Technology and Literacy

Lori Shanks

Myra Washington

Christy Micek

Kristy Bahr

Effects of Technology on Teaching Literacy

• Within one generation--30 years--our ideas of what every educated person should be able to do will change dramatically.

• This heightened expectation will “raise the bar” for literacy.

• Information technology will influence literacy education as much as print technology has, and the effect won't take hundreds of years.

Advantages of Technology in Literacy

• “Creating something in a digital electronic representation gives a result that is easily stored, copied, shared, revised, and combined with other things”.

• This will make the electronic form of reading and writing and the ability to create it more highly valued and worthwhile to learn.

Objections to Using Technology in Literacy...

• Many people believe that using technology will not challenge students but will make things too easy for them.

• Spell check is an example of this view.

• However, students will still need spelling, and with the help of things like spell check will be able to focus on higher level skills like editing and revising.

Public Awareness

• The public will realize that technology allows people to do things that take learning to a new level, challenging students in ways never experienced.

• Eventually, all educated people will be expected to do these things with technology.

In the next generation teachers will be expected to teach students to:

• Use several symbol systems

• Apply knowledge in life

• Think strategically• Manage information• Learn, think, and

create as part of a team

Managing Information...

• In the past, educators have struggled to give students other cultures and experiences simply through reading books.

• Providing libraries, books, and librarians all took up space that limited resources.

• Now, with one computer, students have access to a lifetime of information, more volumes than ever imagined before.

New Skills for Reading Students:

• Students will need to learn how to evaluate sources and determine what is valuable information

• Teachers must instruct students how to search for and obtain relevant information.

• Students must be critical thinkers, asking “What do I really need to know, and have I already learned this in some other form?”

Benefits of Using Technology for Independent Literacy Practice

• Provides immediate feedback

• Engaging and motivating

• Allows for differentiation

Management Tips in Using Technology for Literacy

• Connect computer to TV or other projection device.

• “Had a Turn, Need a Turn” board

• “Each one Teach One” • Always model

expectations.

• Hold students accountable

• Assign Roles

• Start Small

Things to Consider when Using Technology to Teach Literacy

• Choose software that supports a balance of exposure to meaningful text and phonetic/spelling patterns.

• Combine resources and use different programs/activities at different times to support student needs.

• Remember that technology is just another instructional tool.

Where Teachers Can Get Help

• Teacher’s Guide and support materials

• Internet• Resource Books• Journals• Colleagues• Students

Sites to Promote Reading

• Baker Street: http://members.tripod.com/msherman/holmes.html

• Mother Goose Page: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pfa/dreamhouse/nursery/rhymes.html

• Poet’s Corner: http://www.geocities.com/~spanoudi/poems/

Sites to Promote Writing

• Biography Maker- http://bham.wednet.edu/bio/biomaker.htm

• Kid Pix- http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/littlekids/KidPix_phon_aware.htm

• Young Authors’ Workshop- http://www.planet.eon.net/~bplaroch/indexb.html

Integrating Science with Literacy Sites

• Phonemic Awareness & Farm Animals- http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/littlekids/lesson_farmcenter.htm

• Butterfly Life cycle- http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/littlekids/lesson_butterflylifecycle.htm

• Squirmy Wormy Research- http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/littlekids/lesson_wormresearch.htm

Multicultural Literacy Sites

• History Timelines- http://www.searchbeat.com/history.htm

• The Human Languages Page-http://www.june29.com/HLP/

• Global SchoolNet Foundation- http://www.gsn.org/

The Problem(1993)

• Rise in discipline problem

• low test scores

• high drop-out rate

• students entering high school reading on a 3rd grade level

Stumbling Blocks

• a lack of reading fluency

• comprehension skills lacking

• learned helplessness

Goal of the School

• set up an intervention program

• 90 minutes of uninterrupted literacy

• class size of 20 or fewer• taste of success and build

self-esteem• professional teacher

training

The Solution• 90 minute literacy

workshop

• students rotate through reading activities

• small group instruction with teacher

• technology

The Numbers• two year testing

period

• students grades 6 through 8

• the mean score

• reading comprehension

• grade point average

• discipline/attendance

Conclusion“I used to think I was going to be a bum or a

junkie. Now being a bum or a junkie no longer crosses my mind.”

The above student started the literacy project as a seventh grader with a grade-2.5 reading level-and little or no hope of success in school and beyond. Currently in 12th grade and earning A’s and B’s, she plays on the varsity basketball team and has been a powerful, positive role model for her friends.

RESOURCES USED IN THIS PRESENTATION

• Walker, Decker. “Technology & Literacy: Raising the Bar.” Educational Leadership. October 1999. Vol.57, Issue 2. Pp 18.

• Literacy and Technology Web Site: http://campus.fortunecity.com/newton/40/home.html

Resources (cont’d)

• Early Childhood Technology Literacy Project- http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/littlekids/lesson_plans.htm

• Reading Strategies: Authentic Learning through Technology- http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/WCE/archives/hodges.htm

Resources

Turning The Tide, by Patrick Daley, Instructor Magazine, May/June 1999, pages 23-26

Graphic Credit

http://www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,5-1513,00.html

http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org//../jjbulletin/9808/solutions.html

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/11.26.97/cover/teens9-9748.html

http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/specialneeds/turntide.htm#one