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 21 st 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/External Validity 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

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 Student #Pretest (%)Posttest (%)Percent Change (%) 196.593.0 -3.63 286.591.0 5.20 382.578.0 -5.45 490.074.0 -17.78 589.565.0 -27.37 681.085.5 5.56 788.553.5 -39.55 847.554.5 14.74 968.568.0 -0.73 1096.081.0 -15.63 1185.596.5 12.87 1273.565.0 -11.56 1363.068.5 8.73 1489.091.5 -8.43 1559.068.5 16.10 1686.091.5 6.40 1773.092.0 26.03 1880.057.0 -28.75 Mean79.7575.78 - 4.98 % Moden/a65.0 Median84.076.0 Range4943 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 Multiple Choice: Pretest Multiple Choice: Posttest Oral Retelling: Pretest Oral Retelling: Posttest Mean91.67%74.44%67.83%77.11% % Change-18.8%13.68% Median95.00%70.00%71.50%77.50% Mode100.00%90.00%57.00%96.00% Range30 points70 points68 points52 points

20. Results Motivation to Read Statement 1: I like to read Statement 1: I like to read Statement 7: I wish I could have more time to read Statement 7: I wish I could have more time to read Statement 10: Technology makes reading more fun Start of AREnd of ARStart of AREnd of ARStart of AREnd of AR Mean 1.781.612.222.112.221.78 % Change-9.37%-5.00%-20.00% 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. Results: Correlations 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

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