What is the International Literacy Explorer?
The International Literacy Explorer is a multimedia teacher training tool for basic education designed to give you an overview of literacy and basic education issues and practices in an international context. Whether you are a teacher/practitioner, policymaker, or researcher, the Explorer offers ideas, discussions, and activities to enrich your literacy thinking. In the context of the worldwide effort to more fully and effectively increase the literacy skills of all people, the Explorer focuses in on several innovative, useful, and/or effective literacy projects and programs across the globe. Also included are supplementary sections on general literacy concepts and statistics to help the user to better understand the consequences of widespread illiteracy, the need for and importance of literacy education, and the achievements of the specific literacy projects. The Explorer has four main sections: Literacy Overview, Literacy Projects, Statistics, and Resources.
Who is developing this tool?
The International Literacy Explorer is being developed by a team of writers, editors, designers, consultants, and programmers at the International Literacy Institute, with aid from outside partners. The International Literacy Institute (ILI) provides leadership in research, development, and training in literacy work around the world. Established in 1994, the ILI is a joint partnership between the University of Pennsylvania / Graduate School of Education and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). Literacy Online is the website of the ILI as well as the National Center on Adult Literacy, its literacy research partner. To see a list of all individual ILI contributors as well as outside contributors, see Credits.
How is the tool organized?
This CD-ROM / website includes four main components:
general information on literacy concepts and issues.
a collection of effective projects from countries around the world.
worldwide literacy and basic education statistics as well as related statistical issues.
print, video, and online resources with more information about the topics, issues, and programs discussed in each section.
Also included are the following:
 |
provides help in navigating the site and more information on the Explorer |
 |
an index which lists (and links to) each page within the CD-ROM / website |
The Credits section is a list of all individual and group contributors to the creation and maintenance of the International Literacy Explorer.
To get to each of the four main sections, go back to the Explorer Home Page and click on one of the banners on the right side of the screen (shown above). If you would like to skip to a different section while in one of the sections, scroll down and choose from the following menu at the bottom of each screen:
To get to the Help and Site Map pages, click on the corresponding image found on each screen within the site (also shown above). At any time, to return to the Explorer Home Page, click on the International Literacy Explorer banner at the top of the screen, as shown below:
What else is available for users of this training tool?
We currently have the first version of the International Literacy Explorer available on CD-ROM and on the Internet (http://www.literacyonline.org/explorer) and will soon provide multilingual versions (French and Spanish). The website is the primary development tool for the Explorer and therefore will have frequent additions and modifications as we move towards the second version.
Where can I send comments?
Send all comments to editor@literacy.upenn.edu. Let us know of any questions, and concerns you may have regarding the International Literacy Explorer. We'd love to hear from you. If you do not have Internet access, please contact us at the following address and phone/fax numbers:
Editor - Explorer
International Literacy Institute
University of Pennsylvania
3910 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-3111 USA
tel: 1-215-898-2100
fax: 1-215-898-9804
I'm a teacher / practitioner. What will be of interest to me in the International Literacy Explorer?
The International Literacy Explorer is primarily a teacher training tool that focuses in on effective and innovative international literacy projects. By learning about different topic-oriented projects in developing countries, teachers and practitioners will find useful information that may inform curriculum development and instruction. Furthermore, we provide a Teacher / Practitioner Menu which allows teachers and practitioners to read about the teaching and learning activities of specific literacy projects worldwide.
I'm a policymaker / researcher. What will be of interest to me in the International Literacy Explorer?
The International Literacy Explorer combines general literacy and basic education information with more specific information regarding certain projects around the world. In learning of the progress of the projects, policymakers and researchers may draw conclusions about each project's effectiveness and importance, as well as the need to implement a similar project in their own areas. Furthermore, we provide a Policymaker / Researcher Menu which allows policymakers and researchers to learn about the outcomes and implications of specific literacy projects worldwide.
How can I use this tool for teacher training?
The International Literacy Explorer is a multipurpose training tool that can be used to develop awareness, build knowledge, and translate new knowledge into practice. It is designed to be part of an overall strategy that provides opportunities for teachers and other education professionals to reflect on their own teaching, policy, and practice. We have listed below some ways that the Explorer can be used as one component of a comprehensive staff and program development strategy.
Innovative ideas: Teachers can look through the Projects section, specifically the Program Activities pages, and see if there are ideas or methods that they could adopt and/or modify for their own classroom practice. Individual program administrators can also explore the Projects section for innovative ideas to enrich their programs.
Teacher inquiry (practitioner research): Staff development is most effective when teachers are encouraged to think about their own teaching practices and then share their thoughts and practices with colleagues in group discussions. Each of the many projects presented in the Explorer provides information that can be analyzed by a group that then asks itself the question: How could we modify some of these effective practices for our own teaching and learning contexts?
Program and curriculum planning: Program administrators can see at a glance the organization and function of numerous programs and then they can discuss with their staffs how they might expand their programs to reach new goals. They can adapt the demonstrated curriculum and delivery to their own contexts.
Teaching with contextualized units: Research has shown that basic education and literacy learning is most effective when firmly embedded in the learner's real-life context and experiences. Many of these projects model how skills building can be productively interwoven with context.
Working within limited resources: Many of the projects demonstrate teaching techniques and program design that maximize limited resources. The Program Activities pages of the projects use video clips and written text to suggest new methods of getting the most out of limited budgets.
Statistics training and learning tool: The Explorer's unique Statistics section can help professionals become more familiar with the concepts and issues involved in literacy assessment and the interpretation of literacy statistics. Furthermore, the downloadable international statistics module gives users the opportunity to have at their finger tips comprehensive and user-friendly literacy-related data from countries all around the world.
Back
