How Technology Positively Affects the Learning of 6th Grade Mathematics in a Small Louisiana School - Report Example

Educational Technology Proposal This paper will show how technology positively affects the learning of 6th Grade Mathematics in a small Louisiana school Keywords: Mathematics, Louisiana, technology Educational Technology Proposal Introduction This study will show over a ten week period how technology will positively or negatively affect the students’ ability to learn and apply the concepts of 6th Grade Mathematics from a small school located in the small town of Effie, LA. Demographics This school year, I had the pleasure of joining the staff at Lafarque Elementary. It is located in the small town of Effie, LA. It is known as the “Little School Across the River.” Lafarque Elementary enrollment is roughly 736 students with a population consisting of 75% white students and 25% black students, grades ranging from Pre-Kindergarten to Sixth grade. As the only 6th grade math teacher, I teach a total of 98 students in four 90 minute blocks. My students are seated in groups of four in order to incorporate cooperative learning, as well as complete group assignments. I have pertinent math material posted throughout my classroom as well. I have 15 special needs students (1 IEP and 14 IAP’s). A certified Special Education teacher does come into my room daily for a total of 30 minutes to assist as needed. The reason for choosing my classes for the study is to see how technology can improve their ability to learn and comprehend 6th grade mathematical concepts and practices. Their strengths are, hopefully, the cooperative learning that has been instituted in the classroom from Day 1. I hoped that by using cooperative learning that the students would be able to help one another in the learning of Math. This grouping of four also allows me top teach them through group assignments. Their challenges are the ability to get along with one another while attempting to complete the group assignments or help one another through cooperative learning. Review of Related Literature The research for this study included ten different sources which showed us how teachers should interact with their classes and how technology has an impression upon the students’ ability to learn. This research shows the positive and negative aspects of technology in the classroom. However, the research shows the positives heavily outweigh the negative aspects when it comes to using technology in the classroom. A lot of the sources found for this research show us that many of the research studies used in the sources themselves are the same. Most of those particular studies shows us that technology affects the students’ ability to learn in positive ways. On the website Education World there is an article, entitled Technology in Schools: Does it Make a Difference, written by Glori Chaika back in 1999, which was originally from the website TechnicalSchool.org, but placed on this site in 2006. This article opens up with the information of the Clinton administration back in 1998 setting aside an additional $25 million for integrating technology into the schools and instructing the teachers in the use of technology for the classroom. Furthermore, this article quotes Darla Waldrop, a junior-high computer lab coordinator in Louisiana. She states, “Children who don’t do anything in class will work if it’s on the computer. It takes that ‘I’m not working for an authority figure’ out of it. They’re working at their own pace, and they love the multimedia effect.” This article also tells what makes some programs more successful than others. And it gives the pro resources for technology in schools. Best Evidence Encyclopedia released a booklet in July of this past year that was written by two members of Johns Hopkins University, Alan C.K. Cheung and Robert Slavin. This booklet was entitled, The Effectiveness of Educational Technology Applications for Enhancing Mathematics Achievement in K -12 Classrooms: A Meta-Analysis. This meta-analysis shows us that technology in mathematics classrooms help the students increase their retention, help with their problem solving ability, and improve the marks which students will receive. However, this booklet also shows that the improvement of children who have on access to computers on a regular basis is greater than those who have regular access to computers. The next source came from Learning & Leading with Technology magazine volume 29 number 8 from May of 2002 written by John Cradler, Mary McNabb, Molly Freeman, and Richard Burchett entitled How Does Technology Influence Student Learning?. This article shows that technology helps students achieve higher marks in content areas, develop higher-order thinking and problem solving skills, such as information research, comparing and contrasting, synthesizing, analyzing, and evaluating; and prepare for the workforce. In the article Critical Issue: Using Technology to Improve Student Achievement, the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory shows us that over the last decade over $66 billion has been poured into the educational system to increase the technology used in schools. Furthermore, this article shows what actions to take and the pitfalls of those actions. Back in 200, the International Academy of Education and the International Bureau of Education put out a booklet entitled Improving student achievement in mathematics written by Douglas A. Grouws and Kristin J. Cebulla. They concentrated, not on the technological aspect of teaching, but how to increase the ability of the student to learn overall. The authors wrote on subjects such as Opportunity to learn, Focus on meaning, and Learning new concepts and skills while solving problems. Grouws and Cebulla wrote that the students’ ability to learn is not only related to technology but in how the teacher relates the material to the student. On the website TechknowLogia.org, they show articles from previous issues of their magazine. In the November/ December 1999, Sonia Jurich, on pages 31 -34, wrote an article entitled Computers in the Classroom: How Effective???. She describes that computers are becoming an essential part of, not only everyone’s daily lives, but of education, as well. She showed us different studies on how computers affect Mathematics classes. From each of the different studies she reviewed she showed the findings, observations, along with the focus and the methods. After all the studies she reviewed, her conclusions show that it is not really enough to know that schools are using computers, but how they are using those computers. Also, needing to be addressed is the frequency in which the computers are used and whether or not the software/ hardware of a computer system needs to be updated. ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education, put out a policy brief acknowledged by the CEO Don Knezek, Phd, CAE, entitled Technology and Student Achievement – The Indelible Link. This policy brief shows the current research upon Education Technology and Student Achievement, the Seven Factors for successfully Implementing Technology for Learning, the Effects of Access and Equity on the Use of Technology to Improve Student Achievement, How Does the Issue of the Effect of Technology on Student Achievement Fit into the Larger Picture of Global Competitiveness?, and Policy Recommendations, both on a national level as well as a state and local level. The Milken Exchange put out a booklet on The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement written by John Schacter. He shows the reader what the most current research has to say and, then, analyzes the 5 largest scale studies of education technology to date. As he writes about these studies, he shows the findings from each, whether they are positive, negative or inconclusive. His conclusions show that students with access to computer assisted instruction, integrated learning systems technology, simulations and software that teaches higher order thinking, collaborative networked technologies, or design and programming technologies show positive gains in achievement on researcher constructed test, standardized tests, and national tests. The Effects of the Use of Interactive Whiteboards on Student Achievement written by Karen Swan, Jason Schenker, and Annette Kratcoski for the Research Center for Educational Technology at Kent State University shows the reader that there are positive gains using interactive whiteboards which has the advantage that involves fingers and pens and is more kinesthetic, where drawing marking, and highlighting any computer-based output is supported, thus a whole class can follow the interactions, with lessons being able to be saved and replayed later. Their conclusions show that there are gains in student achievement when whiteboards are used in the classroom. Time4Learning is a company that creates computer based software for learning purposes. The mathematics program leads a student through number sense, ratios and proportions, real world computation, data and statistics, and practice. This program shows the student how to perform the tasks listed and shows the students exactly how to calculate the data. The Project The research will be based upon the question: Can technology help students (special needs and regular students) learn and understand the complexities of 6th grade mathematics? The project is to introduce new computer technology into the classroom and teach through the use of interactive technology. Thus, we want to see how the 6th grade students of Lafarque Elementary in Effie, LA learn mathematics with the use of today’s technology. Starting with the pre-assessment, we will test the students before the introduction of the new technology to see where the starting point is for each and every student. That we will know throughout the ten week study whether or not the technology is helping the individual students improve or not. And once the technology is in place, I will teach the students like I would any other day but with greater resources at hand. And while the study is going on, I will continue to track the scores of my students. I will be testing them once a week to continue gathering the data as I would any other school day. Thus, I will track the progress through a series of tests and quizzes in which I will score to compare with their previous scores and see whether or not they are progressing as they should. The situation, in which, the technology is being inserted into will be the only 6th grade mathematics classes in the school. Thus, this will allow me to insert my ability to teach the concepts to a variety of learning techniques through the use of technology. And once the ten week study is completed, all the students will complete a post-assessment exam. This post assessment will allow me to see how the students improved, or did not imp[rove, through the use of technology in the classroom. Methodology The data will be collected every week through a series of test and quizzes. I will use the technology to set up the test and quizzes and the answers will be submitted to me in that format. From there, I will chart the data to see the progress my students are making in their ability to understand the concepts of 6th Grade Mathematics as laid out by the Louisiana Bopard of Education. The pre-assessment will consist of concepts we have already gone over by previously and will allow me to determine their level of knowledge. The post-assessment will be over all of the concepts studied during the ten week observation period. This will allow me to compare the scores and determine if a particular student has improved or declined due to the introduction of new technology into my classroom. I will look at the data using a comparison format through a bar graph. I will compare the pre-assessments with the post-assessments to see how well the students reacted to my teaching using the technology available to all of us. Conclusion In conclusion, this study will take ten weeks and will allow me to study whether or not educational technology, when added to my classroom, will be able to help my students improve in their abilities to comprehend my lessons. Bibliography Chaika, G. (2006). Technology in the schools: it does make a difference!. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin122.shtml Cheung, A. C. K., & Slavin, R. E. (2011). The Effectiveness of Educational Technology Applications for Enhancing Mathematics Achievement in K-12 Classrooms: A Meta-analysis. Best evidence encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.bestevidence.org/word/tech_math_Sep_09_2011.pdf Cradler, J., McNabb, M., Freeman, M. & Burchett, R. (2002, May). How does technology influence student learning. Learning & Leading with Technology, 29(8), 46-49:56. Retrieved from https://k20portal.ou.edu/k12/leaders/Document Library/1/Article.StudentLearning.pdf Critical issue: using technology to improve student achievement. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te800.htm Grouws, D. A., & Cebulla, K. J. (2000). Improving student achievement in mathematics. Geneva, Switzerland: International Academy of Education. Retrieved from http://www.iaoed.org/files/prac04e.pdf Jurich, S. (1999, Nov / Dec). Computers in the classroom: how effective???. TechKnowLogia, 31-34. Retrieved from http://www.techknowlogia.org/TKL_Articles/PDF/43.pdf Knezek, PhD, CAE, D. International Society for Technology in Education, (2008). Technology and Student Achievement- The Indelible Link. International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved from http://www.k12hsn.org/files/research/Technology/ISTE_policy_brief_student_achievement.pdf Schacter, J. (1999). The impact of educational technology on student achievement: what the most current research has to say. Milken Exchange on education technology. Retrieved from http://www.waynecountyschools.org/150820127152538360/lib/150820127152538360/impact_on_student_achievement.pdf Swan, K., Schenker, J., & Kratcoski, A. (n.d.). The Effects of the Use of Interactive Whiteboards on Student Achievement. Retrieved from http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/spechtp/551/07_The_Effects_of_the_Use_of_Interactive_Whiteboards_on_Student_Achievement.pdf Time 4 Learning. (n.d.). Eighth grade curriculum overview: online learning tool for eighth grade math, language arts, algebra & more!. Retrieved from http://www.time4learning.com/eighth-grade-math.shtm Read More