Literacy Matters - Vol 21 - Winter 2021

might be interested in the following resources . Once the partnership was over, the preservice teachers completed a questionnaire about their perceptions of the effectiveness of the course instructors, the digital literacies assignment, and the peer review process. Questionnaire The instructors designed the questionnaire as a tool to gauge the preservice teachers’perceptions of the peer feedback partnership. The questionnaire included basic demographic questions and items where respondents rated levels of satisfaction across six areas of the partnership; an open-ended question was included with each category so preservice teachers could describe why they chose selected levels of satisfaction. Participants rated the perceived level of benefit that the peer feedback process had on their learning across a five-point scale (e.g., not very beneficial to extremely beneficial ). Open-ended items focused on (1) favorite parts of the partnership, (2) willingness to engage in a peer review in the future and justification, (3) how the cross- institutional peer feedback process could be improved, (4) and a final section for additional comments. The varied answer formats sought to achieve“optimum outcomes”for interpreting the effectiveness of the partnership (Yu &Wu, 2013, p. 338). Analysis The Likert-scale responses on the questionnaire were analyzed for levels of satisfaction. Mean responses across areas were calculated and compared to the open-ended responses. However, the primary form of data analysis was coding the open- ended questionnaire responses. Qualitative content analysis informed the process of reviewing these responses. Open-ended questionnaire data were divided into 62 chunks, and each chunk

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Figure 3 This chart demonstrates the distribution of years of experience working in the field of early childhood education.

Procedures Instructors held a virtual, synchronous live session with both classes to discuss the purpose for the study, elective participation, and an overview of the assignment. The face-to-face cohort met together on campus and the distance learning preservice teachers joined individually though a synchronous, virtual meeting platform. The live session had significant technical issues, including sound delays, muting and unmuting of individuals for sound, and poor video quality. Virtual attendees had difficulties hearing the discussion from the other group of preservice teachers. After the live class session, the first author recruited preservice teachers for participation through individual emails with electronic consents. Twenty-nine preservice teachers across both courses agreed to participate. Code

% of Coded Data (Codes=62)

Definition

Peer Feedback (a) Benefits (b) Challenges

31% 15 16

Preservice teachers identified benefits or challenges related to (1) the feedback process, or (2) content included in the feedback template from peer partner about their digital literacy projects. Preservice teachers referred to benefits or challenges related to the design of the partnership, or support they received during the peer review process. Preservice teachers described being satisfied, dissatisfied, or having mixed feelings about the partnership. These comments were general in nature. Preservice teachers mentioned technology-based features of the cross-institutional partnership that contributed to benefits or challenges.

Preservice teachers had access to the focus assignment and the evaluation rubric from day one of the course. They selected a pre-kindergarten or kindergarten English Language Arts standard related to phonological skills and designed a digital activity for children to use independently. After completing digital drafts, the preservice teachers shared their designs with an assigned critical peer partner from the other institution. Instructors developed partners based on similarity of literacy standards. Each critical partner scored the project based on the assignment rubric and provided constructive criticism through a peer feedback template. The template (M. J. Moran, personal communication, August 24, 2014) included the following prompts: (1) I particularly liked (2) You might want to consider (3) Did you think about (4) I wondered about, and (5) You

Instructional Design (a) Benefits (b) Challenges (c) Supports Overall Satisfaction (a) Satisfied (b) Mixed Feelings (c) Dissatisfied

26% 10

8 8

22% 13

6 3

Technology (a) Benefits (b) Challenges

21% 8 13

Table 1 Main Categories and Codes

| 60 | Literacy Matters | Volume 21 • Winter 2021

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