Same Standards, Different Instruction
One of the main issues that is at stake for engaging students in reading is that teachers who don’t have the proper training in the use of technology will likely resort back to traditional instruction consisting of busy work. It is crucial that teachers and educators understand the benefits of using technology for differentiated instruction to help both struggling and advanced readers. In order for teachers to keep their students on track with technological advancements, teachers should be attending professional developments to keep themselves on track as well.
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There is a lot of crossover between the standards and the use of technology. According to ISTE STANDARDS FOR STUDENTS.7, students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally. This proves that students need to be exposed to digital devices in order to prepare them for future careers. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.5 says that students should create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Students can use technology to record themselves in order to improve their fluency, speaking, and listening skills. While glancing through the standards, I realized that almost everyone could be taught through the use of technology, I just have to learn how to realistically facilitate this learning in my own classroom.
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Technology can improve every aspect of a student’s reading, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension if used effectively. All students have varying strengths and weaknesses and technology gives us the power to identify and strengthen those skills of the individual learner. In order to engage literacy in a way that empowers students to take control of their own learning, teachers need to invest the time to develop individual instructional plans for each student. The more practice that students have with new medias, websites, and e-reading, the more motivated they will be to continuing learning in this fashion. Access to materials and devices is one of the main concerns as some schools are further along in the process than others. Technology provides teachers with a new dimension of differentiation and if it is unused or if proper training is unavailable, then both teachers and students will only fall more behind in our technologically driven world.
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Follow this prezi link to view helpful literacy apps!
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