AB Charles Kelley

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Strategies for Teaching Basic Literacy to Adolescents Using InteractiveTechnologies

Charles S. Kelley

An Annotated Bibliography Submitted to:Dr. D. A. Battle of Georgia Southern University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for FRLT 7130 Y01

Spring 2010Friday, April 16, 2010

Statesboro, Georgia


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Strategies for Teaching Basic Literacy to Adolescents Using InteractiveTechnologies

There are many different interactive technologies that have been dedicated to

augmenting the learning experience of students. This Annotative Bibliography focuses on

those technologies that specifically help struggling or non-readers enhance their literacy

skills and hopefully will allow them to obtain a functional literacy level. The topic was

selected because I teach students that have cognitive impairments and are functionally

non-readers. The students have been instructed in tradition reading methods with little

results. I have decided to experiment with more interactive technologies in hopes of improving upon the marginal results given by the more traditional methods. Further

reinforcing my belief in the efficacies of interactive technologies is the relative mastery

of many technological activities such as surfing the internet and operating handheld

electronic devices by my students.

The narrowness of my topic provided some difficulties in selecting the articles for

review. I utilized Galileo journal search online with multiple search parameters to filter

out as much superfluous topics as possible. I also used my local RESA agency to find

additional articles for review.

Lovell, M. & Phillips, L. (2009). Commercial software programs approved for

teaching reading and writing in the primary grades: Another sobering reality.

Journal of Research on Technology in Education , 42(2), 197-216. Retrieved from

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019

b/80/46/6d/1d.pdf


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The focus of this article was to assess the efficacy of 13 software programs in terms of

providing assistance in the development of reading and writing for students in primary

grades. The authors expressed that the study was important because of the fact of

expanding technological use in the classroom. The article surmises that the impact of the

use of technology in the classroom has been minimal due to poor selection of technology

and implementation by teachers. According to the authors, the results should be used by

teachers to aid their selection of technology to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.

Sylvester, R. & Greenidge, W. (2009). Digital Storytelling: Extending thePotential for Struggling Writers. The Reading Teacher , 63(4), pp. 284-295. DOI:

10.1598/RT.63.4.3

The article detailed the use of Digital Storytelling as an alternative narrative format for a

diverse group of struggling writers. The authors suggested that the use of Digital

Storytelling scaffolded principles of traditional literacy for struggling writers and tapped

their understanding of alternate literacies such as visual and media literacies. The article

guided the reader through the process of creating a digital story. Lastly, the article

discussed the implications for the use of Digital Storytelling with students with various

reading and writing deficits.

Larson, L. (2009) e-Reading and e-responding: New tools for the next

generation of readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(3), 255-258.

DOI:10.1598/JAAL.53.3.7

The article explained the use of digital books and e-readers with elementary students and


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highlighted the use of some of the features such as digital highlighting, sticky notes and

voice notes. The article noted that all of the additional features offered with the e-readers

contributed to the extra motivation experienced by the students observed for the article.

The features also provided a means for the students to interact with the stories in a

literary way without the direct guidance of an instructor.

Parette, H., Boeckmann, N. & Hourcade, J. (2008). Use of Writing With Symbols

2000 software to facilitate emergent literacy development. Early Childhood

Education Journal , 36 , 161-170. DOI:10.1007/S10643-008-0270-3The article highlighted the use of Writing with Symbols 2000 (WWS) software with

students with emergent literacy skills. WWS uses symbols paired with text to help

facilitate associations between words and concepts. The article explains the function and

use of the 4 WWS components such as the Talking Symbol Processor and how they can

assist the emergent reader. The article then detailed several strategies that can be

employed utilizing the various features of WWS such as creating personalized story

books.

Mechling, L., Gast, D. & Krupa, K. (2007). Impact of SMART Board

technology: An investigation of sight word reading and observational learning.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 37 , 1869-1882.

DOI:10.1007/s10803-007-0361-9

This article focused on the use of computer assisted instruction in combination with SMART

Board technology to teach students with moderate intellectual abilities sight words. The group


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that selected for study was made up of 3 moderately intellectually disabled students all above the

age of 19. Sight words that would be found in a grocery store setting were presented in a

PowerPoint presentation in conjunction with pictorial representations. 4 different photographs

were shown with the target word in the center of the photographs. Students were asked to touch

the photo that correctly matched the word in the center. The instructor had programmed the

slideshow to advance only if the correct picture was touched. The rest of the article detailed the

results of the instruction and offered an explanation of the Constant Time Delay procedure used

in the trial.

Elder-Hinshaw, R., Manset-Williamson, G., Nelson, J. & Dunn, M. (2006). Engaging

older students with reading disabilities: Multimedia inquiry projects supported by reading

assistive technology. TEACHING Exceptional Children , 39 (1), 6-11. Retrieved from

http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/Content

Display.cfm&CONTENTID=7756

The authors of this article discuss the use of assistive technology for upper elementary students

with reading disabilities and particularly for use in inclusive classrooms. The authors focused

mainly on accessibility of text that is the basis for most instruction from upper elementary

onward. The article described a five step method for utilizing reading assistive technology and

multimedia presentation software to create expository presentations that develop various reading

strategy skills.

Apperly, T. (2010). What games studies can teach us about videogames in the English


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and literacy classroom. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy , 33 (1), 12-23.

Retrieved from

http://wf2dnvr8.webfeat.org/YDFtN1612/url=http://content.ebscohost.com/pdf23_24/pdf

/2010/3J3/01Feb10/48000985.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=48000985&S=R&D=a9h&EbscoCo

ntent=dGJyMNHr7ESeqK84y9fwOLCmr0iep65SsK64TbKWxWXS&ContentCustomer

=dGJyMOXp7Um549%2BB7LHjgfLt8QAA

The main concern of the author of this article is balancing the interactivity of videogames use in

a curriculum while maintaining the rigor of the curriculum itself. The majority of the article

describes key components to breaking down the narratives involved in videogames throughergodicity, encoding/decoding and ludology. The author focuses on how the consumer of the

videogames are active constructors of textual meaning and that the interpretation of the text is

influence by the prior knowledge of the viewer. Ultimately, the author states that the value of

increased enthusiasm for narrative and literary thought produced by videogames is substantial

enough for inclusion in the classroom.

Hasselbring, T. & Bausch, M. (2006). Assistive technologies for reading: Text-reader

programs, word-prediction software, and other aids empower youth with Learning

Disabilities. Educational Leadership , 63(4), 72-76. Retrieved from

http://wf2dnvr8.webfeat.org/YDFtN1717/url=http://content.ebscohost.com/pdf17_20/pdf

/2005/EDL/01Dec05/19270024.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=19270024&S=R&D=a9h&EbscoC

ontent=dGJyMNHr7ESeqK84y9fwOLCmr0iep65Ss6q4SbGWxWXS&ContentCustomer

=dGJyMOXp7Um549%2BB7LHjgfLt8QAA


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This article focused on use of Text-reader and Word-prediction software by students with

disabilities mainly in inclusive settings. The article stated that students with learning disabilities

are expected to perform near grade level in inclusion settings and that assistive technology

facilitates that expectation. The article stated that 80 percent of learning disabled students have

literacy deficits and it detailed the use of Read and Write Gold, Text Help to help inside the

classroom setting and the Read 180 program to help build reading fluency.

Englert, C., Zhao, Y, Collings, N. & Romig, N. (2005). Learning to read words: The

effects of internet-based software on the improvement of reading performance. Remedial and Special Education , 26 (6), 357-371. Retrieved from

http://content.ebscohost.com/pdf17_20/pdf/2005/RSE/01Nov05/18878799.pdf?T=P&P=

AN&K=18878799&S=R&D=a9h&EbscoContent=dGJyMNHr7ESeqK84y9fwOLCmr0i

ep69SsKi4TbGWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMOXp7Um549%2BB7LHjgfLt8QAA

This article discussed the results from two studies that measured the effectiveness of

Tele-Web, an internet-based reading software program, first with 4 students with reading

deficits and then with an entire first grade class. The Tele-Web program that the students

were exposed to focused on cloze style problems utilizing high frequency sight words.

The students completed these activities as part of a reading rotation schedule during their

assigned reading time. At three points of the year, the students progress was measured

by a STAR reading test. The results showed a general improvement in the students

reading abilities.

Implications for Applications to Educational Settings


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I learned a great deal from my research into technological assistance for students

with limited to basic levels of literacy mastery. Overall, there is a great number and

variety of programs and applications available for students struggling with basic literacy.

I feel that the major impetus for technology to be utilized to increase the level of literacy

mastery for struggling students is the actual implementation of the applications by

schools and, ultimately, by teachers

I am eager to evaluate the multiple literacies of my students detailed in the

Sylvester and Greenidges (2009) article and to use those literacies in the development of

new instructional strategies. I also will introduce the multiple-literacies concepts to theteachers in my department. I feel that teachers appreciate and understand the various

talents present in our students but are not always able to identify those particular talents.

The use of the SMART Board technology (Mechling, Gast, Krupa 2007) relies on the

development of one of these multiple literacies, the students visual literacy, and

highlights the skills present in most students at low literacy levels.

My research has further convinced me that the interactive, multi-sensory approach

to teaching students basic literacy skills is by far the most effective. The improved

motivation provided by the great interactive features of the e-readers (Larson 2007) and

the curriculum based video games (Apperly 2010) illustrate the importance of

incorporating the everyday interests and skills of our students into the curriculum.

Relying heavily on techniques that are familiar to our students and scaffolding the

content with applications such as Writing With Symbols (Parette, Boeckmann, Hourcade

2008) that feed off of students more developed, non-conventional literacies, seem to be

the path toward revolutionizing the literacy instructional approach.


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Because of the research I conducted, I feel like I now have many strategies to

share with the teachers at my school. Since I am the head of the Department of

Exceptional Students at my school, I have a whole department of teachers who work with

struggling readers and writers that I can train on the programs and techniques that I have

read about. My system has a fair extensive assistive technology department that offers

nearly every program detailed in my research which will allow me to fully implement the

strategies that I have read about and experiment with many more programs as they are

developed.

AB Charles Kelley

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