Norman Higgins's article "Using Electronic Books to Promote Vocabulary Development", outlines the key feature of ebooks which include animation as well as the technological ability to "read whole stories, phrases and individual words aloud"(Hess & Higgins, 2000, p.425-426). Discis ebooks have a word reall feature which enable children to find definitions as well as access pronunciations. The article (Hess & Higgins, 2009)suggests that ebooks are a useful instructional tool at the primary level but also suggests that teacher guidance in vocabulary instruction is important or even vital for vocabulary development in primary school children. The overaching view in this document suports the view of many teachers who feel that technology does not replace the teacher.
To further illuminate this point, Higgins points us to a study by Matthew(1997)who found that her grade three students "who read Discis ebooks, performed significantly better on story retelling than a matched group who read printed books", but gained no significant improvement with reading comprehension (Hess& Higgins, 2000, p.425-426) This view was shared by Moore and Smith (who studied grade thwo students) that there was no significant improvement with reading comprehension. Higgins's concluding study is one by Lipson and Wixson who propose that three vocabulary-building guidelines be followed when using ebooks. They (Hess& Higgins, 2000) include; ensuring that the child attends to the associations made between the target word and the animations, that he/she is provided with synonyms to help define unfamiliar target words and that the teacher provides examples of the use of these words in other familiar contexts. The role of the teacher therefore can not be undermined even with the inclusion of technological devices in the classroom.
The use of the e-book does afford learners the opportunity for individualized learning that caters to an array of intelligences. However your abstract did highlight the importance of frequent guidance. Some of these ideas are parralleled in Avril's blog about throwing out the baby with the bath water. Educators embrace new technologies in student preparation but there wil always be a relationship with traditional methodologies.
ReplyDeleteWhen we look at struggling readers especially, we realize that their needs are far exceed what technology can supply. Essentially we can't dismiss the 'nurturing' aspect of teaching which is the one on one guidance and support we need to give to our students who need us the most.
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