October 2005 — Features

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Tech + Imagination = Results

Not surprisingly, the assessment application is now being considered as a model to replicate across the state. iPAQs and eBooks Make the Difference for AG and Special-Needs Students Another interesting and exciting research effort sprang from an additional component of the initiative. A second-year teacher, who was a recent graduate from the Watson School of Education, teamed with a full-time UNCW faculty member to use iPAQs from Hewlett-Packard (www.hp.com) and eBooks from Powell’s Books (www.powells.com) in the classroom to study the effects of their use on students’ motivation and reading performance. For the study, the second-year teacher selected two of her classes: a special-needs class, and a class for academically gifted (AG) students. The instructor who had previously taught these students had used the iPAQs with the AG students the year before, but had not given the special needs students access to the technology. For a new teacher who was also new to AG and special-needs classes, the decision to use the iPAQs in both classes was a bold one, and as it turned out, one that caused concern, especially as the school year began. As the teacher-intern described it later, the special-needs students were a handful,with misbehavior apparently the norm. Though she wondered if she were making a terrible mistake, she decided to involve special-education students anyway, and forged ahead with her plan.

As it turned out, the results were more than encouraging. Using the Accelerated Reading assessment programs from Renaissance Learning (www.renlearn.com), with pre- and post-testing for comprehension and motivation, the results were extremely positive: Both the special-needs and the AG students demonstrated increases in reading motivation, higher opinions of themselves as readers, and an increase in reading ability on all of Renaissance Learning’s STAR Reading tests.

Equally as exciting—and in a marked departure from previous years—all of the students (with the exception of one special-needs student) passed the end-of grade test. While the teacher was hoping for results like these, what she didn’t anticipate were the other changes that occurred in the special-needs class: Specifically, the behavior problems in the class practically disappeared. The special-needs students proved to be very responsible, became quite skilled in their use of the iPAQ and eBooks, and showed a dramatic growth in self-esteem. Their teacher now testifies that the use of the iPAQ and eBook technologies allowed her to individualize her instruction by accessing current event stories aligned with student interests, and turn those stories into eBooks in order to teach North Carolina’s required Standard Course of Study curriculum.

Technology Changes the Face of Middle Grades Methods Courses