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This explanatory mixed methods study investigated the role digital literacies play in the collaborative online learning of early childhood educators (ECEs). Through reporting quantitative survey and qualitative interview data, study results describe the attitudes and skills that contribute to ECEs' abilities to fluently use different modes of technology to participate in collaborative online learning. Both ECEs' and Instructors' (higher education professionals facilitating ECE online learning courses) perceptions contribute to results on what supports and components are imperative for initial and sustained success regarding ECEs traversing and engaging with current technologies. Based on integration of databases and analysis of study results, recommendations are offered on how online learning can be used to develop the digital literacies of ECE online students.

The long-standing research to practice gap and increased interest in scientific literacy instruction has contributed to the oversimplification of what is deemed as foundational skills in US early literacy classrooms. Invoking a homing pigeon metaphor, this article describes the distilling of decades of reading research into a message being received by literacy practitioners, policymakers and families which prioritises phonics instruction, drowning-out complex and nuanced findings supporting a more comprehensive approach. Grounded in an emergent literacy paradigm and applying a sociocultural approach to literacy in the 21st century with an eye towards equity, this article reframes what is considered 'foundational' early literacy teaching and learning to reflect the research base that supports proportional attention to constrained and unconstrained skills through integrated and contextualised instruction. To narrow the enduring research-to-practice gap, researchers must build authentic research partnerships with schools and support teacher educators' and teachers' enactment of comprehensive approaches to literacy instruction, curricula and assessment.

This review examines patterns found in early (preschool-grade 3) literacy research appearing in English-language publications during the period from 2006 through 2015. It focuses on studies related to early literacy learning and teaching in home and school/school-like environments. The review sought to answer two questions: (1) What has early literacy research focused on over the past decade? and (2) What has that body of research contributed to our enhanced understanding of early literacy development, teaching, and learning? The results report on patterns of publishing early literacy research found in scholarly journals, topics researched, ages of children researched, characteristics of the populations researched, and designs used in early literacy research. In addition, qualitative analyses report on the content and trends of the research for a sample of studies for each of seven facets of early literacy research: phonics, phonological awareness, reading fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, writing, and digital literacies, as well as for the umbrella terms emergent literacy/early literacy/beginning reading. The results found from these analyses are discussed through an historical lens which identified four patterns characterizing early literacy research of 2006-2015: accretion, the influence of "scientifically valid" research, limited response to increasingly diverse student populations, and increased research focus on younger children.

Communities serve as a vital resource for educators seeking ideas to advance their practice. Online professional development capitalizes on technological communication to facilitate such sharing.

This research presents reflections from focus group discussions with childcare providers and parents of preschoolers in one African American community situated within a large Midwestern city in the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine parents' and childcare providers' conceptions of literacy and language related to school readiness. During these conversations it became clear that both parents and providers engage in a number of practices to prepare children to use the standard variety of English privileged by mainstream schooling. Participants verbalize the dual importance of encouraging all language development for young children while explicitly teaching the uses of language as situated in a larger social context. Both parents and providers discuss the need to build a bridge for children between the English varieties used at home and the standard English valued by schools. In light of these findings, the authors problematize common conceptions of 'school readiness' as unidirectional and discuss implications for children entering school settings where language varieties are undervalued.

This article introduces a new method of multimodal discourse analysis to study synchronous online learning through using screen-captured digital video as the data source. This new methodology is applicable to researchers and educators interested in using video files as a foundation to map out the interactions of the multiple semiotic modes used in synchronous online, university-based, teacher education courses. The multimodal discourse representations shared explicate video files to both examine and represent the design and communicative purposes of a synchronous online platform while proposing a way for course instructors to reflect on their own online course facilitation. This method of analysis offers a new way to elucidate and illustrate the collaborative practices of synchronous online learning sessions that use various semiotic modes to interact.

Using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, this study considered the early literacy and language environments actualized by childcare providers and parents of young children (ages 3-5) living in one large urban community in the United States of America. Both childcare providers and parents responded to questionnaires and participated in focus groups held at various community sites within the neighborhood. Using snowball sampling, 77 childcare providers and 149 parents responded to surveys that asked about their individual roles in children's emergent literacy development. Subsequently, several focus groups were held, ensuring childcare provider and parent representation from both center and home-based early childcare sites. Study questions considered the consistencies and inconsistencies in beliefs and actions by members of both community groups regarding early literacy development. Consistencies and inconsistencies were identified through a descriptive comparative analysis within and across survey and focus group data to guide the implementation of practical, ecological, research-based community learning that can be used as a model for other communities seeking to create similar communities of practice.

The nature of the literacy assessments valued in the persistent accountability climate within U.S. public education, coupled with an increasingly polarized discourse around what counts as the science of reading (SOR), have resulted in instructional gatekeeping that privileges constrained skill teaching and learning in K-3 settings. The gatekeeper phenomenon is an urgent issue of equity, with children from minoritized populations bearing the brunt of the disparity. By highlighting how commonly enacted policies and practices around assessment and accountability withhold unconstrained skill teaching and learning due to pressure to prove student success via constrained skill mastery, we demonstrate how some students, often the most marginalized, receive insufficient literacy instruction in K-3. To fully actualize an expansive definition of the SOR, an expansive definition of assessment and accountability must also be adopted - one which attends to constrained and unconstrained skills while utilizing appropriate measures to document learning beginning in the earliest grades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This 10-week, descriptive case study situated within a Masters course of practicing teachers investigated how the teaching presence of a synchronous online learning community facilitated participant active engagement through interaction. Results indicate that while the platform's modes can facilitate some form of interaction when used independently of each other, the teaching presence of the class facilitated an interdependence of the platform's different communicative tools to create an improved environment for active engagement through collaboration. Consequently, the synchronous online course used multiple semiotic modes to collectively engage around course curriculum through two different paths: Interactive Lecture and Interactive Discussion. These findings indicate that the instructors' teaching presence helped shape the course into a learning community in which educators engaged in constructive exchanges, in real time and through various modes, about course content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of read-alouds as a pedagogical tool using tablets' video technology to enrich early childhood learning. It aims to strengthen teachers' knowledge and practice while facilitating students' responses to literature. It further mentions that video recording of students' interactions followed by video-playback promotes conversation and reflection in children.

The article offers information on various aspects related to Collaborative Choice Matrix (CCM) which is a useful tool for synthesizing and communicating data points for decision making and professional development. Topics discussed include the importance of consistency and consensus in early childhood education, the relevance of professional development for the community, and data collection for CCM.