Article Summary #5

Overview
In "Assistive Technologies for Reading," Ted S. Hasselbring and Margaret E. Bausch describe several reading programs that provide support and interventions for struggling language learners. Assistive technology provides ways for students with disabilities to function at or near grade level. The authors concede that technology isn't a magic bullet and the main focus should be on providing quality instruction. But technology coupled with good instruction will produce dynamic results.

Reference Points
1. Reading support programs like Read & Write Gold allow students to hear text read aloud in varying gender, speed and pitch.
2. The word prediction feature of Read & Write Gold provides the student several word choice options based on context and the first few letters typed, making composition much quicker.
3. Students are more likely to listen to the text being reread by the program than by the teacher.
4. Reading intervention programs like Read, Write & Type, Read Naturally and READ 180 have led to gains in reading fluency and comprehension.
5. READ 180 is designed for older students, those in grades 4-12; it allows them to watch a short video on the background of the text they are about to read.

Reflection
Getting students to read at grade level is major issue in schools. The district I teach in has spent much time and money on programs and experts. Reading First targets K-2 and is not an assistive technology program. According to the experts hired, younger students do better with more face-to-face contact. We play lots of phonics and phonemic awareness games with them. However, READ 180 sounds like it would be an ideal program for the older students. It seems as though there are too many computer programs targeting younger students when really they just need more one-on-one time. I would like to see the results of a human doing the same thing a computer is doing in these programs.

Article Summary #4

Overview
In "The Overdominance of Computers", Lowell Monke suggests saving the intense use of computers for the last two years of high school when teenagers have developed the proper tools to deal with the responsibility of computer and internet usage. He argues that while technology can and should enhance learning, too much use at an early age can be detrimental. He sites a 2004 study showing test scores among fifteen year olds who had more access to computer use were lower than their less techie counterparts. Before being let loose in cyber space, children should be taught ethics, moral judgment, compassion, trust and respect.

Reference Points
1. Young students should have more face-to-face interaction, especially when learning to read.
2. As students spend more time on computers and watching TV, they have less real experiences, making it even harder to filter through what they see on the internet.
3. We need to teach children what a spreadsheet cannot: commitment, loyalty and tradition.
4. We need to make their world more real by engaging them in physical activities.
5. Students need to know and respect nature and the living world around them.
6. If educators and parents focus on the things that endure in the early years, children will be much better prepared to face the world of computers later on.

Reflection
While I understand the author's concern about the level of technology use at a young age, I believe it is nearly impossible to turn around what has already begun. This is a school as well as parental issue and even if schools made a change, homes would continue to be a place where children have access to mind-numbing television and video games. Waiting until high school to address technology, as the author suggests, would be a disservice to our students. Learning computers is like learning a different language and the earlier the skill is learned the better. I agree more with Burns' article "Tools for the Mind" in that we should focus on the higher order thinking skills technology can provide than focus on how to minimize their use in the classroom.