The question, “How will technology change student achievement?.” Today, this presentation will show how technology is vital to student success. The four areas I will focus on are teaching students for the future, changes in technology, enhancement of student achievement, and the impact technology has on education.
In 2007, a poll was given on behalf of the partnership for 21 st century skills. 80% of the voters stated that the skills needed today are different than those needed twenty years ago. An overwhelming 99% stated schools need to teach 21 st century skills to student which is important to our country’s economic success.
What are the 21 st Century skill teachers need to teach today? These skills are information, media literacy and communication skills; thinking and problem solving; interpersonal, collaborative and self-direction skills; global awareness; economic and business literacy, entrepreneurial skills; and civic literacy. Today we have a new set of tools to apply to tasks. The changing economy makes it a necessity that students can use technology to solve problems, collaborate and create. These skills are needed because students need to collect information and data, analyze the results, present these results and discussing the results with people all over the world. All of this will be done from sitting at their desk.
A survey conducted in 2004 of more than 1,000 people with knowledge of the internet pondered how much change they expected the Internet would bring to different institutions during the next decade. On a ten point scale with 10 being the most radical change, education ranked second highest, with an average rating of nearly eight out of ten. In just 15 years the world wide web became pervasive. “To google” is a common verb today. E-mail is used by nearly everyone to communicate with other people. Technology has change learning. Technology has transformed schools by impacting where and when students learn. Teachers can extent the classroom activities with online discussions. Who the students learn with can encompass a bigger community. What students learn ranges from computer programming, animation, and networking maintenance which are skills needed for technical careers. Student have access to history sites and government databases they were never able to access before. The tools used in how a student learns has changes. Students have word processors, online images, games, models, and simulations to learn concepts better and sooner. Technology levels the playing field for those students with a disability, English as a second language, low-income families, and other with special needs. Podcasting is an example of one tool that has impacted education. Teachers can disseminate course content quickly and easily. Classroom lectures can be recorded enabling students to listen to lectures more than once increasing understanding of materials. Educators can record information on a particular field or area of interest to enhance content. Podcasting is a way of study support. Podcasting is another way to store and transfer information.
There are two levels to enhance student achievement with technology. First, is basic skills instruction which includes: computer assisted instruction to drill, multi-media software—teaching to a variety of learning styles, video discs, video and audio technologies, distance learning, and developing new skills in technology necessary for the workplace. The second level is advanced skills instruction. In this level students are learning interactive educational technologies including computer simulations, videodiscs, internet and CD-ROM. Students are learning to organize information, recognize patterns, draw inferences, and communicate findings. Students learn better organizational and problem solving skills.
The National School Board Association reference the first U.S. Department of Education funded study on nine technology rich schools. This student concluded that technology increased rising scores of state tests, improved student attendance, increased student comprehension, motivated students, increased student attitudes, strong study, success in parent and teacher support, improved student retention, and improved job placement.
James Kulik (1994) compiled findings from more than 500 individual studies on computer based instruction. On average, students whose learning included in instruction scored at the 64 th percentile on achievement compared to those without computer-based instruction who scored at the 50 th percentile. Students were able to learn more in less time with computer-based instruction. Finally, he found students like their classes more and had more positive attitudes in computer-based instruction.
Harold Wenglinsky (1998) analyzed the effects of simulation and higher order thinking technologies of 6,227 fourth graders and 7,146 eighth graders nationally. Wenglinsky found the eighth graders gained up to 15 weeks above grade level as measured by NAEP. Eighth graders whose teachers who attended professional development on computers gained up to 13 weeks above grade level in math scores. Both fourth and eighth graders who used higher order uses of computers and professional development of teachers were positively related to academic achievement in math.
This graph shows the results of Marlene Scardamalia nd Carl Bereiter’s (1996) Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environment (CSILE), most widely studied collaborative computer applications in schools today. CSILE students surpassed the students in the control classroom in expectation for knowledge growth, depth of expectations and identifying conceptual difficulties by at least a point and in two areas two point difference.
Apple Computer, Inc. began a project called Apple classrooms of tomorrow (ACOT) (1986) across grades K – 12. With little instruction, 2 nd and 3 rd graders were typing 25 to 30 words per minute with 95% accuracy. 21 random freshman were chosen to participate in a study for four years. All 21 students graduated, 19 of the 21 were college bound with 7 students receiving full college scholarships. Those who did not attend college had many offers for employment. After ten years of the study, drop out rates decreased from 30% to near zero, and absenteeism was reduced from 8% to 4%.
Results in over 700 studies have shown positive gains in achievement in standardized, national and researcher made tests.
