the actual use of quality IT tools in the classroom. By exposing pupils with low reading fluency levels and their teachers to leading apps on tablets and by using testing results pre and post-test, this project not only explored new and more accessible methodologies, it also developed cutting edge e-reading tools for the future, based on real-life tests and user-input from teachers. A is for App’s specific objectives: (1) To define the typical characteristics of appropriate apps for reading fluency and to outline how to use these apps in a diversified approach to the advantage of struggling readers in the classroom. (2) To create hands-on tools with and for teachers allowing them to use this knowledge in their day-to-day inclusive teaching practice. (3) To raise awareness and to build an international community centred around the possibilities of literacy apps for struggling readers involving all relevant stakeholders, including app developers and policymakers. Target Groups: A is for App mainly targeted struggling readers in primary school and their teachers. Additional target groups were parents, national and European educational policymakers, teacher training colleges and in service trainers, literacy organisations, app developers and academic literacy experts. AisforApp outputs and results: A is for App developed several activities, resulting in 7 main intellectual outputs: 1. A stakeholder engagement strategy report, used for dissemination by all partners throughout; 2. The design and release of an A is for App platform (www.aisforapp.eu) in three languages; 3. App inventories and app evaluations for Flanders, the Netherlands and the UK; (see app selections per country in https://www.aisforapp.eu/teacher-toolkit) for App selection criteria, see the annex to the IT Literacy Framework, go to: https://www.aisforapp.eu/copy-of-resources; 4. A teacher toolkit with hands-on tips for teachers on fluency apps and the use of apps in the classroom (in Czech, Dutch and English); https://www.aisforapp.eu/teacher-toolkit; 5. A quality game-reading app in the Czech language, the first of its kind in the Czech Republic; go to: https://game.karaton.cz 6. An IT literacy curriculum framework to guide schools wishing to improve their digital education for struggling readers (in three languages); see website, go to: https://www.aisforapp.eu/copy-of-resources; 7. A final report for the dissemination of results; see tab "results" on website: https://www.aisforapp.eu/copy-of-toolkit-for-teachers. Conclusions and Recommendations: Bridging the gap between knowledge and practice, knowing good tools and knowing how to use them and the business of updating and tailoring what was already there in this fast changing digital world is a challenge that AisforApp is willing to continue taking. Our conclusions are that interventions are needed to aid reading, spelling and writing, including the use of educational technology. It important to keep designing and testing novel interventions via experimental methods. This means that: o Above school level, we need educational partnerships between software/app designers, schools and teachers, experts on literacy, parents and families, school districts. o At school level, implementation of IT interventions necessitates technological infrastructure, a monitoring system for student outcomes, professional support for teachers, the motivation of pupils, monitoring of intervention fidelity and evaluation of outcomes. o At school level, sustaining the use of IT necessitates an innovative school culture, an explicit reading policy including its practical implications. o At European level, there needs to be a transfer of knowledge between countries advanced in IT in schools, and countries only starting to go the IT route in education. Before AisforApp Czechia had no apps, now they have a quality game app that can be used country-wide. Jenny Thomson, (Sheffield University) to teachers: “We need you – our lofty ideas need to be adjusted, the on-the-ground-experience is vital. That way we start asking questions that we didn’t know to ask at the beginning.” Ella Duijnker, (Head Teacher Steigereiland Primary Montessori “AisforApp opened our awareness on how apps improve the learning environment in schools.”