Fads in the 21st Century Literacy Classroom: Are iPads a worthwhile resource to use with Prep, 1 & 2 students

to develop learning in literacy?

By: Hayden Davies S00107283

The Educational Concern The issue identified and what I ask is: Are iPads a worthwhile resource to use with Prep, 1 & 2 students to develop learning in literacy? The reason why I ask this is because of observations I had made in literacy (including both reading and writing) time with the use of iPads. The students were excited about the learning, engaged in what it had to offer but their recall of the activity seemed meaningless due to an inability to improve their literacy concepts over certain periods of time. The students seemed to enjoy the activities, and were definitely engaged in the applications, but from what I had observed they would completely forget the reason why they were using the iPad at all. They began competitions within these learning experiences to see who could create the funniest movie clip, or finish the app the fastest. I had also used iPads in several writing clinics over two whole weeks and my instructions were clear, the learning intentions were stated and discussed with the students, I had modelled what I expected of them, and still 90% of the students were not able to show an improvement to develop their knowledge and skills in literacy. I ask if the iPad and other mobile devices are actually an effective and worthwhile resource for this age group of students in this learning area. I want to know if I should continue to use iPads or not to develop literacy concepts with Preps, 1s and 2s.

Context of the Educational Concern The educational concern is located in the junior years (Prep, 1 & 2) of one of the leading primary schools in Victoria for open-planned, contemporary learning which is situated in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne. It is in the literacy subject area I direct my concern at

because of my observations of the use of iPads in this particular school, and because I had incorporated this resource in this subject area as well.

Literature Review of the Concern Literature that supports this educational concern is quite impressive and is able to assist with the development of ideas towards a conclusion. There have already been many studies that discuss childrens use of iPads against other mobile devices and what is surprising is that looking, touching and listening behaviours appear to increase as children gain more control of the device. (Roskos, Burstein & You, 2007), p.56) and also that the use of such technologies resulted in improved engagement with text and deeper comprehension (McClanahan, Williams, Kennedy & Tate, 2012, p.21). Hutchinson, Beschorner & SchmidtCrawford (2012) identify many ways that iPads are infact a great resource for the Literacy learning environment for young students and that its uses are almost limitless. Other sources relate the success of the resource back to the teacher. Whittingham, Huffman, Rickman & Wiedmaier (2013, p.244) and Hutchinson (2012, p.39) focus closely on the role of the teacher as someone who scaffolds the students to utilise digital technologies in literacy and that the actions and planning of the teacher is imperative to the success of its use with their students. A theme that can be strongly identified throughout most of these articles is that integrating digital technologies into literacy instruction and equipping students with the new literacy skills needed for reading, writing, and communicating in digital environments is a priority for many literacy teachers (Hutchinson & Reinking, 2011), and is clearly important for 21st century learners to communicate effectively in the global community. It is hoped that even further research will indentify and persuade whether or not the use of the iPad is in fact effective to younger aged students and possible ways that teachers could become more knowledgeable of the resource before integrating its use in the literacy learning environment.

History Leading to the Concern My history as a learner had been a struggle when I was younger, and the teachers that I had did not try any different approaches for me to learn certain concepts. I was one of the few who never understood why I was learning something and how it looked, in particular mathematics. I know and understand what it is like to struggle in a subject area and I wish I had the quality of teachers and teaching resources that are available to students today. The only way that I was fully engaged during my senior years of schooling was through the use of technology and the more frequently I used it, the more engaged I became and the tasks seemed so much more fun and a little less frightening. The use of technology helped me become a better learner and I hope to incorporate technology to not only help struggling learners but to assist all learners of the 21st century. My teaching therefore has been very focused on making learning fun, engaging, meaningful and accessible to all students and I want to be able to progress all learners. I thrive on the use of technology and how I can use different and obscure technologies to benefit my future learners. I have undertaken computer technology units whilst studying my Bachelor of Education (Primary) and have also inquired about new technologies that I had not learnt about before. The one that I was last to inquire about, and I am still yet to master, is the use of iPads. I still believe that I have much learning to do with iPads and how to use them effectively in primary school settings. I question myself constantly if it may be one reason why my students were unable to show learning in my planned literacy unit. But what really concerned me was that experienced teachers who were quite knowledgeable about iPads were also unable to get their students to show them that they had consolidated their knowledge and understanding of literacy concepts during my professional experience rounds in that particular school. What I hope to achieve during this study is to be able to identify whether iPads do actually have a place in the junior primary school setting and whether it is worthwhile spending my time to develop lessons to try and improve each student's learning opportunities in literacy units. This will hope to make me an effective teacher and be able to teach to the highest possible standard if I am able to identify these concerns.

References Hutchinson, A., & Reinking, D. (2011). Teachers Perceptions of Integrating Information and Communication Technologies into Literacy Instruction: A National Survey in the U.S. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(4), 308-329. Hutchinson, A. (2012). Literacy Teachers Perceptions of Professional Development That Increases Integration of Technology into Literacy Instruction. Technology Pedagogy Education, 21(1), 37-56. Hutchinson, A., Beschorner, B., & Schmidt-Crawford, D. (2012). Exploring The Use Of The iPad For Literacy Learning. The Reading Teacher, 66(1), 15-23. McClanahan, B., Williams, K., Kennedy, E., & Tate, S. (2012). A Breakthrough for Josh: How to Use a iPad Facilitated Reading Improvement. Tech Trends, 56(3), 20-28. Roskos, K., Burstein, K., & You, B. (2012). A Typology for Observing Childrens Engagement with eBooks at Preschool. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 11(2), 47-66. Whittingham, J., Huffman, S., Rickman, W., & Wiedmaier, C. (2013). Technological Tools for the Literacy Classroom. Hershey, USA: Information Science Reference.