E-learning for adult literacy, language and numeracy: a review of the literature

A.1. Introduction

The initial methodology for this literature review took into account the current characteristics of LLN and e-learning research, in keeping with Alton-Lee’s (2003) and Galvan’s (2006) views that the method underpinning a research synthesis should be an iterative process. We agree with Benseman, Sutton and Lander (2005) that a literature review should include an appropriate scrutiny of evidence-based practice (de-emphasising the value of particular research methodologies) and should view the process as an integration of professional wisdom with the best empirical research available.

This broader interpretation enables the findings from research based on rigorous methodology to be combined with action research, observations and analyses, case studies and/or more detailed explorations of “learning events” or local experience to provide rich data from which to draw observations and conclusions. Small-scale, well-organised, in-depth studies in the literature can illustrate good practice and provide useful insights into teaching and learning. For us, the approach to our literature review was discursive because the research on the topic that we examined comes from a number of disciplines, cultures and contexts and has only rarely been undertaken systematically.

During our review of the literature, we used the access that our team’s principal investigator (Davis) had to various important sources of information. These sources included leading libraries in the United Kingdom (the Institute of Education, University of London, which is a copyright library and was identified as the leading educational research university in the UK in December 2008) and the USA (specifically Iowa  State University). Together, as a team, we were able to complement the collections of the University of Canterbury library (our “home” library) with material accessed through the Triangle Research Libraries Network (North Carolina Central University, Duke University, University of North  Carolina, and North  Carolina State University). Furthermore, Davis was able to use her fellowship with the Oxford Internet Institute to access libraries at the University of Oxford, including the institute’s own collection. We also widely searched New Zealand sources, including the Ministry of Education Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis Programme and the New Zealand Educational Theses Database, as well as avenues and items suggested by Ministry of Education staff.

During our first stage of searching, we relied on support from experienced database researchers and librarians in New Zealand, the UK and the USA. The search criteria used at this time related to the research question and sub-questions. We also used backward referencing to provide additional sources. We took particular care, by using a combination of keywords, to include the multiple ways of expressing both LLN and e-learning. We furthermore sought to locate high- quality research studies that incorporated e-learning as part of the delivery of LLN courses, and/ or teaching and/or citations. Each of us fed in recommendations, as did our national and international collaborators and the contributors to our project’s website.

Each of us was delegated specific areas to search further. These areas were typically ones that related to our individual expertise relative to the e-learning project. We placed our findings on a “Delicious” web bookmark database so that each of us could swiftly and readily access this material. We furthermore established a web-situated project area where we could share pdf and other electronic versions of key resources and documents, as well as database files compatible with Endnote software. Among the other material that we sought were recently published books and web-based texts. We also combed the reference sections of selected items and used Google to identify relevant articles. We screened this large collection of literature according to additional factors, such as whether the research appeared to be congruent with New Zealand contexts and the reputation of the organisation or researcher conducting the study.

During the second stage of our research, we independently read the abstracts and/or full texts of the identified articles and reports and evaluated each one using criteria appropriate to the type of study concerned. Davis and Fletcher met frequently during the sustained literature review search to discuss and analyse articles. The second stage saw us eliminating many of the initial lists for various reasons, including inadequate reporting of outcomes, interventions not specified, and poor data collection. The remaining items formed the data-set for our analysis of the literature and were collected into the project’s archive and database for further analysis.

We found a dearth of research, including both quantitative and/or qualitative, specifically focused on incorporating e-learning as part of the delivery of LLN opportunities, training, courses and/or teaching programmes for adult learners at the foundation levels. On Davis’s recommendation, in part a product of her consultation with her international and national colleagues within the wider field of e-learning, we decided to include research that related to areas surrounding the specific focus on e-learning supporting adult LLN students at the foundation level. During this further analysis, we continued to seek themes for our literature review and to frame those themes according to our multilayered ecological perspective (Davis, 2008).

We then shared drafts of the literature with critical scholars as friends, including our national and international experts (eg Emeritus Professor Bridget Somekh), the members of the project’s advisory board, and the New Zealand Ministry of Education. We also drew on those people associated with our two parallel research studies (conducted as part of this project) for their input.

These processes ultimately led to a literature review that provides information on the typologies of LLN and e-learning and a set of hypotheses predicated on the key success characteristics of e-learning for adults wanting to develop LLN competence. We initially grouped our findings under five themes, but later rationalised these into six themes, a process that informed the development of the observation and interview schedules for stakeholder interviews and the case study (see below).

During the second half of the literature review, from October 2008 to April 2009, the literature could not help but be informed by our parallel activities¾the stakeholder interviews and the case study. We describe each of these in the remaining sections of this appendix.

A.2. Stakeholder interviews

In consultation with the project’s advisory board and the findings from our research team’s search for providers of e-learning within LLN contexts, we contacted all suggested possible stakeholders to ascertain whether their experience and work related to the specific needs of the research project. The criteria for inclusion related to these questions:

• Did the potential stakeholders have a role in implementing or contact with adult learning programmes focused on literacy, language, and/or numeracy and involving use of e-learning?
  
• Were the potential stakeholders considering or in the process of developing such programmes for adult LLN learners, particularly at the foundation level?

On completing this initial wide search, we invited the selected stakeholders to participate in either a phone or a face-to-face interview with a researcher, either the two lead researchers (Davis and Fletcher) or the lead research assistant (Absalom). Key stakeholders included the following: Ministry of Education adult literacy, numeracy, and language experts; literacy development officers, including those working in ESOL and with Māori; ITOs; workplace human resources managers; and LLN tutors.

A.3. Case study

From the data that we gathered during the initial search for stakeholders to interview, we identified one tertiary organisation that had embedded LLN and e-learning. This organisation met the criteria of being a provider offering courses targeted at students at the foundation level in literacy, language, and/or numeracy, and which were taught within the context of workplace scenarios. Another criterion was that the courses include an element of technology or e-learning to support adults with LLN needs. 

Our aim was to undertake a complex multilevel case study informed by ecological perspectives. We therefore gathered data about the whole organisation. We also ensured that the information collected provided detailed evidence about the evolution of embedding LLN and e-learning within the units in the organisation supporting adults with LLN needs, such as the ESOL resource centres. We also looked for and documented examples, spread across the organisation’s three colleges, of five courses that included e-learning and/or ICT enhanced teaching.

For further details of this process, see the published report of the case study (Davis, Fletcher and Absalom, 2010).