Partners

As best practice awarded- EU funded project

AdAPPtive is the follow-up Erasmus+ project after the EU awarded AisforApp Project (2018-2021)

Given that one in five 15-year old EU citizens is not functionally literate, new ways to tackle the acquisition of effective reading skills are imperative.This Erasmus + part-funded project (AdAPPtive) hopes to continue the work of a previous EU-funded project (A is for APP) to focus on the effective use of digital apps in the instruction of learners who find it difficult to acquire essential reading skills. It also hopes to assess the impact of this on the learners and teachers involved. DCU is the coordinating partner and will lead on organising Communities of Practice (CoPs) and investigating their impact on the use of reading apps. KU, Leuven and RID will lead on investigating the effects of reading app use on the reading skills and dispositions of learners. The Dys Centre, Prague will lead on investigating changes to teachers' skills and attitudes, as they go about incorporating reading apps into their literacy instruction. Happs Development will provide a state of the art game app, New Karaton and use CoP feedback to develop and refine its functions and features.

DCU - Dublin City UniversityDYS Centrum PrahaHappsKU LeuvenRID Taal Rekenen

Dublin City University - IRL

DCU is a young, dynamic and ambitious university with a distinctive mission to transform lives and societies through education, research and innovation. Since admitting its first students in 1989, DCU has grown to a student body of over 19,000 from over 100 different countries. It has five faculties that operate across five campuses on the north side of Dublin city, all of which are within a short walk or bus ride of each other. The University has earned a reputation as Ireland’s university of enterprise, through its strong, active links with academic, research, and industry partners both at home and overseas.  It develops highly sought-after, well-rounded graduates who are ready for the workforce and eager to apply their knowledge and skills in a broad range of settings.

Focus within the project
‍DCU is the lead institution for the AdAPPtive programme. The project’s principal investigators (Dr Monica Ward and Dr Eamonn McCauley) work there. They will contribute to all project objectives, and lead on work related to organising Communities of Practice (CoPs) and investigating the impact of these on the effectiveness with which teachers incorporate digital technologies into the literacy programmes of struggling readers. 

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Eamonn McCauley

Dr Eamonn McCauley is joint Principal Investigator on the AdAPPtive programme. He has been a lecturer in inclusive education and special education since 2000. Before that, he worked in primary, post-primary and special schools as a mainstream teacher, resource teacher and assistant principal. At present, he works in the School of Inclusive and Special Education, Institute of Education, DCU, where he coordinates and teaches on post-graduate programmes and supervises masters and doctoral students. He has a particular interest in inclusive education and the types of culture, processes, organisation, pedagogy, collaboration and leadership required to realise this.

DCU profile
eamonn.mccauley@dcu.ie

Monica Ward

Monica Ward is an associate professor and Dean of Teaching and Learning at Dublin City University.  She is passionate about using computers in education.  Her interests include Computer Assisted Language Learning (particularly for minority and endangered languages), computer science education, educational technologies and the scholarship of teaching and learning.  Monica combines her knowledge of Software Engineering, programming and human computer interaction in her research.  She focusses on designing and developing digital resources to make learning more effective, beneficial and enjoyable.

DCU Profile
monica.ward@dcu.ie