The Story of e-Read Ohio

by Lisa Lenhart

But what you may not have heard is how Ohio has used seed money from Reading First Ohio aimed at K–3 literacy teachers in the state’s neediest schools to create e-Read Ohio, an effective vehicle for designing, building, and disseminating professional development for teachers all over the state. As it progresses into modules and courseware for grades 4–12, e-Read Ohio returns the Reading First investment far beyond its original K–3 scope.

What Is e-Read Ohio?

e-Read Ohio is an e-learning design and development group that offers e-learning opportunities for Ohio teachers. Capitalizing on technology and current research in methods of professional development, our e-learning program provides effective and efficient high-quality online professional development in the area of literacy for Ohio’s teachers. Research shows (National Reading Panel, 2000) that to help students we have to help teachers first. e-Read Ohio’s online modules and courses have become a vehicle for this assistance.

We are housed at The University of Akron; we began as part of the Reading First Ohio Center, a consortium established by Cleveland State University, John Carroll University, and The University of Akron. Initially, we (the UA team) worked on transforming SIRI—Ohio’s State Institutes for Reading Instruction—into online modules. SIRI was being delivered in a traditional workshop format and provided the potential, the visibility, and the statewide reach on which e-Read Ohio could deliver existing e-learning modules and build new ones. Additionally, we could create statewide learning communities online.

Having learned early on, however, that no single model (computer-based, face-to-face, teacher preference, etc.) is perfect, we deploy our courses in a blended model that combines computer-based coursework, online discussion groups, and in-classroom sessions. When a teacher goes into the online module, we call this a “field trip.” When the teacher gathers with other teachers and a literacy leader to discuss the modules and share fieldwork, we refer to this as a “face-to-face” session. These methods of delivery complement one another and provide the strengths of teacher-led instruction, student-led pacing, and student-led engagement with materials. A typical, blended course might look like this:

Why e-Learning?

Sometimes people ask us why the Ohio Department of Education decided to support online learning instead of the traditional method of professional development. We tell them that Ohio is a very diverse state: We have large urban districts, suburban districts, and remote rural districts. In its Reading First application to the U.S. Department of Education, ODE saw e-learning as a viable way to disseminate professional development to all Ohio districts in an effort to meet literacy learning objectives. Here are a few of the leading features of online learning:

• e-Learning provides real-time, ongoing, job-embedded support to teachers.
• e-Learning focuses on scientifically based reading research (SBRR) content and guarantees that a consistent message is being delivered to all Ohio teachers.
• e-Learning content is a powerful, video-rich resource that draws on the expertise of local and national subject-matter experts.
• e-Learning can fit within a teacher’s busy schedule by giving access to self-paced content. With an Internet connection, teachers can access the learning content at any time and at any place; e-learning helps teachers deal with their time constraints.
• e-Learning can accommodate different learning styles and preferences.

What’s in an e-Read Ohio Course?

Teachers in e-Read Ohio’s online courses learn interactively in simulations, video analyses, and case studies. They watch expert video, view classroom footage to observe model teaching in action, and apply SBRR literacy techniques straight from the modules. They work individually, in online discussion groups, and sometimes in statewide online learning communities. The e-Read Ohio menu of modules covers the most important topics and techniques in SBRR, including differentiating instruction (DI), scaffolding, and the five essentials (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).

Modules are built around reusable learning objects such as video footage of literacy experts, rich multimedia components, teacher-oriented video that models techniques, and online discussion groups. Each of these categories in isolation has demonstrated value, but when combined and supplemented with face-to-face meetings and the support of the school literacy coach (SLC), the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts.

We’ve built architecture for each of the modules we create. The architecture enables the modules to build the teacher’s background knowledge, explaining current research in the topic and the steps in the literacy technique. Next, the teacher watches video clips demonstrating the technique in action, follows the examples, and refers to online interviews with experts. Finally, the teacher has the opportunity to practice the technique interactively with the module and then in the classroom with the guidance of the SLC.

We also incorporate research-based teaching techniques and reader strategies into our courses, such as knowledge rating charts (Figure 1), semantic features analysis (Figure 2), and concept charts.
 

Figure 1

Figure 2

Our Menu of Modules

Over the past five years we’ve built an impressive menu of online modules (field trips) that we blend with face-to-face sessions to create courses.

To date, we have designed and developed the following modules:

• Adolescent Literacy in a Changing World
• Assess-Plan-Teach in Action
• Building Leadership (two modules in production)
• Classroom-Based Coaching
• Comprehension
• Content Vocabulary and Word Power
• Differentiating Instruction
• Fluency
• Language and Learning in the Early Years
• Parenting for Literacy
• Phonemic Awareness
• Phonics
• Scaffolding
• Supporting English Learners in the Classroom
• Vocabulary

These individual modules have been put together to create complete graduate credit courses. As Table 1 shows, some modules are used in more than one course, as you’ll see with fluency and with differentiating instruction.

e-Read Ohio and ORC

Over the past two years, e-Read Ohio and the Ohio Resource Center have been working closely with the Ohio Department of Education to coordinate efforts and resources to provide more comprehensive resources to Ohio’s teaching core. e-Read Ohio is adding links in its modules to relevant ORC resources. ORC is adding resources to its website specifically targeted to the online modules e-Read Ohio is developing. Together, we plan and inform each other of ongoing projects and are designing and developing an Ohio-specific classroom walk-through tool.

Conclusion

e-Read Ohio has put in place the infrastructure for professional development, a wide-ranging program of rich multimedia courseware, a combination of online and classroom delivery, a central staff of experts in e-learning research, and highly leveraged connections to Ohio’s literacy education community to reach and support teachers everywhere in the state.

We estimate that last school year (2007–2008), 2,295 teachers statewide took e-Read Ohio professional development courses, with potential impact on over 41,000 early readers in 114 schools. Assessment data and satisfaction surveys between September 2006 and August 2007 from teachers using e-Read Ohio show:

• An increase from 57 percent to 69 percent in the number of correctly answered questions on course content
• Strong intent to apply the materials that they learned in the training to their classroom instruction
• Positive feedback on the online environment, the course content, the support provided by instructors, and the experience of using the discussion boards
• Agreement that the most effective parts of the course were the course content (reflection prompts, assignments, opportunity for face-to-face interaction with peers, organization) and the ability to watch techniques and examples in the online videos

As funding wanes for professional development in the form of expert speakers and ongoing in-service training, e-Read Ohio’s courses capture on video the knowledge of national authorities in literacy education and make it accessible to all teachers in any participating school. This allows teachers, even those in financially strapped or remote districts and schools, to enjoy the benefits of high-quality professional development.

Like all other states with Reading First programs, Ohio has spent part of its grant on “teaching teachers how to teach reading.” e-Read Ohio, however, represents a model unique in the nation for investing the Reading First dollars in an in-state program, rather than spending those dollars out of state. Teachers learn, practice, and apply techniques with measurable literacy benefits for elementary and secondary students, and every school in Ohio can benefit from the program.

For more information, contact Lori Vargo at lvargo@uakron.edu.

Reference

National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Lisa Lenhart is a professor of education at The University of Akron and the co-director of the Reading First Ohio Center for Professional Development and Technical Assistance. She is the co-author of several books, including Reading and Learning to Read and Oral Language and Early Literacy in Preschool.

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