Week 8 Blog Post

Kristen Brown

LBSU 302

Week 8, Assignment 2

October 24, 2015

It had been a long time since I had written a literature review and it felt good to write one again.  It’s not quite a paper, but still has your standard introduction, body and conclusion; where the flow really matters.  Connecting an intro and conclusion and then constructing the body to answer whichever question is in play.  Because it had been awhile since I had written a paper, it was difficult at first to get the hang of it again.  Developing a quick introduction that gets to the point but is clear in what the body of the paper is going to be about.  I was relived that my previous knowledge on paper writing came back to me quickly.  It was also helpful in my overall knowledge of my research question in putting everything together in one place.  Going over sources again and seeing how a source I picked out three weeks ago flows into a source I choose last week.   And to see how the progression of the research process took place over the eight weeks in this class.  Most of the sources that I had chosen matched up very well with aiding me in my research question.  As I was thinking about potential questions I still have regarding my research, which was how to integrate technology into a classroom to promote academic success, I think I would research what programs are out there that help in the integration of technology.  I would also look into programs for teachers as they learn how to efficiently use technology as a tool to engage children in their learning.

Week 7 Blog Post

Kristen Brown

LBSU 302

Week 7, Assignment 2: Blog Post

October 17, 2015

         One of the addition sources I found for the annotated bibliography was an eBook called Considerations on Educational Technology Integration: The Best of JRTE.  I found this book through the Leatherby Library.   It was book through ISTE:  the International Society for Technology in Education.  Author Lynn Schrum is a professor and coordinator of elementary education in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University.  So, I considered this a reliable source.  This book also had quite a bit of relevant information for my research on integrating technology into the classroom.   Including preparing teacher’s properly so they can help students achieve higher success in the classroom.   Integrating technology can help a student by accessing their ability and creating information based on their ability and prior knowledge.  Technology can help with how diverse students can be in their knowledge and ability.   This has helped me to see I need to look into more thoroughly if technology should be introduced into each individual subject and if so, does this mean different software for each subject.  How would teachers handle this new software?  Or is there a way to integrate technology in general to promote the same academic achievement in the classroom?  There is more needed to research this question to have a more thorough idea of integrating technology into a classroom.

How can technology be integrated effectively into a classroom to promote academic achievement?

Aesaert, K., Vanderlinde, R., Tondeur, J., & van Braak, J. (2013). The Content of Educational Technology Curricula: A Cross-Curricular State of the Art. Educational Technology Research And Development, 61(1), 131-151.

This was a peer-reviewed article taken from a journal in the Leatherby Libraries.  In this article I learned another angle to technology in the classroom.  Technology is so prevalent in life, but what about the children who do not have the basic knowledge for technology utilized.  Technology is such a prevalent aspect of life, why not teach the basics?  Why not begin teaching children in elementary school to utilize technology to promote their academic achievement throughout life? This has the potential to enhance my research by looking into the angle of not just utilizing technology in the classroom but implementing technology into the actual curriculum. 

Dagiene, Valentina & Valavicius, Eugenijus (2004).  Teacher Training via Distance Learning Focused on Educational Issues of Information Technology. Informatics in Education, Vol. 3, No. 2, 179-190.    https://doaj.org/article/8c4ca78faf6541b780b5e17e73bb1b8a

This article was taken from a journal from doaj.org. This article discusses the potential problems of applying information technology in education and in course planning.  It brings up the importance of teachers being trained in modern tools and modern technology as to promote success in the classroom.  This article also discusses how teachers can apply information technology in the classroom.  Through this article, I am beginning to understand that technology is seen as an overall positive addition to the classroom; however, it seems that to promote the best success, teachers need to have training or prior knowledge of technology to bring about that success.  Incorporating technology into course planning takes some addition time, taking into consideration that not all students have the same technological knowledge.   Integrating technology into the classroom takes both additional knowledge on both the students and the teachers side. 

Doty, D. E., Popplewell, S. R., & Byers, G. O. (2001). Interactive CD-ROM Storybooks and Young Readers' Reading Comprehension. Journal Of Research On Computing In Education, 33(4), 374.

This article was found in the Leatherby Libraries in an educational, peer-reviewed journal.  The idea of instructional technology causes quite a bit of debate with both teachers and parents alike.  A study showed the comprehension of a storybook was better with a CD-ROM version of the story versus a printed book.   The CD-ROM version was interactive and engaged the students on a deeper level than simply just reading the book.   However, teachers are still struggling with technology integration strategies and “only 43% of elementary teachers assign computer work frequently” (p. 372).  Most elementary teachers teach all subjects and finding a way to integrate technology can be incredibly time consuming when using different software’s for different subjects.  But as the study discussed above shows, bringing technology into the classroom on a regular basis could increase a child’s ability to learn and engage the child on an emotional level to motivate academic achievement.   This article brought to light more of the struggles faced by the teachers.  What problems they have when considering technology being integrated into their lesson plans. 

Schrum, L. (2011). Considerations on Educational Technology Integration: The Best of JRTE. Eugene, Or: International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE].

This eBook was found through the Leatherby Library.  It was book through ISTE:  the International Society for Technology in Education.  Author Lynn Schrum is a professor and coordinator of elementary education in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University.  This book discussed the use and integration of technology through games, educational software and networking equipment.  Studies of integrating technology and going through the barriers that still remain with technology in the classrooms were also talked about.  The book discuses the importance of schools with principal support and teacher collaboration around the use of software.  Having support with integrating technology is very important. 

Smith, G. E., & Throne, S. (2007). Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms. Eugene, Or: International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE].

This was an eBook found in the Leatherby database.  The author Smith from this article has written several different books on Differentiating Instruction with technology.  This book cited sourced from both the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology and a study by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.    The book discussed how technology could create more engaging and relevant learning that can lead to higher academic achievement.   It also spoke of how technology can improve success by adjusting to a student’s ability and prior knowledge. 

Wankel, L. A., Wankel, C., & Blessinger, P. (2013). Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Multimedia Technologies: Video Annotation, Multimedia Applications, Videoconferencing and Transmedia Storytelling. Bradford: Emerald Book Serials and Monographs.

This book discusses how the different types of technology is changing and shaping the classroom.  Not only can technology aide in the teaching aspects of curriculum but also transform the way students learn all together.  The book discusses not viewing technology as a distraction but as a way to motivate academic achievement.  There are many authors to this book: Dr. Laura Wankel, Dr. Charles Wankel, Ph.D., and Dr. Patrick Blessinger are a few of them.  After reading about each of them from the end of the book, I concluded that both their credentials and organizational affiliations are very qualified to speak on this subject.  The book came from the Leatherby Libraries and has a .edu URL which let me know its an educational website verses a public website.   Part of this book discussed “ learner’s abilities are formed to a large degree via their social interactions (p. 5) which can lead to the fact that multimedia has the potential to increase thought process and engage emotional interest and allow for a more interesting class experience.  I had not thought along the lines that technology could create a more interactive, interesting learning experience.

Wk 6, Assignment 2

Kristen Brown

LBSU 302

Week 6, Assignment 2

October 10, 2015

            As I read the lecture for this week, I came across several things I hadn’t really thought about before.  I knew about copyright and what that means but did not realize that it was taken into account with journals, articles and the like.  I had thought that as long as things were cited properly, then that was enough.  I was also not aware of the “Creative Commons licensing” being another form of copyright.  And with it, works can be reused to a certain extent.  The video “A Shared Culture” discussed the Creative Commons gives people a comfortable feeling using someone else’s work by still giving credit where credit is due.  It is a type of cultural exchange, which gives people a freedom in sharing. 

   I also found whether something is common knowledge or not interesting.  How, you could put something into a paper assuming it’s common knowledge when in actuality it is not, and doing this would be plagiarism.  It would be taking someone else’s idea as your own.   I did not know that “if you find the same information undocumented in at least five credible sources” (Purdue Writing Lab, 2011. Week 6 Lecture pg. 2) then it could be considered common knowledge.  Otherwise, it is considered plagiarism. 

            I found that utilizing the open access journals to be a little more difficult in refining the search to obtain usable search results.  It also made things a little more difficult wading through what was English and what was not.  But in the end, I was able to find results that were relevant to my research question and helped me to have a deeper understanding of the challenges in integrating technology into a classroom.  Even with the open access journals and articles being a little more confusing, I do think I would use this in the future for any research I may have to do. 

Week 5: Blog post

Kristen Brown

LBSU 302

Week 5, Assignment 2

October 4, 2015

            From the article this week I researched, I was introduced to the idea of not only utilizing technology in the classroom but also adding technology into the curriculum.  Most children these days have a basic knowledge of technology when beginning elementary school, so why not expand on that knowledge and teach the children to utilize that knowledge in the classroom and enhance their academic achievement.  This could promote not only success in the classroom but also in life.  How helpful would it be for children if they were taught how to decipher information on the web at any early age?  Technology has become an essential life  skill, so why not add it to the curriculum and bring it into the classroom to promote academic success.  It would also help those children who do not have the basic knowledge of technology and who are already behind on that essential skill.  Knowing the in and outs of technology at an early age could benefit a child exponentially.   My research skills are becoming much better as I utilized and learn the different areas of research.  The different databases available are pretty handy in digging deeper in a subject.  This is absolutely going to help me in the future with my education. 

Wk 4: Assignment 2

Kristen Brown

LBSU 302

Week 4, Assignment 2

September 26, 2015

I had mentioned in my previous blog post my desire to learn more about the struggles teachers face when dealing with integrating technology into the classroom.  My research this week helped me dig deeper into that aspect of learning.  Most elementary teachers teach all subjects and finding a way to integrate technology can be incredibly time consuming when using different software’s for different subjects.   However, studies have shown that classrooms that used technology, such as CD-ROM storybooks versus a printed book, saw a greater comprehension of the book through the CD-ROM version.  This study was conducted in 2001 so, today, technology has advanced passed the CD-ROM era into even more accessible tools that can be used with ease everyday.

For this research process, I utilized the chapman online library through the Academic Search Premier.  When initially beginning the search, I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of results I was given.   I narrowed the search down using the search for “Peer Reviewed” Journals and utilizing the thesaurus term available.   I also changed my word search to be more specific.  I was given significantly less results, which allowed me to skim through journal titles and dive into the articles within.    As I continue to conduct research on this topic, I hope to be able to find ways teachers have been able to integrate technology into the classroom without extensive training and using it to promote interactive academic achievement that also engages the students on an emotional level to enhance their learning from day to day.