In the Research Methodology section, we have attempted to provide some information about how to create a design for a research study. We offer a basic overview of the research methods portion of a research proposal and then some data analysis templates for different types of designs. Continue reading “Introduction to Research Methodology”
NCSeT Project Staff
NCSeT is administered through the Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE) in the College of Education at the University of Oregon. Listed on the following page are key personnel responsible for providing vision to NCSeT’s research agenda as well as managing the Center’s day to day operation.
eText and Students with Disabilitiies
To gain meaningful access to the general education curriculum, students with disabilities must overcome the substantial barriers to learning imposed the by the printed materials they are asked to read. Textbooks, workbooks, instruction manuals, novels, short stories, essays, reference books, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, and worksheets, all present difficulties to readers challenged by text and these differences can impede or prevent students with disabilities from learning. Technology can assist with such difficulties by enabling a shift from printed text to electronic text. Continue reading “eText and Students with Disabilitiies”
Background
The concept of “supported text” was first developed by Anderson-Inman and Horney (1998; 1999) to describe electronic text that is modified or enhanced in ways that support student comprehension and extend student learning. Continue reading “Background”
Glossary
Supported Text. A form of hypertext in which the text of a source document is supported by a collection of resources.
Presentational Resource. Presentational resources allow the text to be presented in a way that is most effective for individual readers.
Navigational Resource. Navigational resources provide the reader with easy movement from one part of a document to another part, or from one document to another document.
Translational Resource. Translational resources provide a reader with a familiar or more understandable version of a word, phrase, or paragraph that is difficult to comprehend.
Illustrative Resource. Illustrative resources provide the reader with materials designed to assist in visiualizing objects, concepts, or processes referred to in the text.
Summarizing Resource. Summarizing resources provide the reader with a condensed way of viewing some aspect of the document.
Enrichment Resource. Enrichment resources provide the reader with information that is related to the text, but not strictly necessary for understanding what is written.
Instructional Resource. Instructional resources provide the reader with prompts or instruction designed to facilitate successful reading and learning within the text.
Notational Resource. Notational resources provide the reader with tools for marking, commenting on, or taking notes from the text.
Collaborative Resource. Collaborative resources provide a reader with tools for reading and studying a text in collaboration with another reader, the author, or some other relevant person.
About NCSeT
The National Center for Supported eText (NCSeT) at the University of Oregon is a federally funded research center investigating the impact of “supported electronic text” (or supported etext) on students’ comprehension of content area material. Supported etext is digital text that has been modified in ways that are designed to increase access and support comprehension. These modifications are categorized by the role they play in the reading process – leading to a typology of eleven types of etext supports (Anderson-Inman & Horney, 2007). The NCSeT Typology provides the conceptual framework for the research supported by NCSeT.
The research conducted by NCSeT is currently funded by two awards from the U.S. Department of Education.The first is a 2005 five-year cooperative agreement with the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (Award # H327 R050005). This award supports a community of six research teams across the country, each investigating the impact of different etext supports for one or more disability population. Information about these research teams and their latest research reports can be accessed from the menu bar labeled “Research Sites.” The second award is a 2009 Goal 2 research and development grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the National Center for Education Research (Award # R305A090227). Entitled Project ESTRELLAS: Electronic Supported Text Research for English Language Learner Academic Success, this new three year initiative will develop and test a bilingual, supported etext electronic reading environment designed to enhance literacy and learning for ELL middle school students who are native Spanish speakers.
Tags
Tags are labels used to describe an databse reference in relationship to the NCSeT conceptual framework and research focus. Each reference is labeled with tags from six clusters: eText Supports; Student Populations; Content Area; Grade Levels; and the Type of Reference.