Topic: Using technology to improve reading skills in the classroom.
The use of technology in the classroom has changed the way children learn, allowing both students and teachers to unlock their creativity (Dana Mattioli, 2007). Technology is changing very quickly and as teachers we should keep up with the technology if we want to help our students improve their reading skills.
Website- Karen Ogen
This is a wonderful blog about ‘Technology Integration Ideas for the Classroom’. It has many different activities that can be done on an interactive whiteboard or a computer. There is one site called “SmartyGames” which has a variety of interactive whiteboard games for students. There is one for reading which has nine stories. These stories have pictures, words and sound and for this reason it helps student to read because they are able to hear the pronunciation of the words. Ogen states that her goal is to “share technology resources that teachers can easily use to make learning fun, interactive and engaging” (Ogen, 2010).
Podcast- Mastermind Educational Technologies Inc.
Jammilla from Mastertoys.com tells us about the great ‘LeapFrog Tag Reading System’ in this podcast. These are story books for ages four and up that come with a sensor device that looks like a pen and helps students read. She explains to the audience how it works and why we as teachers and also parents should purchase this product. What it does is if the child is reading the story and comes to a word that is too difficult to say or they do not know how to pronounce it, they simply use the sensor to press on it and the sensor then speaks the word (Inc., 2008). It is a great way to help student read and it is also a fun way to read for them because this pen is speaking to them.
Book- Jason Ohler
In Ohler’s (2008) book he talks about the use of digital storytelling in the classroom and how teachers can use this resource to create a fun environment for the students while also learning. He uses charts and graphics to allow teachers to integrate digital storytelling into the real world. The book gives teachers clear instructions on how to help students improve their reading skills (Ohler, 2008).
Journal article- Katie Ash
Adina Sullivan, a 4th grade teacher at San Marcos Elementary School in California states that she uses audio recorders to help increase the reading skills of her students. She records her voice of the readings, then creates matching PowerPoint presentations with the words of the readings and then she burns it on a DVD. Sullivan says that some of the students do not have computers so therefore she burns it onto a DVD because it is very likely that they have a DVD-player at home. Being able to hear the words and also see them will help students with their reading skills. As Sullivan says: “Hearing a model reader helps with the fluency and the comprehension”(Ash, 2011). I think this is a great way to improve the reading skills of students because they are able to hear the sounds that are made and they can then copy it when reading the words.
Refereed conference paper-Scharf
To improve reading skills in the classroom, Scharf, Gunther, Winkler and Herczeg (2010) talks about how we should use technology to make learning fun for the students and also motivating. A multi-touch table has been created that allows students to look at pictures and make words and sentences, listen to words, say them and also read sentences. They talk about the advantages of this table and how it can be used. They state that children have to work in groups a lot at school and a computer is not enough to do this so therefore the multi-touch table is good because the students can all gather around the table and work together on their reading skills(Scharf Florian, 2010).
Refereed conference paper- Shu-Hsien L Chen
In this conference paper the authors tell us about the benefits of audiobooks. They talk about the benefits of audiobooks, the strategies of the audiobook, reading styles and how audiobooks are used in schools. They tell us that the audiobook is a great way to motivate readers and also help struggling readers. This is because they can hear the words and the emotion that is applied to reading the story (Chen, 2004).
Podcast- Cynthia Kaye
Kaye (2010) shows us one of Logical Choice Technologies’ first augmented reality products called ‘Letters Alive’. This helps the students read and write, but not only that, they also learn what kinds of things specific animals do. The teacher can put a giraffe up on the screen and they put the words together to make sentences for example ‘the giraffe drinks’. They then read it and they also learn that the giraffe drinks. The students can hold their hands out and on a screen it would look like they are touching the animals and this helps the students to have a two-way interaction with the animals (Kaye, 2010). The students really enjoy this way of learning because they don’t even realise that they are learning. This is because they are having too much fun.
References
Ash, K. (2011). Boosting Literacy: To improve reading skills, many teachers are harnessing the technology they already have. Education Week's Digital Directions, 4(2), 22,24.
Chen, S.-H. L. (2004). Improving Reading Skills through Audiobooks. Paper presented at the Education--Teaching Methods And Curriculum, Library And Information Sciences.
Inc., M. E. T. (Producer). (2008). LeapFrog Tag Reading System. Retrieved from
Kaye, C. (2010). Augmented Reality: Mind-boggling new technology for teaching and learning, from
Ogen, K. (2010). InTec Insights: Technology Integration Ideas for the Classroom, from
Ohler, J. (2008). Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Scharf, F., Gunther S., Winkler T.,Herczeg M. (2010). SpelLit: Development of a Multi-Touch Application to Foster Literacy Skills at Elementary Schools. Paper presented at the Institute for Multimedia and Interactive Systems.