As I first began this assignment my research topic was one that immediately popped into my head and was one that pertained directly to my role as a kindergarten teacher. I am extremely interested in the issue of retention in kindergarten and its effects on students in later years. It was easy for my to come up with the research topic, however, the challenge came when I was required to add a technology component to this area of study. As I searched for this link to marry the two topics, I discovered that I was breaking too far away from the topic that I was originally so passionate about and decided to search for a new topic for research. Well, this new path has led me again down a road that excites me and that I find quite interesting and relevant in this ever growing, technologically advanced time in education.
As an educator, it is important for me to be involved in programs that support my student’s learning and that are effective tools for student development. My school has recently adopted a technology based language arts intervention program designed for those students who are performing below their expected grade level benchmark. The program systematically teaches the critical phonological awareness, auditory processing, and introductory phonics skills required for learning to read and spell. It also develops general cognitive skills that support learning, such as attention and memory. In addition to addressing all of the previous skills, it also teaches language processing skills that are critical for extracting meaning from spoken language and written text.
This intervention program supports components of the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) act and I feel strongly that I should educate myself more on whether or not these programs indeed are effective and are making a large impact on the young students in my school.
I am looking forward to what I may discover about technology based language arts intervention programs and their role in student success.
Here is my problem statement:
I want to learn whether or not K-5 students who are given technology based language arts interventions have a higher level of academic success than those students who receive traditional language arts interventions without the use of technology.
Who: Kindergarten through Fifth Grade Students
What: technology based language arts interventions
Why: to discover whether technology based language arts interventions are more effective than traditional language arts interventions.
If anyone has any information or input on this topic of research or experience with language arts interventions, technology based or not, I would greatly appreciate your insight or suggestions in this area of study!
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Hi Jenny,
ReplyDeleteJust to ask a question that was also asked of me, "How do you measure academic success?"
I also want to mention that my grandson is a digital native and a kindergartner. He is pretty far advanced compared to his peers with respect to reading, but what is even more amazing is how easily he accommodates technology.
I think our youngest students should spend the biggest part of their day online, then add a couple of graham crackers, a nap, and lots of recess.
I'm sure many of us will have good information to share on language arts interventions. I am specifically working on Social Studies for eighth grade, but I will keep an eye out for anything you can use.
Allan
Jenny,
ReplyDeleteYou have a valid problem statement. I think that your research is important and you should be able to find quite a bit of data on this topic. I believe you should take a quantitative approach on this and see what you can come up with.
As for your research questions, you could look at what type of technologies are being used in the experiment, and what is the frequency that students are interacting with the technology. Good luck in your research. My wife is an elementary teacher also, so it will be interesting to see what you find.
Andrew