University of Florida Literacy Institute Launches Online Resource Hubs for Teachers and Parents
In response to the need to support teachers in their rapid shift to online instruction, the University of Florida Literacy Institute has created online resources to help ease that transition. UFLI realized that they could take their extensive body of research, successful data-driven interventions, and carefully vetted resources, and create virtual versions of the face-to-face work they have always done.
The outcome? Two new online “resource hubs”: one for parents to learn more about how to support their children’s literacy development, and one for teachers to discover effective, easy-to-use methods for providing reading instruction and intervention in an online delivery model.
We developed our Dyslexia Resource Hub in the fall and had plans to create additional resource hubs for parents and for teachers, but this situation gave us the impetus to push fast forward and get it done very quickly. UFLI faculty, staff, and graduate students worked tirelessly to make both hubs launch-ready as school closures made them more necessary than ever.
The Parent Resource Hub is a gateway to other online resources that the UFLI team carefully curated. There are so many online resources for parents, and it’s sometimes difficult for them to determine which ones are trustworthy. The resources in this hub are categorized by age and whether they are information for parents or activities for children.
Meanwhile, the Virtual Teaching Resource Hub is based on UFLI’s original content that they have used to prepare preservice teachers and practicing educators to provide effective reading instruction for emergent readers and those who struggle to learn. Instructional materials were transformed into interactive formats that teachers can share with students via many video conferencing platforms. They will also be practical for use in the classroom when schools reopen.
The Virtual Teaching Resource Hub was launched via social media and word of mouth, and had more than 60,000 visitors in its first week. UFLI continues to update the pages with additional activities, tutorials, and sample lessons.
Visit the hubs here:
UFLI Virtual Teaching Resource Hub
Holly Lane is an associate professor in the College of Education, University of Florida and director of the University of Florida Literacy Institute.
Tags: higher education, teacher quality, technology
