Using Technology as a

Tool for Better Literacy


TEXT - Chapter Ten, Brozo, W.G., & Simpson, M.L. (1999). Readers, Teachers, Learners: Expanding Literacy Across the Content Areas (4th Edition). New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.


ISSUES in CHAPTER 10:

Teaching and Learning Strategies that Integrate Computer Technology Across the Curriculum

In considering this issue we must look at, research and address several subject areas in our classrooms and schools. The advances in the use of technology across the wide band of school curriculum has increased dramatically in just the past five years and is expected to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Some of the most pressing areas for teachers to address are telecommunications, word processing for meaningful communication, and expanding learning in content classrooms with databases and spreadsheets.

Accessing and Assessing Computer Technology

In considering this issue we must look at the ever expanding and developing world of computer software and hardware. Accessing the Internet to gain knowledge about the newest programs that have been developed for a particular content area is one of the most simple ways to keep abreast of the latest and greatest tolls for your students.

Principals Guiding the Use of Computer Technology in Content-Area Classrooms

In considering this final issue we must look at each of the four principals closely.

PRINCIPAL 1 - Providing opportunities for Creative Uses of Computer Technology

The interesting and creative ways we as teachers can put computers to work in our classrooms may just make the difference in the learning levels that our students achieve. There are no strong numbers yet to support this supposition, but everyone that has surfed the Internet with a child, of any age, knows that they are enthralled. Anything electronic catches the eye of the youth in America today - cell phones, pagers, PDAs, computer games, etc. Instead of denying students that opportunity to use technology, we as teachers need to embrace technology and use this evolving tool towards better literacy in out students.

PRINCIPAL 2 - Use Computer Technology in Ways that Promote Critical Reading

Teachers must realize that the world has begun to move to a place where it is no longer necessary to read for content. The unfathomable amount of information readily available via technology has just begun to take the place of the printed word and it shows no signs of slowing down. The Internet is the best and quickest source for almost any piece of information that is needed by the students of today. Everything from AHo''s Amazing Atlas of Antibody Anatomy, to the complete works and criticisms of Shakespeare, to a copy of the poem entitled ""ZZZZZ"" by Carl Rakosi, is available at the click of a mouse. But how do we harness that overwhelming amount of information and sift through it all to find the things that our students can use to make learning more meaningful? By finding meaningful uses for the technology that students have readily available that enriches and strengthens their ability to read printed material critically via the traditional forms as well as the electronic forms into which it is morphing.

PRINCIPAL 3 - Use Computer Technology in Ways that Promote Authentic Communication

There are two schools of thought on this principal. Those that believe that students are getting more experience with the written word and developing writing skills because of new technologies such as e-mail, and those that believe that the cyber-language that has been created is actually damaging students'' ability to write meaningful communicative compositions. While on the one hand students are able to practice writing through instant and endless conversations, chats, and letter writing, on the other hand it is facilitating the very real problem of abbreviated words, hip verbiage, clipped sentences, IM-speak (which utilizes numbers and symbols), and stunted thought generation skills. The Shakespeare of today might have a screen name of sH8kSpeer and might IM someone ""Yo Dawg, letcha brain wrap round this . . . r0me0, ya slick daddy. YO bubba! Where 4 RU? Catchmeontheflipside dawg."" In it's defense, the new technology revolution has opened doors that could not have even been considered thirty years ago. Opportunities for students to become a part of a community of surfers from all over the globe. There are entire Internet communities built around hobbies and interests, homework help and genealogy. Students have the opportunity to join with others that are a lot like them or completely different, from their own town or half way around the world and develop sensitivities and relationships with people while remaining in the safety of their own homes or school libraries.

PRINCIPAL 4 - Use Computer Technology in Ways that Increase Student Motivation for and Interest in Purposeful and Meaningful Learning

When computers are used as tools for learning, given the attraction students have to them, they can allow their minds go where they have never gone before and can probe meaningful and penetrating content at a much higher level or comprehension. The levels at which the mountains of information can be digested and torn apart will increase students'' motivation and therefore their level of Literacy. We must be sure to teach them how to use it as a tool instead of a crutch, and there is no substitute for higher thinking skills.

In an information-rich age, who will ensure that it is not only the rich who have information?'' Keir Bloomer, President of the Association of Directors in Education, ADE conference, Edinburgh, November 1999

Technology & Literacy Websites



This website assists with the integration of curriculum and the Internet to promote student literacy. The links on the site include multilevel lesson plans, teacher tips, professional organizations, government, genealogy, use of the Internet, web site creation, funding, journal sources, reference sources, media sources, grammar instruction, research support, and world exploration through virtual travel. The site is divided into six sections:

"Adults with lower literacy skills are far less likely to work full time, to earn high wages, or to vote. Since those with low literacy skills are far more likely to live in poverty, we must work to ensure that those adults who are just 'getting by' today will not be left behind by progress in a global economy, by rapid advances in technology, and by the transformation in the workplace." US Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley was quoted in 1993 in the Wall Street Journal




This site offers a wide variety of links to hundreds different Literacy sites, 84 on the Literacy page alone. It addresses subjects that range from how to help kids learn to read, to interactive storybooks, to teaching ideas, to sites that review children's books and sites for the authors of children's books. It is so comprehensive that you could spend days going through all the offerings. The subjects addressed on the site include:

What is literacy? The ability to read, write, and speak English proficiently, to compute and solve problems, and to use technology in order to become a life-long learner and to be effective in the family, in the workplace and in the community. Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. definition of Literacy


Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. (LVA) has served adults at the lowest levels of literacy and their families since 1962, and has assisted more than half a million people to acquire literacy skills. This site maps out the areas in which LVA is involved in the nationwide campaign for Literacy. LVA claims that it will soon become a national model of excellence through sustained and expanded quality in literacy programming and training. The links on the site include:

A few years ago I had a job teaching creative writing at a Houston elementary school. One day my best writer, a quiet boy in fourth grade who produced astonishingly vivid, imaginative stories, failed to appear in class. His classroom teacher told me that his family, beset with financial problems, had moved yet again, perhaps to another motel room. And she sighed, "I was counting on him for my TAAS scores." By POLLY MORRICE From the Houston Chronicle -- Section: Editorial Oct. 30, 2000



This site provides a wealth of information on reading, literacy and technology as well as memberships and services. There is a news area on the home page for the latest Literacy news as well as areas that non-members can access including links to many teacher/student oriented web pages. This is a well thought out and interesting web site that you could spend days and weeks exploring. Some of the items addressed on the page are:



Unfortunately, the rapid growth of computers in our profession has also had disadvantages. In our rush to buy equipment, establish computer-supported writing laboratories, and teach computer-supported writing classes, we have not had time to share our pedagogical experiences, or to discuss how the integration of computers might change the way we design our courses, teach those courses, and evaluate their success. From The Humanization of Computers: Forget Technology, Remember Literacy by Cynthia L. Selfe

This site is run by a company that specializes in providing products and services for professional development in Literacy through the use of Technology. It offers a newsletter, as well as archives of past newsletters, that deal almost exclusivly with Technology and Literacy. The site highlights product and industry information on reading and writing technology for struggling students and students with disabilities. It also has a state-by-state collection of resources, inititative and funding oppertunities by state, an extensive list of product offerings, a download area, literacy tips, and a technical support area that includes product patches and manuals. The Literacy through Technology products offered fall into the following categories:

Information technology is promoting fundamental changes in how we teach and learn. Barriers of time and place are tumbling as technology offers new choices and opportunities for students and educators. The National Education Association



This site offers practice testing for the Regents Exam over the Internet to help high school students meet the New York State Regents requirements in English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. This project is supported by a federally-funded Title III Technology Literacy Challenge Grant . The goal of the site is better understanding of the Regents Exam questions through practice questions and an understanding of the testing format as well as the weight given to each area of the test. Subjects covered are:

Bibliography of Resources for Teachers

"Literacy & Technology"


Computers as Mindtools for Schools: Engaging Critical Thinking (2nd Edition)
by David H. Jonassen , Christine Marrone (Illustrator), Debra A. Stollenwerk (Editor)
Prentice Hall; 2nd edition (July 29, 1999)

Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (3rd Edition)
by Margaret D. Roblyer
Prentice Hall; 3rd edition (July 17, 2002)

Teachers Discovering Computers, Integrating Technology in the Classroom 2nd Edition
by Gary B. Shelly , Thomas J. Cashman , Randolph E. Gunter , Glenda A. Gunter
Course Technology; 2 edition (December 10, 2001)

Literacy in the Information Age: Inquiries into Meaning Making With New Technologies
by Bertram C. Bruce (Editor)
International Reading Association; (February 2003)

Linking Literacy and Technology: A Guide for K-8 Classrooms
by Shelley B. Wepner (Editor), William J. Valmont (Editor), Richard Thurlow (Editor)
International Reading Association; 1st edition (April 2000)

Learning with Technology: A Constructivist Perspective
by David H. Jonassen , Kyle L. Peck , Brent G. Wilson , William S. Pfeiffer
Prentice Hall; 1 edition (August 11, 1998)

Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century: The Importance of Paying Attention (Studies in Writing & Rhetoric)
by Cynthia L. Selfe , Hugh Burns (Introduction)
Southern Illinois Univ Pr (Txt); (November 1999)

Teaching With Technology: Creating Student-Centered Classrooms

By Judith Haymore Sandholtz , Cathy Ringstaff , David C. Dwyer
Teachers College Pr; (January 1997)

The Systematic Design of Instruction (5th Edition)
by Walter Dick , Lou Carey , James O. Carey
Addison-Wesley Publishing; 5 edition (October 24, 2000)