Five Things to Consider When Selecting Effective Educational Technology for Emergent Bilinguals

Presented by Nick Feroce, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Efficacy and Impact Research, Lexia Learning

Sponsored by Lexia Learning as part of Emergent Bilingual Week October 17-21. Learn more.

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Educators are faced with an increasing number of available educational technology programs to use with their students. But what constitutes an “effective” edtech program? In this presentation, viewers learn about five things that industry research scientists consider when evaluating the effectiveness of edtech programs. When outlining the rationale behind why an edtech program is expected to be effective, researchers and program evaluation specialists consider various details, often brought together in a single flowchart called a “logic model.” These include the program’s 1) theoretical assumptions, 2) components, 3) measurable outputs, 4) expected short-term outcomes, and 5) long-term outcomes of program use.

In this presentation, viewers learn about the components of a logic model following a real example from a blended learning English-language learning tool. To encourage critical thinking, viewers are prompted with questions to reflect on their own experiences to highlight what they may already know or don’t know about program effectiveness. While this presentation does not cover more practical aspects of program selection, such as district-level funding concerns, viewers walk away with a high-level understanding of details to consider to ensure that they are making informed decisions when selecting an effective edtech program.

This recorded edWebinar is of interest to K-6 teachers, ELL/ESOL specialists, school and district leaders, and education technology leaders. 

This edWebinar is part of Emergent Bilingual Week: Accelerate Language, Accelerate Literacy.

This five-day event, October 17th – October 21st, consists of a series of webinars that explore important aspects of supporting emergent bilingual students, including the acceleration of English language learning, the role of oral language in literacy instruction, language learning efficacy and research, how educators can leverage artificial intelligence to support Emergent Bilingual students, and much more! Register for the Week.

About the Presenter

Dr. Nicholas Feroce (Nick) is a Research Scientist on the Efficacy and Impact team at Lexia Learning. Nick received his Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Kansas in 2021, where he developed research expertise in language development and processing in monolingual and multilingual speakers of English, Spanish, and other languages. He has published six peer-reviewed articles and is a certified reviewer for the What Works Clearinghouse. Nick has also worked as a language instructor for children (English) and adults (Spanish), and has helped lead studies looking at the effectiveness of digital language-learning tools. At Lexia, Nick conducts research to help understand the impact of language-learning educational technology on English language proficiency outcomes for K-6 Emergent Bilinguals. As an industry researcher, Nick hopes to build stronger relationships with educators working with multilingual students so that they feel more prepared about aspects to consider when selecting educational technology programs for students.

Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.

Join the Supporting Emergent Bilingual Students community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.

Lexia® Learning, a Cambium® company, is one of the most impactful and highly respected reading-technology companies in the world. Founded over 35 years ago, Lexia’s research-proven programs help educators deliver personalized reading and language instruction for millions of K–12 students across the world.