Incorporating Digital Literacy Materials in Early Childhood Programs

Use of digital media in early childhood literacy programs offers significant opportunities for interaction, engagement, and meaningful practice of phonic skills—and also a few pitfalls. The purpose of this chapter is to review 1) considerations for use of digital media in early childhood settings, 2) selection of appropriate media to facilitate early literacy learning, and 3) inclusion of digital media as an integral component of early literacy instruction, rather than an add-on. With an emphasis on practical ideas and solutions for instructors, the authors draw on studies in which interactive, personalized ebooks and an early literacy learning app were used in conjunction with face-to-face, hands-on activities drawn from Project SEEL (Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy).

Demand for Financial Service in Capital Market of Nepal

Background: In the contemporary literature, access to finance is well spell-out as the key to development. The supply leading hypothesis asserts that financial deepening contributes to enhancing growth so, the growth of the financial market is regarded as an important infrastructure to influence saving and investment. The Government of Nepal opted for a policy ‘One person one bank account’ in its fiscal policy in 2018/19 (MOF, 2018). Aligning the policy, the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) launched the ‘one Nepali one D-mat account’ policy in 2018 to increase the access of the capital market throughout the country. The low-financial literacy base is a major constraint to develop the market, in the other, most of the rural population, still are not equipped with the capital market instrument. In, this background, there is an utmost need to examine the factors contributing the demand for the financial services. Objective: The primary objective of the study is to access the determinants of the demand for financial services in the capital market of Nepal, considering the supply leading hypothesis. Method: To examine the determinants of the demand for financial service, we employed the Ordinary Least Square method of regression analysis. The dependent variable employed in this study is the demand for financial services. Level of income, access to finance and financially active provinces have been taken as the independent variable along with the concerned district population. As well, the financial literacy program conducted by the capital market regulator is another major independent variable. Result: The demand following hypotheses asserts that financial literacy is the key to influence the demand for financial services. It is found that financial literacy programs conducted by the capital market regulator could not explain the demand for financial services in Nepal indicating the weak performance of the program conducted by SEBON. It is found that the number of BFIs, population and financially active provinces are highly significant with the demand for financial services indication the influential role of supply leading hypothesis. Conclusion: The study concludes that the variables selected to determine the demand for financial services in capital market are appropriate and most of them (population, per capita income, financially active provinces and access to financial services) are significant with the capital market of Nepal. It is observed that the financial literacy programs conducted by the capital market regulator have not contributed in enhancing demand of the financial services in the capital market of Nepal. Recommendation: The study is focused and based on the capital market of Nepal. Results obtained from this study could not replicate the same in the money market or insurance sector of Nepal. The findings of the study strongly recommend the regulatory body to evaluate and revise its financial literacy programs while in the meantime urge to focus on addressing demand-side inefficiencies in the long run. Originality: The research work is original and has not been published in other publications. As well, no financial support has been received for the study.

The Validation and Improvement of a Food Literacy Behavior Checklist for Food Literacy Programs

Food literacy is a multidimensional construct required to achieve diet quality. The Food Sensations® for Adults (FSA) program aims to improve the food literacy of low to middle-income adults living in Western Australia and is funded by the Western Australian Department of Health. The original published behavior checklist used to measure change in food literacy has been revised based on experience of the facilitators and the iterative development of the program. This research sought to assess the validity and reliability of the improved food literacy behavior checklist. A total of 1,359 participants completed the checklist over an 18-month period. Content, face, and construct validity were considered in the re-development of the checklist. An exploratory factor analysis of the checklist identified three factors: 1) Plan and Manage, 2) Selection, and 3) Preparation. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.883, 0.760, and 0.868 were found for each of the three factors respectively. These coefficients indicated good internal consistency and were higher than those found in the original checklist analysis. An external validation was undertaken with the original food literacy behavior checklist, and a strong positive relationship between the two tools was found. In addition to being used to evaluate FSA, this revised and extensively validated tool could provide guidance to others evaluating similar food literacy programs and contribute to international measurement research.

Measuring personal and academic differences in students’ perceived social media credibility

Purpose Social media is a popular source for information sharing in the contemporary world. Social media allow individuals to create, publish and diffuse contents directly. This openness has increased the risk of running into misinformation and raised questions about credibility of information shared. This study aims to examine the credibility of social media through the perceptions of university students. It also intends to see the difference in opinions based on their gender, academic disciplines and programs of study. Design/methodology/approach The study was based on a cross-sectional survey; a structured questionnaire was developed by consulting the relevant literature. Students were selected on convenient basis from all the programs of four universities of Faisalabad, Pakistan. Four hundred students were selected randomly from each university. Findings The findings indicated that students considered social media partially credible. Currency, community wellness, understandability and completeness of information were the highly rated facets, while factual and unbiased information was the low rated aspects. The perceived credibility of social media among the university students was the same across genders, programs of study and academic disciplines. Research limitations/implications The study may be helpful for social media service providers to address the concerns that students had in their perception regarding its credibility. Originality/value This study may likely benefit faculty members, researchers, librarians/information professionals and digital libraries to understand the students’ concerns about social media credibility from a developing country’s perspective. Such understanding will enable them to better address, educate and train university students at how to evaluate the quality of information on social media by offering information literacy programs. It is direly needed that university libraries should train the students to be proficient in assessing the quality of information by offering information or digital literacy programs. Moreover, the study may be helpful for social media service providers to address the concerns that students had in their perception regarding its credibility.

Implementing technology literacy programs in retirement homes and residential care facilities: A conceptual framework (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread societal disruption, with governmental stay-at-home orders resulting in people connecting more using technology than in person. This shift had a large implication on older adult residents staying in retirement homes and residential care facilities, where older adult residents may lack the technology literacy needed to stay connected. The enTECH Computer Club from the University of Waterloo created a knowledge translation toolkit to support organizations interested in starting technology literacy programs (TLPs) by providing guidance and practical tips. OBJECTIVE This paper aimed to present a framework for implementing TLPs in retirement homes and residential care facilities, through expanding on the knowledge translation toolkit and the Framework for Person-Centred Care. METHODS Major concepts relating to the creation of a technology literacy program in retirement homes and residential care facilities were extracted from the enTECH knowledge translation toolkit. The domains from the Framework for Person-Centred Care were modified to fit a TLP context. The concepts identified from the toolkit were sorted into the three framework categories: Structure, Process, and Outcome. Information from the knowledge translation toolkit were extracted into the three categories and synthesized to form foundational principles and potential actions. RESULTS All 13 domains from the Framework for Person-Centred Care were redefined to shift the focus on TLP implementation, with 7 domains under Structure, 4 domains under Process, and 2 domains under Outcome. Domains in the Structure category focus on developing an organizational infrastructure to deliver a successful TLP; 10 foundational principles and 25 potential actions were identified for this category. Domains in the Process category focus on outlining procedures taken by stakeholders involved to ensure a smooth transition from conceptualization into action; 11 foundational principles and 9 potential actions were identified for this category. Domains in the Outcome category focus on evaluating the TLP to consider making any improvements to better serve the needs of older adults and staff; 6 foundational principles and 6 potential actions were identified for this category. CONCLUSIONS Several domains and its Foundational Principles and Potential Actions from the TLP framework were found to be consistent with existing literatures that encourage taking active steps to increase technology literacy in older adults. Although there may be some limitations to the components of the framework with the current state of the pandemic, starting technology literacy programs in the community can yield positive outcomes that will be beneficial to both older adult participants and the organization in the long-term.