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increased from that of the original paper logs. It is necessary for educators to be informed about the technology standards (ISTE) and components of digital citizenship in order to move forward with tech tools.
Keywords: blogs, communication, collaboration, technology tools, student engagement, digital citizenship
Some students also demonstrated collaboration with other students by commenting back and forth and asking questions about one another’s books. Students were required to blog twice a week and comment twice a week. As described above, during the second week of the study, the researcher recorded 27 out of 28 students participating in the online blog, however, six of those students forgot to comment.
Want to learn more about positive results of using blogging in the classroom to engage students and teach them 21st Century skills, you might want to read my research paper, How Do Communication and Collaboration Affect Engagement With Independent Reading? Literature Review
Each student’s reading volume affects his or her reading fluency and achievement. Daily reading is important to build both fluency and vocabulary. Is our nation doing all it can to ensure students are becoming proficient in reading? The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) (2015) results show that only 36% of fourth grade students scored at or above proficient in reading. The study also noted that these results were, “not statistically different from 2013.” Nationally, this is a very low percent of students scoring where they should be. If students are not being challenged or asked to think critically and interact with one another, then teachers are not preparing them for the 21st Century. Teaching practices need to be aligned to our Common Core State Standards by strengthening communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. READ MORE My literature review table is here
Additional Research Resources
Case Studies on Technology in the Classroom Research Paper Presentation IRB Proposal Teacher Readiness to Use Digital Tools
I surveyed the teachers at my school site to discover knowledge of technology standards, digital citizenship, and tech tools. The graphs below demonstrate the results. Click here to see the survey.
A reflection on research...
In the article on Edutopia, “Making the Case for Social Media in the Classroom” I liked how the initial question put out there was, "How can social media create real change in education?" and then the question got reworked by someone else to say: better topic... how will education keep up with social media and not be left in the dust? It must start with digital citizenship, and should begin in kindergarten. The technology standards and Common Core standards are a must while integrating 21st Century skills. It is time for districts to really start embracing technology and providing meaningful PD’s to train teachers so that it can be used wisely in the classroom. I really enjoyed the video by Rebecka of Instagram in the Classroom. There were some engaging ideas on how to have students go out into the world and take pictures on Instagram as part of an assignment. This would be engaging for students who have devices. When considering the critical issues discussed in the article, “The Case Against Social Media” (http://acampbell99.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/the-case-against-social-media-in-education-2) Some of the issues brought up in that article are critical issues that need to be addressed. First, teaching students to use the social media responsibly and also educating parents in this area to prevent any cyberbullying or inappropriate use. Second, making sure everyone has a device and that our districts bandwith can handle more people being on their devices. Also, we need to be aware of the fact that having students on their devices for too long can prevent certain types of learning. According to the article, “If students are engaging online rather than face to face they’re missing the chance to develop important social skills and other ways of learning. The presence of social media in school may be too distracting and prevent learning for some students.” We don’t want to lose sight of this critical issue. I would still hope that our students will be able to grow up and be able to socialize and interact appropriately in society. I really feel we must embrace technology and as stated in the Edutopia article, “It is our duty to our students to start modeling responsible use of social media and encouraging them to follow our lead. We can no longer afford the veil.” 
Research Poster presented in fulfillment of my Master's Degree. Click to enlarge. |
Design Process
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