Interview-Van+Hoose

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 * Proposal:** Writing about literature is often done in different ways in each classroom. With technology becoming more commonplace in schools and homes across the country it seems interesting to me to see how, if at all, technology is being used in order to write. In what ways can technology impact writing in the classroom?


 * Rationale:** Students are surrounded by technology and most have grown up with it being part of their every day lives. Engaging students can be a difficult task in a classroom, but it seems reasonable to believe that finding something students are interested in would help encourage students to participate. One of the core standards ( W.9-10.6 ) also states that we should “u se technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.” Clearly the standards wish for us to use technology yet they do not state how, so I would like to see how other teachers have utilized it in their classroom and if it was successful.


 * Review:** The teacher I interviewed stated that her school uses a program known as MY Access! to help facilitate writing in the school. Students type in the program and MY Access! then helps them perfect their writing. I inquired as to whether it did more than just check for grammar, and to my surprise, she stated that it does more than that. According to her, the program checks for flow of ideas and offers suggestions for students to elaborate on certain topics or ideas for making their writing more organized. According to their website, MY Access! also gives students input on language use and style, mechanics, and focus (VintageLearning.com). The website also states that there are additional programs, such as MY Tutor and MY Editor, to help with other areas of development such as grammar and weaknesses in student writing (VintageLearning.com). The program gives the students a grade as well, but Ms. Rye stated that she preferred to read over the papers herself to give feedback because she believed that computers could only do so much and that a real person could explain things and see things that the computer could not. She stated that the program was a beneficial tool though and the kids seemed to enjoy using it in her experience.

According to an article, another teacher found help for teaching writing in an English classroom through the use of a smart board. Kerry Arens states that her smart board helps illustrate to students the process involved in writing: “Once they have mastered the basics, the interactive whiteboard becomes a tool for advanced levels of analysis. The high-lighting feature can help students draw attention to examples of word choice, sentence structure, or characterization” (28). Arens illustrates her point by using examples of how students themselves can utilize the board to revise a paper. Students take turns suggesting changes through removing and adding of words that happen immediately on the screen until students decide that the changes are sufficient (28).

Furthermore, Arens posts student work on the board for students to revise, making it an example of how to edit someone's own work, which many may consider more difficult. “As we address how the student can improve his writing, the author annotates the changes and saves the revision. My community of writers sharpen their skills as editors as we practice guided revision, and I have the opportunity to see how authors digest the feedback they are given” (28). This simple task of //active// peer editing helps students become better at editing the work of their peers and there own work. It helps students see just how they can change the entire flow of their work easily. Arens classroom embraces the concept of digital text that moves and changes far quicker than traditional text written with pen or pencil.

She finds other uses for it as well beyond the scope of just writing. She states that listening and speaking are aided as well since students need to listen to each other and take feedback from their peers (29). She also reports that students are more in control: Students are eager to interact with the technology and the materials that are presented. As the students are exposed to different methods of communicating their learning to the class--by creating flipcharts, annotating flipcharts, using the reveal tool, creating games, and using ActiVotes for formative assessments--they become peer teachers, and their level of responsibility for their own learning increases (29)

However, Arens is not the sole example. Others do not regard technology as highly as she does. According to an article by Ewa McGrail, not all schools are embracing technology or see its benefits. One of her sources in her essay states that “state administrators and government officials have pushed computers and peripheral equipment into teachers' classrooms without engageing them first in sustained conversations about the worthy uses of technology for their specific subject matter” (60). In other words, technology is thrust upon teachers without ever truly exploring //why// they should use it or //how// to integrate it in instruction.

McGrail conducted several studies to see how laptops were used in classrooms. In one, she discovered that laptop carts were available but not used and that power cord lines were everyone in the classroom to keep the laptops powered (68). The author continues to explore the concept that preplanning is key because furniture and space are vital to a classroom and must be taken into account when purchasing or using technology such as computers.

The arrangement of furniture was something McGrail and others in the study also hoped would help prevent some of the negative side effects McGrail discovered in the study. In one classroom, “students sat at clusters of four desks, about six to eight students per cluster. Even though this setup was conducive to interaction, it was not taken advantage of very often” (69). In a similar classroom where students were clustered in groups of four, the teacher experienced “the same problems other teachers in this study confronted, such as isolated learning, limited interaction, and off-task behavior. The reasons for these problems … were not much contained by the material space … but rather by the nature of tasks … assigned to the students” (69). It appears that //how// a teacher uses technology is key and is something that must be taken into account prior to using the technology.

The article continues to explore the challenges faced by the remaining teachers in the study and include: “social isolationg, limited communication with teacher and peers, and offtask behavior” (59). McGrain states the primary reasoning for all of these is simply that there were “limited physical space, cumbersome furniture, poor technology infrastructure, and largely instrumental use of technology in numerous learning engagements” (59). McGrain argues that once again adminstrators must first consider how technology will be used before purchasing any equipment. It is imperative to plan ahead of time in order to avoid some of the problems the teachers in this study faced.

It is possible that McGrain and Arens pose such contrasting views because of the years in which they published. McGrain's article is from 2007 whereas Arens is from 2010. Smart boards are considerably newer and take the place of what was once several different pieces of technology, meaning that they take up less room in the classroom. Furthermore, computers are now more compact and less cumbersome now than they were in 2007. Batteries also last longer in most models. It would be interesting to see the results of a study if McGrain did it again today.

Furthermore, technology is constantly changing, and neither McGrain nor Arens discussed what to do with the technology once it became obsolete.


 * Method:** I would first begin to try integrating a smart board and/or programs like MY Access! In my classroom to see if it has any impact on my students. I would monitor my students writing processes as well as their editing processes from before and after using these programs to see if there were any improvements. During editing workshops, I would also pay close attention to see how my students handle editing. Ideally if these programs were helpful, there would be an increase in participation and feedback in these sessions.

I would survey students to see how valuable they see the technology in their classroom. I would interview them to see if they enjoy the use of the smart boards and programs such as MY Access! or if they find them tedious. I would also interview them to see how many of them have computers at home and if those who do not have any way to access them when they are not in school. I would also ask them what other technological methods they use on a daily basis to see if there were other methods of incorporating technology.

I think I would also talk to administration and my colleagues in my department to see what ways they incorporate technology in their classroom to try to overcome McGrain's dilemma of //how// to use it. I know there are also conferences on using technology in the classroom that would help me as well.

Works Cited Arens, Kerry. “Whiteboards in the English classroom.” //Learning & Leading with Technology.// 37.7 (2010): 28-29. McGrain, Ewa. “Laptop Technology and Pedagogy in the English Language Arts Classroom.” //Jl. of Tehcnology and Teacher Education.// 15.1 (2007): 59-85. Rye, Kathy. “Technology in the Classroom: MY Access!” Interview.

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