Mental Health Awareness - a toolkit for supporting young minds
Technology impact
1. TECHNOLOGY IN RELATION TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT Presenter: Kelsey Welk West Fargo Public Schools ~ February 21, 2011
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3. Impact #1… Technology increases positive attitudes in teachers and students. Increase level of motivation Fewer discipline problems High Expectations Increase level of motivation (Southern Regional Education Board)
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7. Impact #3… Technology increases student test scores. When teachers incorporate computers into their instruction, students’ test scores increase.
8. Impact #4… Technology serves for helping teachers in their teaching styles. “ Lesson planning should focus first on content and classroom strategies, then on ways in which technologies can enhance the lesson.” (Brabec, p. 11) Technology Tools Uses Talk Board For students who struggle with communicating Document Camera For students who are visually learners and benefit from modeling Adapted Mouse For students with motor difficulties Amplification System For speech-impaired or hard of hearing students
9. Impact #5… Technology provides an increasing opportunity for student-centered instruction. Technology Tools Uses Word Processors (Word) Develop a variety of documents Spreadsheets (Excel) Organize and arrange data in a neat and efficient way Internet and other Search Engines Allows the capability to search for information PowerPoint Creating a presentation for a large group Clicker A device for large group assessment or class participation Smart Board Student interaction in teaching and learning
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Editor's Notes
Welcome! My name is Kelsey Welk, a Kindergarten teacher for West Fargo Public Schools. I am here today to present to you how technology has a positive impact on student learning and student achievement. I hope to provide you with key information in relation to current technology tools out there today that could benefit our students.
Throughout this presentation, I will be focusing on how technology influences student learning in a positive way. This applies to us as a district as we are moving towards 21 st century skills in our own teaching and technology plays an important part. Through my research on this topic I have come up with 5 main impacts that I will be focusing on. Technology… increases positive attitudes in teachers & students. increases higher-order thinking skills. increases student test scores. serves for helping teachers in their teaching styles. provides an increasing opportunity for student-centered instruction.
Research suggests a powerful impact on student learning when technology is integrated into curriculum. In Antionette Harvey-Woodall’s article, Integrating Technology into the Classroom: How Does It Impact Student Achievement, she states that students demonstrate higher levels of motivation and are more engaged when using technology in school. This contributes to improvements in achievement. The Southern Regional Education (2002) completed annual reports on “High Schools That Work” that are technology-rich environments that are showing improvement in student learning. It was stated that in Carlisle High School, students that held high expectations for themselves had an increase level of motivation and performed better in school. This also carried over into fewer discipline problems. I think we all can agree that students enjoy working and playing on computers as it can be very engaging. When students are given the chance to exhibit their learning in more ways then paper and pencil, students will in turn be more motivated and take pride in their work.
Dr. Schacter has trained thousands of teachers and administrators across the United States. In Dr. Schacter’s article, The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement, five studies were done to find positive impacts of technology on student achievement. A study by James Kuhlik (1994) performed research through a technique called meta-analysis to find results from computer-based instruction. His study found that students like their classes more and will develop more positive attitudes when their classes include computer-based instruction (Schacter, p.4) Jay Sivin-Kachala reviewed the effects of technology on learning. He found that students in technology-rich environments, students experienced greater achievement in major subject areas. Along with this, students attitudes towards learning and their own self-concept improved when teachers used computers as an instruction method.
A study (1998) was done on the state of West Virginia’s Basic Skills/Computer Education program to show the influence its technology has had on student achievement. A positive finding was concluded. The study found that with consistent student access to technology, there were positive attitudes towards the technology by both teachers and students. Also, teacher training in technology led to the greatest student achievement gains. (Schacter, p. 6)
Harold Wenglinsky’s National Study of Technology’s Impact on Mathematics Achievement found that eighth-grade students using higher-order thinking software showed gains in math scores up to 15 weeks above grade level. (Schacter, p. 7) Technology applications have been proven to educators to have valuable thinking tools available for all educational purposes. Cradler’s research in has shown that these tools support the development of higher-order thinking skills. An example of such programs would be interactive video programs, such as Jasper video software, to increase problem solving skills. (Cradler, p. 48)
James Kuhlik’s (1994) research found that students who learned from computer-based instruction scored at the 64% percentile on tests of achievement. This is compared to students who were instructed in controlled settings without computers scoring in the 50% percentile. (Schacter, p. 4) Wenglinsky (1998) studied data from fourth and eighth grade students who took the math section of the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). He determined that technology can have positive effects on students’ mathematics scores. Wenglinsky also concluded that these positive findings will occur when teachers are given adequate professional development and training on computers and various technology tools to use in one’s own classroom.
Harvy-Woodall states in her research paper that “…the use of technology can serve as a catalyst for helping teachers understand individual learning styles of the children they teach.” (Harvey-Woodall, p. 3) Some examples of such technology tools would be the student and teacher use of a talk board, document camera, adapted mouse, and a sound amplification system. These tools are vital in order for all students to succeed at their learning level. A Kindergarten teacher, like myself, may use PowerPoint to present a lesson on “Communities”. After students examine many different types of communities, a teacher might use a mapping software, such as Kidspiration, in a whole class activity where students will use a graphic organizer to show how communities are the same or different. (Brabec, p. 11). Teachers of higher levels, may introduce the program, TimeLiner, to their students in which students can use for summarizing and note taking when completing research projects or writing and proofing essays. (Brabec, p. 10) It is also communicated in her work the importance of professional development for teachers in order for them to understand how technology connects with the pedagogy and the content of the curriculum. Teachers need to focus on innovative ways to make the use of technology foster learning to get results. I would encourage West Fargo Public Schools to consider such type of professional development days in the future to help service the teachers in these necessary areas. To go along with this, the Southern Regional Educational Board noted that teachers who have more training are more likely to use Excel, PowerPoint, or a document camera, for example, and other high-tech tools in their classrooms when they feel better prepared.
The Southern Regional Educational Board featured 21 examples of “High Schools That Work” in how students are using technology to demonstrate learning. It was reported that students worked in groups and used the Internet to research and learn about the Depression and then used PowerPoint to create presentations to share with the rest of the class. Also students collected weather data from the Internet to create weather forecasts when learning about different types of weather. Windows Movie Maker and iMovie are examples of software tools for digital and media creation. Students can use these programs to create and share video presentations in a unique way. (Brabec, p. 10) Microsoft PhotoStory is a fun way for students to recreate stories or poems. Students can use this software program to write, illustrate, and tell a story to other classmates. Research has also shown that when students learn to use and apply applications like Word Processors and Spreadsheets, they acquire some of the prerequisite skills for the workforce. I strongly believe that it is our job as educators to introduce these tools to students early on and provide them with adequate practice and application to better prepare them for their future careers and to create life long leaners, as technology is always changing.
In conclusion, I would like to review the 5 focus areas I touched on today in relation to how technology impacts student achievement. Technology increases positive attitudes in both teachers and students. Technology increases higher-order thinking skills. Technology increases student test scores. Technology serves for helping teachers in their teaching styles. Technology provides an increasing opportunity for student-centered instruction. I hope that I was able to provide you with some insight on technology can play a very positive role in our teaching and learning today. Does any board member have an questions or comments to add to this presentation? Thank you for allowing me to present at tonight’s meeting. I appreciate your time and patience.
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