Pivoting from In-class to Online Early Literacy Instruction and Contributing Critical Insights

Abstract

The shutdown of in-person learning in March 2020 threatened to end an Alberta Education Research Partner Project focused on implementing a supplemental early literacy program in kindergarten classrooms. As graduate students developing the project, we faced a critical decision, either cancel the project or shift it to an online medium. The decision was not easy as the project emphasized utilizing embodied cognition and engagements with language, materials and physical exploration in real-world contexts to promote literacy learning. As we pivoted our project online three major challenges emerged, the engagement of young students through a computer screen, overcoming an online interface that limits simultaneous interactions, and incorporating hands-on activities within a traditional 2D non-touchable platform. In this article, we consider each of these challenges and our design response. We considering how moving our program online allowed enhanced professional learning and created a powerful platform to help parents support literacy skills.