Manko, J. (2014). Technology driven literacy instruction: Liberty elementarys iPad initiative.

Reading Today, 31(3), 35.

Professional Practice Article
The article discusses how one school in Maryland who had a large population of free and
reduced lunch students thought outside of the box to help students succeed using iPads in the
classrooms. The article stated that three years after the program began the students were scoring
well on the Maryland School Assessment, which is the state assessment used to measure student
achievement in all Maryland school districts. (p. 35). According to Manko the test scores
showed that 90% of students are proficient or advanced in reading and 85% in mathematics (p.
35). In the program the students use the iPads each day for at least one hour. The students use
different programs, one being Raz-Kids. The teachers are also using the iPads to assess the
students. They are using a tool called Amplify that helps provide a reading profile for each
student and they are using Dibels scores. The teachers monitor the students on a regular basis to
make decisions on additional support that may be needed. The article states that the iPads are
not a replacement for the teachers, but a tool that is used to support instruction. In the article it
states that the school has many leveled readers and other teachers that are in the classrooms to
also help the children with their learning. The school has in place professional development for
the teachers in using the iPads. The article states that different teachers are in different places
with their level of comfort with technology and the school utilizes those that are most
comfortable in a model call train the trainer, where teachers help train other teachers in the
school on using the iPads and programs on the iPad.
I found this article very interesting for several reasons. The first reason I found this
article interesting was that this sounded like a project that any school could put in place with the
right funding. Most schools are in this very position of maintaining or raising test scores. This
school, that has a high population of free and reduced lunch students, was able to increase their
scores into the 85 and 90 percentile ranges. A second reason that this article was interesting was
that not only are they using the iPads with students, but the teachers are utilizing the technology
to help with assessments and tracking the students. So many times teachers spend too much time
on assessments and looking at data. This school has used technology to help teachers acquire
and read the data better so they can better help the students. Last, the article talked about
professional development. This is important because many teachers now did not grow up in a
digital age and technology is hard for them to use with children. This school has recognized this
and not just put the technology in the teachers hands, but the school has supported the teachers
in learning how to best use this technology to help the students.























Northrop, L. & Killeen, E. (2013). A framework for using ipads to build early literacy skills. The
Reading Teacher, 66(7), 531-537.
Professional Practice Article
The article gives the readers a framework for using iPad apps to help students with
literacy skills. The authors begin by stating that the best way to ensure that children are learning
using the apps is with a gradual release of responsibility model (p. 531). The article conveys
that just because the students are using the technology that does not necessarily mean that the
students are learning or practicing the skills correctly. The article wants to show how teachers
can ensure that students are learning correctly with using the iPad apps in the classroom. The
authors give us an outline for integrating the iPad in the classroom. They outline four steps
which can be used to help ensure that students are getting the best skills practice out of the iPad
apps that are available. The four steps are: (1) teach the concept without the iPad, (2) explain
and model the app, (3) guided practice with the app and (4) independent practice with the app.
In each step the authors give ideas of how to conduct the lesson and reasons why the step is so
important in the process. The article also gives examples for teachers to use in performing each
step using a phonics app on the iPad. The conclusion of the article restates the steps found in the
article. It also discusses that iPads and technology are good when used with effective classroom
instruction. The authors give a list of recommended apps to use with literacy instruction. They
state that when using apps the teacher needs to be aware of what the app can and cant do before
introducing it to students. The article shows that using this framework can give students extra
independent practice in literacy concepts at the appropriate developmental level.
This article is interesting in the fact that it gives a teacher who has little experience using
an iPad in their classroom a framework for introducing it to the students, so that the students can
get the most benefit out of the iPad. The article uses a framework that most teachers will be
familiar with in teaching lessons which is the gradual release of responsibility model (p. 531).
Most teachers know how to plan lessons using this model for their classrooms, which is helpful
for teachers who have little experience with technology. The article helped by giving teachers a
basic list of iPad apps that could be used and the skills that the app would help support. Many
teachers who do not feel comfortable with technology can use this article to get themselves
started using the iPad and then build other lessons from this starting point using this framework.
Heaser, C. (2012). How do you become a responsible digital citizen?. Library Media
Connection, 30(6), 18-20.
Professional Practice Article
This article is written by an elementary school library media specialist. The concept of
the article is to help teachers show students how to become responsible digital citizens. The
author begins by outlining objectives that each grade level of students should be able to do by the
end of the school year. Kindergarten through fifth grade is included in her plan to teach students
to become responsible digital citizens. She begins in kindergarten with having them learn basics
skills about protecting login and password information and then adds skills on each year until
fifth grade where the students are learning to find images and cite them correctly along with
learning how to evaluate websites. The fourth and fifth grade students are taught a lesson using a
mnemonic device which shows them how to judge whether the website is considered an
excellent website or not an excellent website. When beginning this model she started with the
faculty by teaching them all the skills the students need to know to be responsible digital
citizens. When the teachers are working with the kids on the computer the students are hearing
the same message throughout the school so the skill lessons are universal in the building. The
author also stated that she is looking ahead and her goal for the elementary school is to make
sure the students are ready to be good digital citizens when they go to middle school.
This article is helpful in that it shows elementary school teachers that it is not too early to
start teaching students to be good digital citizens. Many times teachers in elementary schools
think students are not ready or they are too young for certain skills, when it comes to technology.
This article shows that if you scaffold the skills and information by assigning skills to each grade
level and having the grade level skills build on one another then even the youngest students can
learn to become good digital citizens. The other positive in the article is that the author did not
just focus on helping the students; she started with showing the teachers what needed to be done.
This is a good plan because all teachers in the building are on the same page and teaching digital
citizenship skills using the same language. By introducing the model this way the author is able
to have the entire faculty on board with supporting students in using technology. The plan in this
article was simple to follow and any elementary school wanting to teach students to be good
digital citizens could easily implement this in their school.

Young, C. & Rasinski, T. V. (2013). Student-produced movies as a medium for literacy
development. The Reading Teacher, 66(8), 670-675.
Professional Practice Article
The article tells how a second grade teacher helps his students practice reading and
comprehension skills by having them create scripts and turn them into movies. The article
describes how the teacher used eight phases to help students learn and complete the process of
creating a script and movie. In phase one the students are asked to create their own groups based
on story genres and share the groups purpose with the class. Phase two has the students
working in groups to develop ideas for a script based on a text that they have read. During phase
three the students begin the script with title, characters and a brief summary. In phase four the
students create a storyboard which includes location and props that they will need to make the
movie. Phase five requires the students to create the script. While creating the script the
students must take turns in writing and editing their scripts. Conferencing with the teacher
happens during phase six. The students use this time for final editing and setting up a date for
filming their movie. Filming and postproduction happen in phases seven and eight. The movie
is filmed and then the video clips are downloaded to the computer and computer editing software
is used by the students to create the final movie. The teacher demonstrates the editing software
before the students begin and this helps reduce the amount of time that it takes to edit the final
product. After all the movies are created and edited the students have a premiere of their movies
and then a reflection time to discuss what they learned by completing the project. The purpose
of the teacher doing this project with his second grade students is that he is able to incorporate
literacy skills with Blooms taxonomy which has students using higher order thinking skills and
makes their learning more meaningful.
This article shows a wonderful way to engage and motivate students to use needed
literacy skills in school. This project is one that could definitely be done at any grade level with
the teacher scaffolding the learning of the different projects. In kindergarten students couldnt
write their own script but they could use a script already written to create a movie. This would
help kindergarten students with their reading and fluency skills at a beginning level. Another
way this project supports learning is by having students use higher order thinking skills found in
Blooms taxonomy of learning. In order for students to complete this type of project they are
going to have to analyze and comprehend text as well as apply their learning to create the script
and movie. The project helps make students learning more meaningful and useful to them. This
is a project that motivates students to dig deeper in their literacy and learning skills to create the
final project.



















Boeglin-Quintana, B. & Donovan, L. (2013). Storytime using ipods: Using technology to reach
all leaners. TechTrends, 57(6), 49-56.
Research
The purpose of this research article was to discover the effects that using technology
(iPods) has on reading in young students. The literature that was reviewed focused on using
technology which promoted Language, Reading and fluency (p. 50). The literature also focused
on how technology motivated students in the area of Reading, vocabulary and English Language
Learner (ELL) Reading support in the home. The literature stated that it can increase motivation
and give the students more confidence by being able to read a book several times. The article
said that students vocabulary skills can benefit from read aloud opportunities and that students
motivation for reading was increased with home support (meaning being read to 3 to 4 times a
week or more). The summary of the literature review was that there are benefits to being read
aloud to or being able to listen to a story when it comes to vocabulary achievement. The
researchers used participants that were from a local elementary school in California. The
participants were kindergarteners in one classroom that did not use much technology. The
technology used in the classroom was mainly by the teacher for conducting daily tasks. The data
collection tools used was a survey and a vocabulary test. The survey was given to the parents of
the children participating in the study which looked at reading in the home and the frequency of
books read in the home. The vocabulary test was the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 4
th

edition. The methods that the researcher used was to randomly place the students into two
groups, one group was the non-iPod group and the other group was the iPod group. The iPod
group consisted of nine students and the non-iPod group consisted of seventeen students. The
reason for this distribution was that they wanted the iPod group to have complete access to the
iPods and there were only nine iPods available for this study. The stories that were on the iPod
were podcasted by the researcher. The data analysis for this study was done according to the
guiding questions of the study. The analysis looked at home reading routines related to ELL
students, influence of motivation on vocabulary achievement, access to literature, the influence
on vocabulary achievement and the influence of technology on motivation. The results showed
that 80 percent of ELL students were not being read to at home and they had little access to
books in the home. The results for the influence of motivation on vocabulary showed that by
using the iPods students were more motivated to complete a story than those that were reading
silently by themselves. The study showed that students who had access to books on a regular
basis scored two school months growth on the vocabulary test used in comparison to no access to
books. As far as the impact of using electronic media on vocabulary comprehension, there was
no observable difference on the vocabulary test. The discussion of the article stated that while
observing students, those that had access to the iPods tended to complete a story while those that
didnt have iPods tended to just flip through the pages of a book and look at the pictures. The
study found that by incorporating the iPods students showed more interest in books. The
researchers also found the students who were listening to books that related to the topic of study
in class were able to more confidently participate in the class discussions. The conclusion of the
research stated that more was learned from the observations and home surveys during the study
than the vocabulary test. The students increased their motivation to read by using the iPods and
the students were able to participate more with classmates on story discussions during the school
day.
The article gave important information on how technology can motivate students in
reading and learning. Technology is something that is part of the students world and by using
technology teachers are helping students to learn using tools that are familiar and engaging for
them. This article also showed that as important as technology is for students in todays classes
it does not replace the good teaching that comes from involved caring teachers. Teachers need to
realize that it is important to guide and support students learning each day and this can be done
by incorporating technology into the everyday classroom setting. A last item that was important
in this article is how technology can be used to bridge the language gap with ELL students.
Parents of ELL students many times want to help their child learn, but due to the language
barrier they are not always able to in the home. This article showed that using the iPods can help
bridge that home school gap and give ELL students confidence to discuss stories when they are
in school.





Martin, S. F., Shaw, E. L., & Daughenbaugh, L. (2014). Using smart boards and manipulatives in
the elementary science classroom. TechTrends, 58(3). 90-96.
Research
The purpose of this research was to identify how prepared elementary school teachers are
to teach science using SMART Boards and manipulatives, and to improve how well universities
are preparing the students to teach science using technology and manipulatives. The article
referred to literature that discussed the importance of incorporating technology into the lessons
for students. The literature discussed how interactive white boards help promote collaboration
in the classrooms along with solving the problem of the one computer classroom where
interactive whiteboards help all members of the class see the educational material being used in
the classroom. The research had four objectives: (1) identify how prepared elementary
classroom teachers are to teach Science, (2) identify how prepared the teachers are to use
SMART Boards, (3) identify how prepared teachers are to use science manipulatives in the
classroom and (4) identify the how often the teachers used the interactive white boards and
manipulatives and the reasons for using or not using the interactive whiteboards and
manipulatives. The method the researchers used for this article was a survey given to elementary
school teachers in one school district in the southern part of the United States. The surveys URL
address was emailed to the principal with directions to have the faculty complete the survey at
their earliest convenience. The results of the survey showed that 37.4% of the faculty considered
themselves to be tech savvy, 56.6% said they knew enough to be fairly confident and the
remainders were either not confident or stayed away from technology completely. Results from
the survey also found that 96.3% had a SMART Board in their classroom. The use of the
SMART Boards showed that 83% used it on a daily basis, 30.1% used it as a main source of
instruction and 33.6% allowed students to use the boards to solve problems. In the area of
science instruction 24.4% used the SMART Board at least 3 days a week for science instruction
and 22.2% were using the SMART Boards daily for science instruction. Only a small number
said that they do not use the SMART Board at all for instruction. Of the faculty surveyed 40.9%
used manipulatives and hands on activities in their science instruction. The reasons for using
manipulatives was that it had shown to be a way to interest the students and that the hands on
activities were useful (p. 94). The reasons for not using manipulatives for science instruction
were that the materials were limited and that it was time consuming to set them up and put them
away afterwards. Teachers in the research said that it was easier to use the SMART Board for
science because the programs supported the instruction and it was easier to set up than the
manipulatives. The teachers stated that science often comes second to reading and math
instruction in the classrooms. Information from the survey showed that the SMART Boards
were wonderful, but they didnt take the place of quality hands on instruction in science (p. 95).
The conclusion of the research article is that technology is a main part of teaching in the
classrooms surveyed. The authors stated that because of the results of the survey the university
has a better understanding of attitudes and preparedness of teachers in the area of technology.
This article made some interesting points about how teachers look at technology and
manipulatives in the area of teaching science in the elementary school setting. Teachers stated
that often science comes second to reading and math. This is something that is found in many
schools today. Teachers want to teach science but due to standards and demands of them they
feel that there is not enough time to get everything into a day. This reasoning goes along with
why more teachers do not bring out manipulatives when it comes to science instruction. Many
teachers find that using technology teaches the students the concept without spending time taking
out, setting up and doing actual science experiments. Teachers know that the hands-on-
manipulatives and experiments are important but again due to time constraints technology is
being used to cover the objectives in a way that is more time efficient. The article also showed
that for the most part teachers have a positive attitude and are willing to use technology in their
classrooms, even when they do not consider themselves tech savvy. There are very few teachers
that absolutely will not use technology in their classrooms today. This shows that teachers are
willing to change the way they are teaching in todays digital world to help meet the needs of
their students. Many teachers are willing to attempt to incorporate technology, but most of them
who dont consider themselves tech savvy would like professional development training to help
support them in using the technology in their classrooms.






Ward, D. (2014). E-reading and children: Is new technology improving reading skills? A look at
the recent research. Reading Today, 31(5), 10-11.
Theory-into-Practice Article
This article discussed the use of e-readers in both the classroom and in the home. The
article began by posing questions that need to be thought about when considering using e-readers
with children. The author stated that a report in the School Library Journal showed that what is
being spent on e-books in the United States schools has nearly double from the 2012-2013 year.
The author goes on to state that outside of school children are reading favorite books using some
type of tablet, where in schools the children are conducting research with the e-reader tablets.
He goes on to ask if all this information means that an impact is being seen on children as
readers. The article lists several research studies that have shown positive results in supporting
struggling readers with features that can be found on the devices such as text-to-speech and
dictionaries. Another study that was mentioned in the article told of how in the home parents
were surprise that after being given the e-reader a child showed an increase in motivation to read
and even chose reading over television. Other studies cited in the article showed how struggling
readers showed improvements in attitudes about reading, but that adults needed to be cautious to
make sure the child was not distracted by the features of the e-reader and not relying heavily on
the e-reader to the point they were not using reading strategies. The article did state that when
looking at reading comprehension using an e-book and a print book that there was no statistically
significant difference. Another study cited that boys tend to be distracted by the device and did
not perform as well as when they were using print text. The conclusion of the article stated that
investigations using e-readers is continuing and that research does show benefits. The benefits
are seen is boys and struggling readers when distracting features are turned off and the devices
are not overused. The article does state that adults need to continue to observe and monitor
childrens use of e-readers and not hope that the technology tool will increase reading motivation
or ability on its own.
This article stated a point that has been seen in many other articles. Teachers and parents
need to monitor the students and adults cannot assume that just because a student is using
technology that they are learning or their abilities are growing. Adults need to be involved while
students are working with technology so that students can be shown how to make wise decisions
while using technology and make sure students are learning while using the different
technologies. Another point in the article that was interesting is the distractions that can be
found on the different e-reader devices. The devices are wonderful and distractions can
actually be used to help students, but teachers and parents need to model how to use these
features so that the student is able to get the most learning out of the e-reading devices. Last,
motivation with reading and using devices is important. If the e-readers are helping to motivate
students to read that is great. Teachers so often have difficulty getting students to become
readers especially if they are struggling readers. The e-reader devices can support teachers in
getting students hooked on reading, which is a definite benefit with using them in and out of
the classroom.





















Revelle, G. (2013). Applying developmental theory and research to the creation of educational
games. News Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2013(139), 31-40.
Theory-into-Practice
This article discusses how Piagets constructivist theory of development has been applied
to computer games that children are playing. The article begins with explaining how childrens
motor and cognitive skills play a role in how they are able to interact and play with the games.
The mouse was the first type of interface reviewed in the article. The mouse was shown to be
difficult for the children to use because it was less direct, less accurate and it took the children
longer to move to the target than adults. This was found to change some when they made the
target size larger for the children. The article discusses how researchers have found alternate
interfaces for children over the mouse to help children have more interactive experiences with
the games. One type of interface is the touchscreens. The article states that more research
needs to be done on this type of interface, but that it is hypothesized that it should be the easiest
interface for young children to use when playing games. The next type of interfaced looked at is
whole body movement. This is shown to be consistent with the theoretical construct of embodies
cognition, which is the idea that learning is heavily influence by movement (p. 34). The idea of
interacting physically with the game has the potential to support learning for children. Also, full-
body movement in games is linked to engagement and social interaction for children (p. 34-35).
The article states that children have a need to move for pleasure and a game using full body
movement helps increase learning in a fun way for children. The article shows how child
development and game features can be closely related. Games offer leveling and hints when
playing, this supports the idea of scaffolding, which is an effective tool in helping children learn
that is used by teachers and parents. The article also discusses how the games support
motivation and desire for children in wanting to play games. The games offer an intrinsic
motivation for children. Researchers stated that not one single motivator stands out as a main
reason of the intrinsic motivation. Students who are intrinsically motivated do well in school and
games that are created that support this intrinsic motivation help children with this goal. Game
designers are using this information when creating games that children play in school and at
home. The information is helping game designers improve games and increase learning and
engagement for children.
This article was interesting in the fact that so many schools are providing educational
games for students to play that help support their learning each day. The information in this
article shows that the games that are helping children are at an appropriate developmental and
cognitive level when it comes to learning. The game designers are creating games that not only
help a child mentally, but physically when it comes to interacting with the game. The article
showed that games can be used to help support childrens intrinsic motivation. Many times
teachers hear from students comments like what am I going to get if I do this, and that is not
helping create a lifelong learner. Games that help promote intrinsic motivation while at the same
time helping children learn will probably have more of an effect on their learning in the future
than someone giving them a dollar or a piece of candy for doing well on an activity or test. Also,
the games that scaffold childrens learning are helpful in supporting how they learn. Games that
have levels where the lower levels are simple and the higher levels are harder help encourage
children to play more and learn more. Teachers scaffold childrens learning every day which
gives students a confidence that when they put forth the effort they can learn the skill.
Information has stated that praise for effort is likely to encourage a growth mind-set, which gives
kids the desire to attempt or make an effort to complete a task. A fixed mind-set in a child does
not give children a desire or confidence when it comes to learning and the child is less likely to
attempt a task if they think it is too hard for them. Teachers and now games can help support
children and hopefully give them a growth mind-set to continue to learn and grow.











Hopper, S. B. (2014). Bringing the world to the classroom through videoconferencing and
project-based learning. TechTrends, 58(3), 78-88.
Theory-into-Practice
This article describes how classrooms in Texas used videoconferencing and project-based
learning to help their students with collaboration and communication skills through the use of
technology tools. The project involved kindergarten through eighth grade students but for this
article the author focused her information on just the kindergarten through fourth grade classes.
The article began with discussing what videoconferencing is and how it allows two or more
groups to come together using technology tools to learn information, learn about other places and
cultures and support the schools curriculum. The research shows that project-based learning can
increase academic skills, motivation, collaboration and engagement in learning (p. 80). Project-
based learning also helps encourage a constructivist approach to learning in the sense that it
supports critical and creative learning skills, and supports students in building on background
knowledge. The article describes how the projects were designed and implemented in the Texas
school. Each project was curriculum driven and the teachers worked with a
technology/curriculum administrator to design the projects. When the project designs were
completed the curriculum administrator contacted international schools through various means
and initiated communication with possible partner schools. The teachers then used
videoconferencing to meet and discuss ideas for the project. After the project was established
the curriculum administrator helped in creating timelines for the projects and lessons.
Descriptions of the projects in kindergarten through fourth grade were outline in the article. In
kindergarten the project was that the students learn about butterfly migration with a school in
Mexico. The students in both schools emailed paper butterflies back and forth at different times
of the year to simulate the butterfly migration. Each kindergarten class did projects and shared
them with their partner classes. In first grade the project was called the Teddy Bear Project to
help students learn what it means to live in another culture. The classes exchanged teddy bears,
wrote journal entries that shared what the teddy bears did and what they were experiencing while
in another culture. In second grade the project was the tulip project which helped students learn
about the planting season in a different area. The students monitor the tulips planting and
growing, and the seasons in the two areas. The students shared things about themselves as well
as their learning information. In third grade the project was called the NASA Moon project. The
project was to help the students in both Texas and Wales learn about space and the visibility of
the moon in both locations. The third grade students in both places were able to do a three way
conference with NASA to help support their learning goals. In fourth grade their project was call
the Trinity River project and the classes studied about the differences in water quality in two
different location on the Trinity River The students were able to video conference to share
results of their scientific study on the water quality and they created podcasts to communicate
information to the other school. All projects were given an overall global score. The score was
determined by the skills demonstrated over the course of the project. The projects all received
scores between four and fifteen. The lower scores were due to not using as many
communication tools or the effective use of technology. The higher scores were due to the
projects meeting learning objectives, student interactions, cultural diversity, use of
communication tools and effective use of technology. The article stated that educators are
continuing to look for ways to bring in 21
st
century skills and that global projects provide one
way to meet this goal.
This article is a good starting point for schools, school districts and teachers who want to
incorporate 21
st
century learning into the classrooms. The rubric shown in the article is a good
tool for schools to use when planning a project such as this one done in Texas. The rubric
included not only use of 21
st
century skills, but also makes sure that the students are learning the
basic curriculum skills that are needed for that school year. The projects were built on
curriculum needs that teachers were comfortable teaching. This was a good design because as
the article stated not all teachers are comfortable with the technology being used, so the teachers
were able to use curriculum they were comfortable with and technology that they had to learn.
This prevented teachers who were not comfortable with technology from being too overwhelmed
by the project. In the article it stated that in kindergarten through second grade they were more
interested in doing yearlong projects, where in the third and fourth grade classes the projects
were shorter in length. They contributed this to the fact that in the lower grades the learning is
centered more around thematic units where in the older grades it is more curriculum based. This
is an idea that would be fairly consisted in many schools which would make this type of project
flexible for the schools and teachers, but beneficial for learning and teaching 21
st
century skills.