Integrating Literacy and Technology Literacy Instruction in Preservice Education
Terence Cavanaugh, Curriculum and Instruction, University of North Florida, USA tcavanau@unf.edu
Abstract: Today’s new definition of literacy includes reading from computer screens, and includes media, technology, information, and other critical literacies going well beyond reading words on paper. It is possible to integrate and support reading literacy through technology literacy. One place this can be done is in the introductory educational technology class. In this course students participate in technology enhanced literacy and literature activities as they are learning about technology integration. Reading literacy activities that have been infused with technology include, readability, electronic book reading, evaluation, and selection, literature circles, and reading lesson development.
The New Reading Teacher
A common phrase in today’s PreK-12 education program is that “every teacher is a reading teacher,” and according to the ISTE standards, so too are we now expecting that every teacher is a technology teacher. In order to better prepare teacher candidates concerning literacy instruction, their undergraduate programs need to infuse literacy and technology concepts throughout a candidate’s program. This paper describes how in one preservice teacher educator course on educational technology, teacher candidates receive hands-on experiences in integrating technology into literacy activities.
Reading difficulties make educators, schools, and students frustrated. A national longitudinal study estimates that more than seventeen percent of young children will encounter a problem learning to read (NCITE 1996). The 1994 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) report indicated that all schools in the USA have a number of children who are failing the task of learning to read, with 42% of fourth-graders, 31% of eighth-graders and 30% of twelfth-graders reading at a "below basic" level (NAEP 1998). To achieve goals for student abilities in reading, teachers can assist students by integrating technologies (NIFL 2002). As reading is a basic component of most educational activities, then providing alternative formats, scaffolds and supports for those activities becomes necessary to be able to reach all students. Preparing today’s teacher candidates to integrate technology as literacy tool by providing literacy and technology experiences should better prepare them for the concepts and the students they will have to teach.
An additional aspect is today’s reading student. The modern student is a member of what is called the Millennial Generation, children who were born between 1982 and 2000. These students have a radical difference between them and previous generations, for they have come of age along with communication technology resources, like the internet. These millenials see the internet as something that has always been available to them, with free and ubiquitous information that they can access at any time (Patrick, 2004). People can be in a community which is a digital place of some common interest, such as a discussion group or blog, and not just people who share a physical space. Additionally, across the United States and in many other countries, the percentage of special needs students served in an inclusive setting along with non-disabled students is rising. Educators must be able to adapt, make accommodations, or adjust the educational material to make it work for the student, allowing them access to the materials.
The New Literacies
Literacy, traditionally or historically, has focused on the ability to read words on paper from materials such as books, newspapers, and job applications. In 1991 the United States Congress, with the National Literacy Act, in essence redefined literacy to include "an individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English, and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one's goals, and develop one's knowledge and potential" (NIFL 1991 “What is the NALS?”). Here we see the melding of what were two literacies – print and technology – into a new literacy.
The general concept of literacy is changing. This new paradigm for literacy goes beyond paper based, to include reading from computer screens and personal devices, and to include media, technology, information, and other critical literacies (Semali 2001). The internet and other forms of information and communication technology (ICT), for example word processors, web editors, presentation software, and e-mail, are redefining the nature of literacy. In order for a student to become fully literate in today's world, he or she must become proficient in the new literacies of ICT. Educators should integrate these technologies into today’s literacy curriculum in order to prepare students for the literacy future. The International Reading Association (IRA) believes that much can be done to support students in developing the new literacies that will be required in their future. IRA (2002) states that students have the right to:
· have teachers who are skilled and effective at using new literacies for teaching and learning;
· a literacy curriculum that integrates these new literacies into the instructional program;
· instruction that develops these literacies for effective use;
· assessment practices in literacy that include electronic reading and writing;
· opportunities to learn safe and responsible use of information and communication technologies; and
· equal access to information and communication technology.
The Literacy Gap
Research has found that most internet-using students say their teachers don't make good use of the web as a classroom tool. In a study commissioned by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap Between Internet-Savvy Students and Their Schools, many schools and teachers have not yet recognized the new ways students communicate and access information, and students experience a drastic disconnect between how they personally use technology, such as the internet, and how it is used in schools. In many situations, today’s students feel that the assignments given at school actually discourage them from using the internet as much, or as creatively, as they would like (Levin & Arafeh 2002). From this author’s interviews of teacher candidates and their experiences, it was found that their own educational experiences are lacking concerning technology integration in education. Add to that lack of background technology integration experiences the fact that many support text material do not include integrated technology either. An analysis done by this author of a commonly used text book on middle school reading instruction, involved searching for common technology terms. The results from the search of the entire book found that the words “technology” and “eBook” do not occur on any of the 318 pages of the text. The word “internet” is only used once in the entire book as a resource location and while the term “computer” occurs seven times, only once is it discussed a tool for student use, and that once as a tool for students to use to write references. The problem for many of our future teachers is a disconnect between the subject material and technology integration. Even though these teacher candidates may have grown up in a digital age, they do not have a background of digitally integrated education. Research has shown that teachers beginning their careers who have graduated from teacher education programs that have a strong focus on reading instruction tend to provide richer literacy experiences for their students than those who attended institutions without such an emphasis (International Reading Association, 2001). It is important to integrate literacy experiences for these preservice teachers to take with them as they begin their careers. To better prepare teacher candidates, the International Reading Association (IRA 2002) recommends that teacher educators should:
Using the technology integrated approach with literacy instruction should help better prepare teacher candidates for their future students. Integrating internet and computer applications into assignments, such as the literature circle, should provide direction and effective integration of technology for student success.
Literacy with Technology
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (2000), in their National Reading Panel Report, technology has implications in education for reading instruction:
The report also states, that the “rapid development of capabilities of computer technology, particularly in speech recognition and multimedia presentations, promises even more successful applications in literacy for the future" (p. 6-9). In terms of the literacy instruction and classroom design technology can provide a way for students scaffold or enhance their reading experiences. Teacher candidates then will need experiences in how this can be done.
In the introductory educational technology courses at the author’s institution, a number of selected literacy activities have been chosen and infused with technology for use in the course. These activities include analyzing and adjusting electronic texts for readability, planning and developing classroom activities using electronic texts or eBooks, and using a technology enhanced literature circle activity as part of the class.
Readability
Schools rely heavily on printed reading materials as instructional tools, so it is important that teacher candidates become aware of options that they have to adapt or accommodate the text material for students. These text adaptations can have significant impact on students’ success with reading. In their readability activities teacher candidates use technology tools to assist in helping students with the reading materials, by analyzing and adapting them. First they use a readability statistics analyzer program which is part of a word processor to analyze student reading materials for appropriateness at the student’s level. Then they adjust the text appearance, understanding that simple things such as font, size, and spacing all can have an effect on how students access the text. Next they apply a tool that takes the written material and creates an executive summary or abstract, decreasing the length of the reading material.
eBooks
EBooks are forms of electronic text containing many features, some of which can be classified as accommodations. The eBook itself has three different components, an eBook file, software to read the eBook, and a hardware device on which to read it: computer, laptop, or handheld. At no cost, using online resources it is possible to expand the classroom book collection to include digital picture books, read alouds, and audio books – at the same time making the books more accessible. Integrating digital libraries into classroom collections can expand classroom resources while providing interesting, motivating, and supportive reading resources. Teacher candidates evaluate electronic libraries for their grade levels, then select eBooks to use with their classes, and develop focused reading activities that use the eBooks for their students.
Technology Enhanced Literature Circle
The literature circle is a student centered cooperative learning reading activity for a group of four to six students at any grade level or subject area. Each member of a circle is assigned a specific role, with specific responsibilities, which are used to guide the group in a discussion of the text material they are all reading. Literature circles provide a way for students to engage in critical thinking and reflection as they read, discuss, and respond to books. The literature circle assignments or roles guide students to deeper understanding of what they read through structured discussion and extended written and artistic response. In this literature circle, teacher candidates are exposed to standard literature circle concepts with technology integrations that require the students to use technology tools such as search engines, paint programs, concept mapping software, and chat rooms in the discussion and analysis of a text.
Text-to-Speech
Educators need to be aware of scaffolding tools and materials that effectively integrate technology into the teaching of students with special needs. A Text-to-Speech system is one that reads text aloud through the computer's sound card or other speech synthesis device. Any text that is given the command to be read is analyzed by the software and then restructured to a phonetic system and then read aloud. During this activity teacher candidates use text-to-speech software in the forms of a talking word processor and a screen reader. With the talking word processor the students write and while they are writing the computer reads the material aloud. Such a system allows for students to process the information in another format as they create it. Using the screen reader programs students read texts as the computer displays the text materials and provides audio support. The use of a screen reader can have many advantages over plain printed text. The use of a Text-to-Speech program or screen reader can also enable students with poor or no vision or reading disabilities or difficulties to still have access to the information that they need.
Expansion
The specialized reading teacher is not the only one who needs awareness of literacy instruction and of how technology can support activities such as reading. All teachers are now likely to encounter mainstreamed special needs students and students with reading difficulties. As the education of all students occurs more frequently within the standard classroom in the inclusion environment, the concepts of teaching and learning that incorporate technology approaches and accommodations become more important. In order for the learning, language and technology gaps to be closed, teachers need to be aware of and have experiences with effective technology integration methods to meet the needs of their students.
During their literacy activities students in the technology course use interactive/online dictionaries, make file attachments, complete audio recordings, use paint or drawing programs, construct concept maps using software or web sites, and complete a variety searches. Additionally students interact with other students using chat rooms, discussion boards or blogs and digital white boards. Using this technology enhanced literacy approach, students working in groups have experiences with literacy concepts in a teaching situation and in all six Technology Foundation Standards for Students from the ISTE NETS:
Students from the course have commented that they have used the literacy activities for themselves in their college courses. The traditional literacy courses now also are working on infusing more of the technology literacies with projects that include readability stats, children’s book evaluation, developing audio books, incorporating electronic books and electronic libraries. The use of the electronic children’s books has given an added bonus to the teacher candidates by making substantial cost and convenience savings for the student. Currently the reading and technology instructors are developing a focused reading and technology course for graduate students.
References:
International Reading Association (IRA), (2001). National commission on excellence in elementary teacher preparation for reading instruction. Paper presented at the annual convention of the International Reading Association, New Orleans, LA.
International Reading Association (IRA), (2002) Integrating Literacy and Technology in the Curriculum: A position statement. Newark, Delaware.
ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). (2000). National Educational Technology Standards for Students: Technology Foundation Standards for All Students [Electronic Version]. Retrieved October, 2004, from http://cnets.iste.org/students/s_book.html.
Levin, D. and Arafeh, S. (2002). The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap Between Internet-Savvy Students and Their Schools [Electronic Version]. Retrieved October, 2004, from Pew Internet and American Life Project site http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Schools_Internet_Report.pdf.
National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). (1998). NAEP Achievement Levels for Reading 1992-1998. Available online at http://www.nagb.org/pubs/readingbook.pdf .
National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators (NCITE). (1996) Learning To Read/Reading To Learn Campaign; Helping Children with Learning Disabilities to Succeed. Available online at http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/programs/read.html .
National Institute for Literacy (NIFL). (2002). Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read. Available online at www.nifl.gov .
NIFL (National Institute for Literacy). (1991). The State of Literacy in America: Estimates at the Local, State, and National Levels [Electronic Version]. Retrieved September, 2004, from http://www.nifl.gov/reders/!intro.htm#C .
Patrick, S. (2004) The Millennials - excerpted from a speech presented at the No Child Left Behind – eLearning Summit. Orlando Florida. July 13, 2004.
Semali, L. (2001, November). Defining new literacies in curricular practice [Electronic Version]. Reading Online, 5(4). Retrieved October, 2004, from http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/lit_index.asp?HREF=semali1/index.html
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000) Reports of the Subgroups Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read. Chapter 6: Computer Technology and Reading Instruction [Electronic Version]. Retrieved September, 2004, from http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/report.htm.