Amanda Allen

RESEARCH STUDY

Spring 2015

IND 403: New Literacies for New Learning Dr. Casey

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Introduction
Is it worth it? Is the integration of technology in the classroom worth it? Do elementary
students prefer to use new forms of literacy or do they like using pencil and paper to read and
write? I am doing a study to try and figure out what helps students learn in the most effective
way. As an elementary education major, I spend a lot of my time studying new and engaging
ways to teach students, and the use of technology comes up a lot. I am spending my time
studying new ways and finding engaging, purposeful websites and sources to help enrich my
knowledge. As I am learning new ways I am wondering the most important purpose of all of this,
what the students prefer? I always need to remind myself the purpose of why these new
technologies are even coming up as an idea to incorporate into my lesson plan and that is, are the
students gaining anything educational from this? Which is why I am doing a study on what the
students prefer to read and write on. What if what I am learning and what I think is helping, is
not actually helping the students at all?
Review of the Research
Children today are constantly surrounded with technology. They live in a world
enveloped by technologies and use technologies in their daily life which is evolving the
development of technology-integrated curricula that are developmentally appropriate for young
children and that help to bridge young childrens digital experiences at home and in school (Hsin,
Li, & Tsai, 2014 http://www.ifets.info/issues.php?id=65 ). Children are experiencing new ways
to read and write even before they are coming to school. Educators need to be aware of this
because the students will be expecting the new literacies they are receiving at home in the
classroom. Some researchers believe that the use of technologies may impede these childrens
social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development, while others support the use of

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technologies in improving young childrens development in the aforementioned domains (Hsin,
Li, & Tsai, 2014). It turns out that the impact of technology on childrens learning is conditional
by age, experience, time spent using technologies, and gender. In terms of childrens age, when
comparing the effect of the technology-related intervention on children of different age groups,
older children tended to outperform younger children (Hsin, Li, & Tsai, 2014). Others
researchers are saying, that using technology to help differentiate instruction helps students and
teachers collaborate with one another to meet the targeted goal. This can be done by using a
thematic unit. Students advance through the software consecutively by following the prescribed
path of instruction based on result of the assessment test (Cobb, 2010
http://www.infoagepub.com/qrde-issue.html?i=p54c3c6f281993 ). This allows students to go
back and review what they have trouble with without anyone noticing because everyone will be
working on what they need to focus on as well. Some argue that technology is distracting and
taking away students attention and achievement in the classroom, but it also can help achieve
attention and achievement. Teachers need to capture the attention of learners during a lesson,
irrespective of their learning style and, if learners tend to wander, teachers should be able to shift
rapidly to a new activity to capture it once again. It is therefore important to determine what
appeals to different learners during a lesson and in this context the use of technology would
certainly be an option to consider (Bester & Brand, 2013
http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.za/index.php/saje/article/view/405 ). Using visuals in the
classroom has been proven to increase comprehension scores. Bitter and Legacy who
investigated the effects of technology on reading comprehension found that learners tend to be
more intrigued with the visuals and animations offered by the use of technology. Students have
higher comprehension scores after reading the electronic stories versus reading printed texts

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(Bester & Brand, 2013). The purpose of all of this is tailoring a program to individual learners
and being able to keep their attention to enhance their comprehension skills.
Methodology
I created a survey for a 2nd grade reading and writing class to take. The questions I have
asked are: how do you like to read? , how do you like to write? , and if they find technology to
help them when they are learning or distracts them while they are learning. Next to each question
I added a clip art of the different answer choices. The answer choices for reading are: book,
desktop, tablet (iPad or kindle), cell phone. The answer choices for writing are: in a notebook, on
a desktop or google chrome book, on a tablet (iPad), on a cell phone. They also had to choose
whether they find technology helpful or distracting while learning (Appendix). Since the
population was 2nd grade, the survey had to be simple. Before administering the survey I
informed the students that this is not graded, it is your own opinion, and that this was optional. I
also read each question and answer out loud before handing it out and asked if they of the
students had any questions. I did this to make sure the instructions were clear and there werent
any misconceptions.
Results
For this study I surveyed 20 second graders. From the data I have collected I have found
out various ways students find technology helpful in the classroom and it seems like every
student has their own different opinion. Which I thought made sense because every student is
different. The 20 second graders I have surveyed all have the opportunity to use some technology
in their classroom during reading and writing. Out of the 20 students, 5 students dislike
technology all together and 3 students dont use technology to read and write but they find it

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helpful to their learning. So that means they might benefit the use of technology in other subjects
other than English. Interestingly, out of the 20 students 15 preferred to read with an actual book
and two students choose book and technology to read on. I believe this is because of the age
these students are currently at. They are still young and are still developing readers, therefore a
lot of their books are picture books or short chapter books. These students also have more access
to actual books then they do with eBooks. While with writing, 11 students preferred to write in a
notebook and 8 students prefer technology. Four students prefer to read with a book and write
using technology, and it is split down the middle when asked if it is helpful or distracting. For
reading it was a clear answer, but for writing there was a variety of answers. Two students prefer
using a desktop to read and write on, and they both found it helpful. Only one student prefers
reading and writing on a tablet and finds it helpful. Two students prefer to read with a tablet and
to write in a notebook, and one finds it helpful and the other finds it distracting. All of this data is
very interesting to me. The numbers still show that students prefer actual books to read with, but
the numbers for the use of technology are high as well. Also, 13 students find it helpful and 7
students find technology distracting. I wasnt sure what to expect with this response, but I think it
makes sense that there are still 7 students finding it distracting because this is a fairly new
concept in the classroom and not everyone is fully adjusted to using it yet.

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Data Collection
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Helpful

Distracting

Discussion
Based off of what has already been said and what I have collected from my data is that
students need to be stimulated in a variety of ways. This is not new to the education world, yet in
this new digital era there is a new meaning to the different variety of ways and students are still
trying to decide what they feel most comfortable with. From my own findings, students still
prefer to read from a book, but when asked about writing the playing field varied. This means
that students are interested in the new literacies and based off of the data they should become
more comfortable with reading and writing as their interest in the use of technology will continue
to grow. The second graders were still developing their independence as readers and writers and
as they become more independent they might find the use of technology even more helpful then
they already do. This matters because educators should be aware that younger students need to
be able to read and write with a pencil and paper or an actual copy of a book just as much as they

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need to have access to technology to do the same. Therefore, they need one to help with the
other.
Implications
By knowing all of this, educators are now able to enhance younger students learning.
Since most students are benefiting from the integration of technology in reading and writing, we
can now take what we are learning as educators and find a purpose for all of this. Is using
technology in the classroom worth it? I would say yes it is. Although it is crucial that one way of
learning doesnt outshine another, we can now take what we know about traditional reading and
writing and technology and use this in an early childhood classroom. Students will get frustrated,
but they also get frustrated the first time they learn how to read and write and its because they
are still learning. They are still developing their set of skills that they will be able to take with
them. They are also discovering what works best for them as readers and writers. As long as it
doesnt decrease engagement and it doesnt discourage the students then they will take what they
are learning and allow it to help develop and tailor their reading and writing skills to the level
best suited for them.

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Appendix
1. How do you like to Read?

A. Book

B. Desktop

C. Tablet (iPad or Kindle)

D. Cell Phone
2. How do you like to Write?

A. In a Notebook

B. On a Desktop or Google Chrome Book

C. On a Tablet (iPad)

D. On a Cell Phone
3. CIRCLE the sentence you agree with:

Technology helps me when I am learning.

Technology distracts me when I am learning.

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References
Brand, G. B. (2013). The effect of technology on learner attention and achievement in the
classroom. South African Journal of Education, 15.
Cobb, Aries (2010). To Differentiate or Not To Differentiate? Using Internet-Based Technology
in the Classroom. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 11(1), 9.
Hsin, C.-T., Li, M.-C., & Tsai, C.-C. (2014). The Influence of Young Children's Use of
Technology on Their Learning: A Review. Educational Technology & Society, 17 (4), 8599.