The Effects of Technology Use in Literacy Instruction

1. The Effects of Technology Use in Literacy Instruction Annie Harary Education 703.22 Spring 2010

2. Table of Contents • Introduction • Statement of the Problem • Review of Related Literature • Statement of the Hypothesis • Methods • Participants • Instruments • Experimental Design • Procedure • Results • Discussion • Implications

3. Statement of the Problem • 3 out of 10 students in grades 3-8 are not reading at their grade level • New York City underperforming versus New York State (“New York City,” 2009) • Embarrassment factor • Technology as possible solution

4. Review of Related Literature • Theorists • Lev Vygotsky • Social interaction; More Knowledgeable Other; Active role in learning (“Social Development Theory,” n.d.) • Howard Gardner • Multiple Intelligences Theory (Gardner, 2000; Gardner & Walters, 1993) • Rita and Kenneth Dunn • Different learning styles (“The Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Model of Instruction,” n.d.)

5. Review of Related Literature • Electronic Books / CD-ROM Storybooks • PROS • Individualized support (Mollin, 2005; Pearman & Lefever-Davis, 2006; Rhodes & Milby, 2007) • Removes burden of decoding (Lefever-Davis & Pearman, 2005; Mollin, 2005; Pearman & Levefer-Davis, 2006) • Develops phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (Pearman & Levefer-Davis, 2006; Shamir & Korat, 2006; Wolfson, 2008) • Increases motivation to read (Matthew, 1997) • Higher comprehension scores (Doty, Popplewell, & Byers, 2001; Grimshaw, Dungworth, McKnight, & Morris, 2007; Matthew, 1997; Pearman, 2008)

6. Review of Related Literature • Electronic Books / CD-ROM Storybooks • CONS • Seen as a game(de Jong & Bus, 2002; Trushell & Maitland, 2005) • Not beneficial to every student(Matthew, 1997; Ricci & Beal, 2002; Trushell & Maitland, 2005) • Become reliant on “help” features(Lefever-Davis & Pearman, 2005)

7. Review of Related Literature • Laptops / Internet • PROS • Higher student engagement(Barone & Wright, 2008) • Improve reading skills(Mioduser, Tur-Kaspa, & Leitner, 2000) • WebQuests, web sites, instant messaging, blogs(Barone & Wright, 2008; Kaya, O’Connor-Petruso, & Girelli-Carasi, 2010) • CONS • Cost, time, availability, support, teacher skills(Barone & Wright, 2008; McGrail, 2007) • Social isolation, limited communication, off-task behavior(McGrail, 2007)

8. Review of Related Literature • Interactive White Boards • PROS • Engage and facilitate student participation • Variety of multimodal texts(Shenton & Pagett, 2007) • CONS • Little professional development • Technical support(Shenton & Pagett, 2007)

9. Review of Related Literature • Artificial Intelligence • PROS • Enhance writing skills; Immediate and increased feedback; Work at own pace • CONS • Limited writing prompts; Superficial revisions (Sternberg, Kaplan, & Borck, 2007; Warschauer & Grimes, 2008) • Digital Storytelling • PROS • Increases comprehension; Encompasses multiple literacy skills; Personal connection; Promotes 21st Century literacy • CONS • Few studies conducted (Robin, 2008)

10. Review of Related Literature • Audiobooks • PROS • Improve reading skills • Focus on meaning • Listen at own pace (Wolfson, 2008) • LCD Projector • PROS • Read along • Higher student attention • Higher retelling scores (Black, Brill, Eber, & Suomala, 2005)

11. Statement of the Hypothesis • HR1: The reading comprehension skills, as measured by tests, and motivation to read, as measured by survey questions, of eighteen third-grade students in P.S. X will increase if they read and listen to electronic storybooks through the internet, using laptops, over two sessions.

12. Participants • 18 Third-Grade students attending P.S. X • 9 males • 9 females • 8 - 9 years old • Gifted class • 10 “above average” readers • 8 “average” readers

13. Instruments • Consent forms: Principal, Teacher, Parent/Guardian • Surveys • Tests: Multiple Choice and Oral Retelling of Story • Oral retelling of story rubric • Printed Text: Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine • Technology • Laptops with internet connection • Electronic Storybooks

14. Experimental Design • Pre-experimental design • One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design • Single group is pretested by reading a traditional printed text • Exposed to the treatment • Reading electronic storybooks through the internet on classroom laptops • Posttested after exposure to the treatment • Symbolic Design • OXO

15. Threats to Internal Validity History Maturation Testing / Pretest Sensitization Instrumentation Mortality Threats to External Validity Pretest-Treatment Selection-Treatment Interaction Specificity of Variables Treatment Diffusion Reactive Arrangements / Participants Effects Threats to Internal/External Validity

16. Procedure • Study conducted February 2010 – April 2010 • 2/25/10: Consent forms distributed • 3/1/10: Participants completed Student Surveys 1 and 2 • 3/8/10-3/9/10: Pretest administered • 3/15/10: Participants introduced to electronic storybooks • 3/25/10 & 4/8/10: Posttest administered • 4/8/10: Participants completed Student Survey 2 again

17. Results The participants mean score on the posttest decreased 4.98% from the pretest

18. Results

19. Multiple Choice and Oral Retelling Scores: PRETEST Multiple Choice and Oral Retelling Scores: POSTTEST Results

20. Results • Motivation to Read After being exposed to reading electronic storybooks, the participants, as a whole, reported on their survey questions that they are now more motivated to read.

21. Correlation Between Posttest Scores and Student Survey 2: Statement 10: Technology makes reading more fun (End of Action Research) rxy = 0.19 No correlation Correlation Between Posttest Scores and Student Survey 2: Statement 9: Technology can help me become a better reader (End of Action Research) rxy = 0.25 No correlation Results: Correlations

22. Discussion • The results of this study do not support the original hypothesis that reading electronic storybooks will increase the reading comprehension test scores of eighteen third-grade students in P.S. X. • The results of this study do support the original hypothesis that reading electronic storybooks will increase the motivation to read of eighteen third-grade students in P.S. X.

23. Discussion • Results consistent with the following findings: • The features of electronic storybooks distract students attention away from the text and adversely affects comprehension (de Jong & Bus, 2002; Trushell & Maitland, 2005) • Comprehension scores after reading electronic texts are higher when measured by oral retellings (Matthew, 1997; Pearman, 2008) • Students that read electronic texts are more motivated to go back and re-read them again, as opposed to those that read printed texts (Matthew, 1997) • Results inconsistent with the following findings: • Comprehension skills are built through interactive CD-ROM storybooks (Lefever- Davis & Pearman, 2005; Pearman & Lefever-Davis, 2006) • Electronic storybooks accompanied by a narration of the text does significantly improve comprehension (Grimshaw, Dungworth, McKnight, & Morris, 2007) • Printed vs. Electronic Storybooks: When comprehension is measured by oral retellings, there is no significant difference (Doty, Popplewell, & Byers, 2001)

24. Implications • Conduct with larger sample over a longer time period • Participants from gifted class, so the results may not be generalized to “below average” readers • Other means of testing reading comprehension • Posttest (multiple choice questions) may have been too difficult • Use smaller reading passages rather than whole book • More research on the affect of reading electronic storybooks on motivation to read