LITERACY AND TECHNOLOGY

IN A BALANCED CLASSROOM
BY ALEXANDRA CASTILLO
ECE 536
SUMMER II 2013
FOCUS QUESTIONS
* How has the increased use of media in the classroom changed
how teachers must think about literacy instruction?
* What are some ways that technology can augment a writer’s
workshop?
* How are visual literacy and multimodal literacy defined and how
they can be incorporated in the classroom?
* How can the internet be used in the classroom as a potent source
for informational reading and writing?
* How can online communities enhance written communication and
connect readers and writers across the globe?
INTRODUCTION
Technology and education now go hand and hand,
offering exciting possibilities for transforming how
children experience literacy.
Teaching young children to use technology in addition to
traditional print is more important than ever so that
they are prepared for further education and for the
challenges of our increasingly high tech-world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5ySocUyI7I
 Visual literacy
Ability to read and interpret images and icons, video, photographs,
charts, maps and any other form of visual representation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO_0CludIl0

Viewing
Children can be encouraged to respond to video just as
they do to literature, through written response, drama,
discussion art and other forms of media.

Visually representing
Kidpix and similar software allow children to create multimedia works
of art by pasting, drawing, altering and animating
with easy to use tools.
Photography- using a digital camera can be used by young children
to enhance written pieces about what they find interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89vGuBKjGDE
 Writing electronically: word
processing and desktop
publishing provide positive
support to the fundamental
literacy skills of writing.
Young children should spend
some of their computer literacy
time learning keyboarding skills
and using word-processing
programs.

Technology applications
for learning literacy

Children can compose more rapidly as they

The most suitable word-processing
programs, desktop publishing programs and
graphic packages for increasing writing
construct knowledge by creating reports and
stories using word-processing programs and
computer graphics and creating
presentations using application such as:
PowerPoint, Photo story and Sound slides.
 Creating multimodal/hypermedia projects: Communicating in the 21st century
will require students to be literate in multiple modes of communication, including
the ability to read, produce and interpret text, graphics, images, sounds and
video.

Hypermedia projects combine text,

graphics, audio and video, but they
also include hyperlinks in the
presentation. Having children
complete hypermedia projects using
software such as PowerPoint, sound
slides or photo story is highly
engaging.
To help students develop multimodal
literacy, teachers need to assign
students multimodal projects, such as
digital storytelling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5
yi8R5l9e4
 OTHER FORMS OF
TECHNOLOGY

1. Tumble Books. Great read aloud books

that highlight the words so kids can follow
along.

2. Imaging Learning
 Evaluating websites: teachers must distinguish between good and poor websites and also assist
their students in learning how to select appropriate ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytO4PQbgDN4

Finding information online: A

webquest is an activity designed to
help students locate information on Electronic communications : e-
the internet. mail messages and instant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d messaging, message board
V7mrOImUUc discussions, wikis, blogs and
social networking sites.

Wiki – useful Blogs – It is an

collaborative writing
tool.
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=1pR5yogC
mkA
online, personal
Blogs can be used for
journal
autobiographical writing,
http://www.youtube.c
interactive journals, expressive
om/watch?v=ySpKh5
writing, digital portfolios,
GJ3nY
multimedia presentations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=WOfLMOLtEDo
E- BOOKS
Interactive reading: Electronic books may be
instrumental in improving automatic word recognition
and providing a “digital language experience
approach” that reinforces fluency and the link
between written and oral language.
Some e-storybooks will read the entire book aloud for
children, providing an individualized read-aloud with
which the child or children can track along, using the
mouse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmbpV3rQATQ
 Enhancing Teachers can now use their computers
instruction to connect with their students for
instruction that allows everyone to
through participate.

technology

Interactive white boards come with software http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88y9q

that allows teachers to create, CWo7wE
save or print any lesson idea
they might wish to.
TECHNOLOGY AND THE ENGLISH
LEARNER
The beauty of technology is that it can be equally
accessible to every learner, much to the surprise of
some teachers who may believe that English learners
are “too busy learning English and content material to
be receptive adding bells and whistles”.
A study by Meskill and Mossop (2000) shows
encouraging patterns of engagement and investment
in learning with the use of technology-supported
instruction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CWbxyd0Bw
SUMMARY
Word-processing programs and multimedia tools can be used to
energize writer’s workshop.
The internet provides a plethora of ways to research and critically read
about almost any topic children can imagine.
Online communities such as blogs and wikis, can be used to connect
learners to other readers and writers across the globe, both as live
audiences and learning resources.
Literacy skills, such as fluency and reading rate, can be enhanced through
the introduction of e-books and programs that give learners autonomy
over the amount of help they need.
The best reason to use technology to increase literacy skills is the high level
of motivation and investment that children bring to literacy tasks
completed on the computer.
REFERENCES
Cecil, Nancy L (2011) Striking a balance: A comprehensive
approach to early literacy. Fourth edition, Holcomb Hathaway,
Publishers.

Resources
http://www.techcompanion.com/teachers.asp
Kid pix – 101 activities
http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern/KidPix/kidpixacts.html
Wiki
http://www.commoncraft.com/video/wikis
Blogs
http://edublogs.org/why-edublogs/
http://kidblog.org
Technology and ELLS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T75gGBn82uQ