Literature+Review

**Literature Review** It is necessary to meet the students’ needs for learning in ways that engage and motivate. Since students experience the use of various kinds of technology in their non-classroom lives, teachers must include technology as a part of the teaching curriculum. It is vital that educators be knowledgeable in the field of technology and willing to use it effectively in the classroom. It is not enough that teachers have the knowledge of using technology but that they know how to incorporate it into their daily teaching. How technology is used in the classroom will vary from teacher to teacher according to the teacher’s own acceptance, understanding, and ability concerning technology (Hofer & Swan, 2006). On the negative side, the misconceptions teachers have can cause technology to be used ineffectively. Just having technology in the classroom does not mean that the particular technology will be used correctly or in the best way to benefit the student. The frontlines of the battle to improve education occur where teachers are thoughtfully integrating technologies into the classroom (Boling, 2006; Labbo, Place & Soares, 2010). Students are very familiar with various types of technology and are friendly and receptive to the use of it in the classroom. Because it more readily engages them in the in the daily effort of study, it should lead to greater achievement academic excellence (Barone & Wright, 2008). There have been promising studies done already to support this suggestion. In one study, a two-year project focusing on multilingualism, multiculturalism, and teacher development, fourth graders used // Comic Creator // and // Blogspot //in reading and writing. There were limitations, such as students’ inability to have their own customized profiles. Also, students responded only to the teacher instead of their peers, and in the same way they would have with pencil and paper. But even then, the teacher found after three years, 80% of her students had their own online spaces and were using Web 2.0 tools outside of the classroom (Handsfield, Dean, & Cielocha, 2009). Reading difficulties are a great concern in all grades, and these must be addressed for students to succeed in other areas of study. Schools seek programs that focus on teaching students to read fluently and with comprehension. There are adolescents who are experiencing reading difficulties, causing a crisis in reading abilities. This is in spite of the fact that technological advances are coming at a pace never seen before (Sternberg, Kaplan & Borck, 2007). Schools may have some of those technologies, but more research is needed to ensure appropriate programs using those technologies are added in schools to improve adolescent reading achievement (Sternberg, Kaplan, & Borck, 2007). There are many technologies that can be used in the literacy classroom. E-books have been used when budgets have not allowed purchasing of books. One program called AR (Accelerated Reader) enhanced the reading skills of students by allowing students to choose and read books on their level and take comprehension quizzes that earn points. The program was very successful in reaching inner-city children (Anderson & Balajthy, 2009). Elementary students have been included in studies that confirm that using technology such as podcasts in the literacy classroom resulted in student engagement. One study described the use of podcasts in fifth-grade reading classrooms as having improved student performance on vocabulary posttests. There were seventeen students and each owned an iPod Nano. The students completed assigned podcasts that included vocabulary words from each section of a novel that was being read in class. The students’ engagement was extensive (Borgia, 2009). Another study described the use of laptops in a fourth-grade classroom. The initial concern that prompted the use of laptops was that reading development using traditional methods had been slowing. This prompted an idea that reading interest could be kindled if students were exposed to non-traditional texts that normally cannot be obtained without technology. The authors concluded that in the areas of literary response and analysis and writing strategies, laptop use may have a slight positive effect (Suhr, Hernandez, Grimes & Warschauer, 2010). A case study has been completed and has found that academic achievement has been affected with the use of a program, // Make It-Take It After School //, that was developed for at-risk students who did not have access to computers. The study measured academic and participation levels and found that the technology of the afternoon program increased performance in both academics and participation (Amiri, 2009). Blogging has become popular among young people today because of the need to communicate with peers. Educators are finding the advantages of blogging for learning and sharing among colleagues and friends. The classroom teacher is searching for ways to engage students in learning and developing higher order thinking skills in the classroom. Educators have found that blogging enables students to improve communication skills by enhancing higher order thinking skills as blogging posts are read, and the information is analyzed and synthesized (Zawilinski, 2009). One reason for this may be that students feel that blogging allows them to freely discuss issues and learn about their peers’ ideas that may be different from their own (Wang & Hsua, 2008). Another study described the use of blogging in both a third grade classroom and a fourth grade classroom. The third grade students were asked to respond to a particular topic using blogging. The fourth grade students used blogging for online literature discussion. Both teachers of these students found that blogging was a productive way to increase participation and response (Boling, 2008). One explanation for this is that blogging encourages student participation in reading and responding to others who have opposing positions and ideas. This has the potential to improve analytical and critical thinking skills. Also, the very concept of teaching is changed from that of teacher to student to one of student to student or student to teacher (Ellison & Wu, 2008). Another result enhancing literacy is that students gained confidence and learning as they were better able to communicate with each other. The blogging experience promoted a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment of learning. For their part, teachers described blogging as a low-cost and effective tool to use in the literacy classroom (Huang & Liu, 2007).