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Journal Article Summary/Critique

Dottie Barrow

Georgia Southern University

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Ferriter, B. (2008). Kindle in my classroom. Horn Book Magazine, 84(6), 641-643. Retrieved August 31, 2009, from the Professional Development Collection database.

Professional Practice Article

Summary: The author, Bill Ferriter, is a sixth grade language arts and social studies teacher

at Salem Middle School in Apex, North Carolina. He explains how he is given a Kindle for his birthday and loves it. He then begins to think of ways to use this device in his classroom. He starts by downloading sample chapters of titles that would interest his students. These small samples of books serve as teasers for his students and they sign up to use the Kindle during silent reading time. The author explains how the students are not intimidated by the new technology and are very comfortable using the Kindle. The students have different reasons for why they like to use the Kindle varying from the reluctant reader who makes the text bigger and enjoys turning the pages to the avid readers who loves having immediate access to new titles.

Ferriter acknowledges that the primary motivation to read using the Kindle initially is the newness of the technology. If this works to hook readers and motivate them to read more, then the author explains that it would be something he would continue to use. He also expresses his surprise that some students would rather have a book in their hands than use the Kindle. This is not something that one would expect from this generation of students. Ferriter goes on to say that overall, he likes having the Kindle in his classroom to offer students the opportunity to use it if they want to and he likes exposing the students to new technologies.

Critical Evaluation:This article would be useful to any language arts teacher of middle school or high

school age students. It seems that the main advantage of the Kindle is that it can serve as a teaser for students and possibly spark their interest to read a particular title. A small negative is that it takes a little time for the teacher to determine what the interests are of his/her students and then determine if the titles are available in the school library. The download process is quick, so this step is not extremely time consuming. If the school library has these titles, then the students would be able to go check out the book once their interest has been enticed. I think it would be frustrating for the students if they became interested in a book from the Kindle and then that title was not available at their school library.

The feature of being able to download a sample chapter of a book for free is reason enough to consider having a Kindle in the classroom or in the media center. I can see it as a valuable tool for a media specialist who might want a little more than just a review of a book that he/she is considering to purchase. For the student in the media center, the Kindle would give them access to a little more than a summary of titles right at their fingertip with a technology that most students are very comfortable using. It could also possibly motivate a reluctant reader. It seems that it would need to be something that is used only in the media center and not available for check-out. Young children would even be able to read an entire picture book in a short period of time while they are in the

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media center. My school serves students grades pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade and I think that a Kindle would be a useful tool in the media center for students of all ages. The Kindle is something that is definitely worth thinking about using in the classroom and in the media center.

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Frazel, M. (2007). Tech for tinies: How young is too young to use computers? Library Media Connection, 26(3), 56-58. Retrieved August 20, 2009, from the Professional Development Collection database.

Professional Practice Article

Summary:The author is a technology consultant, writer and genealogist and writes this

article for Library Media Connection focusing on technological innovations for young children. She begins by explaining how the thoughts of educators about the appropriate age to introduce computers have changed over the years. Initially the idea was that children in grades pre-kindergarten through third grade were too young because their motor skills were not ready for keyboarding. The demand for young children to have access to computers in schools increased as they were exposed to them in their homes. Software companies began to focus more on the education market. The kid-friendly software that emerged focused on young children with a short attention span. The author mentions Riverdeep’s Endmark House as a good choice covering the areas of reading, science, math, and social studies. In addition, the author points the reader to some websites with ideas and lessons to integrate technology for young children. Among those discussed are Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators, Education World, Enchanted Learning and abcteach. The article also includes a section on interactive web sites for young students. Starfall is specifically reviewed as being an excellent choice for an interactive site. The overall point being made is that young children are ready and capable of learning with computers and the attention span for learning is increased as they interact with technology.

Critical Evaluation:The article does a good job of addressing the question of “how young is too

young to use computers?” The author gives a little history and bridges the gap of how the ideas among educators have changed over the years. The strengths of the article are that it gives specific software and websites with brief summaries of what their purposes are and how they can be used with young children. The author even includes some specific advice for success, such as the need for Flash or Shockwave plug-ins for interactive sites and the need for headphones because of the noisy feedback from the interactive sites and software programs. In addition, she recommends a specific type of headphone that is durable and designed for children between the ages of four and eight.

One weakness is that there are no references to research showing how early exposure of young children to computers has an impact on their learning. A general statement that “by observing students interacting with computers one can see an increase in their attention” does not carry as much weight as a reference to research with measurable results would carry.

This article serves as a confirmation for what we are doing at Frederica Academy because our pre-kindergarten through second grade students come to the computer lab weekly and use some of the same programs mentioned in the article. I will check out

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some of the other programs discussed as we are always looking for new opportunities for our students. The free sites should be of interest to all educators.

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Gess, A. (2009). Collaboration: Finding the teacher, finding the topic, finding the time. Library Media Connection, 27(4), 24-25. Retrieved August 31, 2009, from the Professional Development Collection database.

Professional Practice Article

Summary:Angela Gess is an English teacher at Graham Middle school in Tazewell County,

Virginia. She explains that it is a misconception that media specialists can’t help students prepare for standardized tests. She cited an article published in School Libraries Work that referenced two schools that have collaborative media specialists and they have the highest high school reading/language scores in their states. There are other studies that confirm these results showing a direct correlation between standardized test scores and collaborative media specialists. The article explains the importance of finding a teacher who values the role of a media specialist and one who is willing to work with the media specialist to create a lesson or unit that focuses on some of the AASL standards for the 21st century learner. To do this, the topic has to be chosen carefully so that one can be sure that there will be a connection with the standards. The example given is with a sixth grade science class where the teacher and the media specialist collaborate to create a WebQuest that requires students to research weather and access information from a variety of sources. It requires the use of computers so technology is integrated into the lesson. Because the lesson requires accessing and evaluating information, it helps prepare students for the state assessment test. The point being made by the author here is that by collaborating with a media specialist, the students are exposed to information in a variety of formats that might not have occurred with the classroom teacher alone. Collaboration can be very effective when both the teacher and the media specialist share in the process.

Critical Analysis:The article is well written and does an excellent job of supporting the idea that

collaboration between a certified media specialist and classroom teachers provides many benefits to the students including higher standardized test scores, improved information literacy skills, and exposure to information in a variety of formats. The author gives an example of collaboration between a certified media specialist and a sixth grade science teacher and lists the AASL standards for the 21st century learner that are addressed in the unit. I think the listing of these standards is useful and makes the reader aware that these standards exist.

This would be useful to all teachers of every grade level, but especially middle school and high school teachers. I have seen the benefits when true collaboration occurs between our media specialist and a classroom teacher. The students are the ones who benefit the most from this kind of collaboration. I feel that it is important for the media specialist to take the lead role in ensuring that true collaboration takes place with the classroom teachers. This article is powerful because it links the value of collaboration to test scores.

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Hsieh, P, Cho, Y., Liu, M., & Schallert, D. (2008). Examining the interplay between middle school students’ achievement goals and self-efficacy in a technology-enhanced learning environment. American Secondary Education, 36(3), 33-50. Retrieved August 20, 2009, from the Professional Development Collection database.

Research

Summary:This study builds on the results of prior studies in the area of student motivation

and academic performance and takes it one step further by looking at students’ motivation and achievement in a context specific (technology-rich) and domain specific (science) environment. The researchers looked at the interaction effects between three goal orientations (mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance) and self-efficacy on science achievement in a technology-enhanced environment. The social cognitive motivation theories of self-efficacy and goal orientation were the focus. Self-efficacy is the students’ beliefs about their capabilities to complete a task successfully and goal orientation is the students’ reasons for doing a task. The authors explain that researchers have found that students with high self-efficacy tend to perform better than those with low self-efficacy. Research also shows that students self-efficacy beliefs may influence the type of goals that they have for learning. In addition, the research has shown that students with mastery goals have higher self efficacy and achievement. So the big question of this research is “will the technology- rich environment have a positive affect on student’s goal orientation?” The technology-rich learning environment was self-directed by the students and focused on problem based learning. The study included 549 sixth graders and took place over a three week period. It included pre and post tests to measure how the student’s goal orientation changed after learning in a technology- rich, self directed and collaborative environment. The results showed an increase in motivation and achievement in the technology-rich environment. The article included practical ways for teachers to increase student’s self-efficacy by creating an environment and learning tasks where students can be successful. Another implication is that teachers can help students increase self-efficacy by giving them learning strategies that will help them be successful.

Critical Evaluation:This paper was very difficult to read. It was not real clear what the researchers

were trying to measure and there seemed to be too many variables. Was goal orientation affecting self-efficacy, or was self efficacy affecting goal orientation, or did it go both ways? The idea that goal orientation can be changed in a non-threatening, student centered, technology-rich environment is interesting and would be useful to any teacher, especially middle and high school grades.

The concept that the researchers have that by putting students in a nonthreatening, supportive environment, it almost forces them toward the mastery goal orientation and thus higher self efficacy and achievement is definitely worthy of research and study. I really like the idea of allowing students to work at their own pace and have peer and

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teacher support so that they can become more self confident and motivated to learn. I think that it is also important to design units/assignments with tasks where the students find success and ones that they are able to complete. By using technology and having the assignment project based, the students almost have to orient their goal toward mastery of the task. Hopefully the technology makes the task engaging. We are always looking for ways to collaborate with the classroom teacher and assist in this type of learning. It is helpful to read articles like this one that explain the results of studies and how certain learning environments might increase motivation and achievement.

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Mullen, R. & Wedwick, L. (2008). Avoiding the digital abyss: Getting started in the classroom with YouTube, digital stories, and blogs. Clearing House 82(2), 66-69. Retrieved August 21, 2009, from the Professional Development Collection database.

Professional Practice

Summary:The authors discuss the importance of integrating technology into the classroom

by explaining that school is the place for students to learn the skills that are necessary in today’s work force. The article explains how a rural middle school language arts teacher used three types of technology in her classroom. She chose YouTube, digital stories and blogs because they are easy to use and not expensive. The authors discussed the values of YouTube being that it can serve as a huge data base of videos and it allows for quick access. They also explained the feature of being able to save videos in the favorites section of ones YouTube account. The teacher featured in the article used the videos to help give authentic meaning to vocabulary words and for grammar review using the “Schoolhouse Rock” video. The authors also explained how the students created digital stories putting their words and pictures into a program to bring their story to life. The third technology discussed was blogs. The authors mention several blog sites that are very user friendly. The teacher in this article used the blogs for students to discuss current events. The students reflected about the blogs commenting that they are a great way to stay connected. The point that the authors are trying to emphasize is that it is up to educators to keep up with the changes in technology and to close the gap in the classroom.

Critical Analysis:This article was easy to read and would not be intimidating for a teacher who is

not familiar with the technologies mentioned. The main focus was that there are technologies that are free and easy to use and students need to be exposed to these types of technologies in school. The examples of ways to use YouTube simply as a database of videos to enhance already created lessons is appealing even to a novice teacher with little technology skills. And for the more savvy teacher in the area of technology, this article can serve as a reminder that YouTube is an easy way to spice up a lesson. The information on blogs was also non-threatening and informative for a novice. The recommendation of Blogger, MyBlogSite, edublogs, and LearnerBlog are helpful for someone who has never experimented with blogging. The article was honest by revealing that blog set up and maintenance takes time as does anything new with technology. I like the idea of an informal blog for book recommendations. This seems like it would be a nice link on a media center page of a school website.

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Parton, B. & Hancock, R. (2008). When physical and digital worlds collide: A tool for early childhood learners. Tech Trends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 52(5), 22-25. Retrieved August 21, 2009, from the Academic Search Complete database.

Theory-into-Practice

Summary:The authors explain that according to Piaget, children in the concrete stage of

development need concrete, hands on experiences. Thus, they believe that there needs to be a link between the concrete and digital world of technology. The authors came up with the idea of using tangible manipulatives with computer instructions. They chose to use RFID technology with the manipulatives where the manipulatives are scanned by the student and then the computer reads the object to give the student information. In addition, the authors chose to experiment their design with deaf children. When the manipulative is scanned, the program shows a human interpreter signing the word and an image of the object. It also shows the written word and says the word out loud to accommodate for children who are not deaf, but rather hearing impaired. The project is called LAMBERT, which stands for Language Acquisition Manipulatives Blending Early- childhood Research and Technology. A pilot study was conducted with children age three-five to test the system. The results showed the children interacted with the manipulatives and were engaged in learning. It also showed that the RFID technology is suited for use with young children. The authors plan to do further research in this area if they receive grant funding.

Critical Analysis:The article is not difficult to read and makes a very interesting connection

between Piaget’s theory and technology. By focusing on Piaget’s constructivism theory of learning, the authors make a good point that young children in the concrete stage of development need more concrete learning than computer programs offer. The article does a good job of explaining the connection between Piaget’s theory and technology and explaining the concept of RFID technology. One weakness with the article is how the focus shifts when the authors introduce the idea to experiment with this technology on deaf children. The RFID technology with manipulatives for deaf children really does not have the same focus and purpose as what the article first stated as the “why” for creating this technology. It began as a need for manipulatives because young children learn better with concrete objects and then the study turned the focus to manipulatives for deaf children to make the connection with the written word and the sign language for that object. The concept presented in this article is excellent, but the focus is a little confusing. I could see this used in a pre-kindergarten and kindergarten class for all students to use computers and manipulatives. The RFID technology would also be useful for deaf and hearing impaired students.

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Patten, K. & Craig, D. (2007). iPods and English-language learners: A great combination. Teacher Librarian, 34(5), 40-44. Retrieved August 20, 2009, from the Professional Development Collection database.

Research Article

Summary:This article details the advantages of using iPods in the classroom. The authors

summarize the results of four action research studies that focused on using iPods as a companion with English-language learners (EEL) to promote reading, writing, and listening skills. The studies were done in two elementary schools and two middle schools. The role of the media specialist was to collaborate with the classroom teacher in choosing the titles, purchasing audio CD’s, uploading the audio to the iPod, and following copyright laws. The iPods were used differently in each study depending on the students’ needs. For example, journaling activities were used to focus on writing and vocabulary and AR tests were used to focus on comprehension. One of the studies had separate groups with students reading aloud in one group and students using iPods in the other group. The other three studies involved activities where each student had an iPod. Overall, three studies showed an increase in writing and vocabulary and one study showed an increase in comprehension. The authors point out that these studies show a few possibilities for using iPods in the classroom. They open the door for more possibilities for any teacher or media specialist who is interested in using iPods for promoting information literacy.

Critique:This article has a nice format beginning with an explanation of the positive affects

that technology has had on information literacy and the value of using iPods with English language learners. The authors then lay out four studies and offer a summary of each study making it easy to read. The article would be good for teachers of all grades but especially useful for media specialists and ELL teachers. The main thing that this article does for the reader is make one aware of the value of using iPods in the classroom by giving some statistical evidence to support the successes. We do not have any ELL students at Frederica Academy, but I can see the use of iPods in the classroom with literature circles as being an exciting and useful tool. I like the idea of using the iPod as a companion tool and not as a replacement of the text completely.

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Sprague, D & Pixley, C. (2008). Podcasts in education: Let their voices be heard. Computers in the Schools, 25(3/4), 226-234. Retrieved August 21, 2009, from the Professional Development Collection database.

Professional Practice

Summary:The authors explain what a podcast is and give three general ways that they can

be used in education. One way is to access podcasts created by others. Popular subject areas for this are foreign language, music, drama and English classes. The authors cited an example of a school using podcasts in bilingual classes to help students learn English as having great success with students moving out of the class in one year as apposed to the national average of 4-6 years. The authors mentioned using a Podcast search engine called “Podscope” to find topics of interest. A second way to use Podcasts is teacher created Podcasts. Popular topics for this are test taking tips and study guides. A third type of Podcast mentioned is student created Podcasts. Students learn how to research, communicate, and grab the audience’s attention as they work on their Podcasts.

One of the benefits addressed is the usefulness of Podcasts for language development. Using Podcasts for students where English is not their primary language allows the students to take the Podcasts home and learn the language quicker. Podcasts are also excellent for students, who might miss a class due to illness or other reasons, to keep up with what they missed if the lectures or lessons are recorded. The article explains that there are also some negative issues with Podcasts. The main one is that they are very time consuming to create and there is a big learning curve with the new technology. The authors cited the editing step as the most difficult part in the creation of a Podcast. If a teacher is willing to take the time, Podcasts can be very useful in the classroom.

Critical Analysis:The authors do a good job of explaining what a Podcast is and ways that they are

useful in the classroom. The article is well written and worthy of reading for someone who is new to Podcasting as well as someone more experienced. The authors include good tips for creating a Podcast. They direct the reader to places to get free editing software, royalty free music and “Podsafe” music. The explanations on how to create and use Podcasts are both practical and helpful. For the less adventurous teacher, the idea of using the Podcast search engine called “Podscope” would be every appealing as they can use this technology without having to create a Podcast. I have always been interested in helping our High School teachers create Podcasts of their classroom lectures. Our athletes miss a lot of class time because we are geographically isolated (in the southeast corner of the state) from many of the schools that we compete against. Podcasts would allow them to better keep up with the work missed when they are out for athletics. Overall this was an excellent article.