Annotated Bibliography
Canter, L., King, L., Williams, J., Metcalf, D., and Rhys Myrick Potts, K. (2017) Evaluating pedagogy and practice of universal design for learning in public schools. Exceptionality Education International. 27(1), 1-16
This study asks the question of how education can meet the demands of effectively educating when the population of students is becoming increasingly diverse, while meeting the skills needed in the 21 century. This study used participants from eleven classrooms in six different schools, three elementary classrooms, four middle school classrooms, and four high school classrooms. The study focused on changes in teachers’ understanding of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and changes to instructional practices, including the use of technology in teaching. It was a mixed methods research design with the use of survey, direct observation, and interviewing. There was a pre- and post-survey that showed the teacher understanding and level of knowledge of technology. Conclusions found that having a teaching partner helped with the integration and building of knowledge of how UDL worked and the integration of technology, and that teachers who were individuals had a higher usage and understanding of working with technology but a lower understanding of the UDL program.
Evmenova, A., and Regan, K. (2019). Supporting the writing process with technology for students with disabilities. Hammill Institute on Disabilities. 55(2), 78-85.
This article examines the use of technology-based graphic organizers to improve written output of students in k-12 classrooms. The article examines how different pieces of technology can help in the stages of writing. They go through the different planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing stages. The different stages examine different types of technology assistance such as word prediction, speech-to-text, technology based graphic organizers, and Chrome extensions such as Read&Write. The article discusses the fact that using technology is good if the right one is found and closely monitored while students are using them. This study found that the majority of research on how technology supports writing is outdated and they asked further questions regarding how research-based strategies coupled with technology can improve written performance.
FitzGerald, E., Kucirkova, N., Jones, A., Cross, S., Ferguson, R., Herodotou, C., Hillaire, G. & Scanlon, E. (2018). Dimensions of personalisation in technology-enhanced learning: a framework and implications for design. British Journal of Educational Technology. 49(1), 165-181. Doi:10.1111/bjet.12534
This study focuses on personalisation of learning and the advances of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) design. The paper explains personalised learning coupled with a TEL environment. The first part of this study looks at what is being personalised, the type of learning where personalisation occurs, what personal characteristics of their learner may be addressed, who/what is doing the personalisation, and the impact/beneficiaries of personalisation. This paper reviews six case studies to show how personalisation has been used with TEL, focussing on the literature in intelligent tutoring systems, adaptive assessment, science inquiry learning, gaming and informal learning, learning analytics, and personalised books. The authors hope that the research can be used with educational developers of software to successfully integrate personalisation into the new solutions.
Kearney, M., Burden, K., and Ria, T. (2015). Investigating teachers’ adoption of signature mobile pedagogies. Science Direct. 48-57
This study examines the use of contemporary mobile learning pedagogies in education, asking how educators use distinctive pedagogical features of mobile learning in collaboration, personalisation and authenticity. A group of 107 schools participated in a survey which took place in 2013, primarily in Australia and Europe. The research data found that the constructs for authenticity were high, and the constructs for personalisation and collaboration were lower. The data was taken from across school discipline areas and was therefore thought to provide a more accurate snapshot of mobile learning in schools. The study found a number of issues as the definition of mobile learning was quite broad, and therefore there were many different learning pedagogical values and individualistic approaches. This study states the importance of understanding the educational pedagogies before ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ of implementing technology devices.
Kucirkova, N. & Cremin, T. (2018). Personalised reading for pleasure with digital libraries: towards a pedagogy of practice and design. Cambridge Journal of Education. 48(5), 571- 589. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2017.1375458
In this study, research is done to understand the nature, form and value of personalisation in children’s reading for pleasure, using a focus on digital libraries and how these structures position teachers. This study explores the fact that the digital revolution has changed the way we read and understand, including many more image based products. It examines the role of personalised text play in 21st century learning, and examines teachers needing to be librarians, curators and monitors of these digital libraries. The study talks about how reading for pleasure can positively influence attitudes on reading through a digital library system. The methodology is drawn from previous papers, and research and review on the key features of the main digital systems used for primary schools, being MLS, RM books and Oxford Owl Books. The study goes on to ask questions of whether children will be able to consider the other five parts of reading engagement.
Marienko, M., Nosenko, Y., Sukhikh, A., Tataurov, V., and Shyshkina, M. (2020). Personalization of learning through adaptive technologies in the context of sustainable development of teachers education. E3S Web of Conferences. http://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202016610015
This article examines the current trends towards cloud-based adaptive learning systems and the implementation for teachers’ training that need to be considered. The study discusses how education is now updating at a very fast speed in the content and context of learning, which requires employers to stay on top of their own personal development. The new field in teaching requires teachers to be critical, dynamic thinkers who are capable of changing and growing constantly in the classroom. The article discusses the fact that with the new rapid speed of learning we need to use technology to include personalized learning, which in turn brings the learning closer to the needs of each student. This article covers the evolution of technology for personalized learning from 1960 until 2010. The study finds that is advisable to include cloud-based learning into teacher training for future teachers to be successful.
Nikolopoulou, K., Gialamas, V., and Lavidas, K. (2020). Teachers’ readiness to adopt mobile learning in classrooms: a study in Greece. Technology, Knowledge and Learning. 53- 77
This study researches teachers’ readiness in schools to use mobile learning in the K-12 classrooms. A questionnaire was given to 920 teachers in Greece with four ideas: possibilities, benefits, preferences and external influences. This study explores teacher’s gender, age, years of teaching, school grade, and training with technological devices on use of mobile technologies. There was a questionnaire given out in 2018-2019 that went out to 500 random schools with two parts. The first part examined demographics while the second part examined 28 items in a Mobile Learning Readiness Survey, asking teachers’ willingness to introduce and teach with different mobile devices in the classroom. This study found that teachers who participated in technology training and teachers with more years of experience had a more positive response to using technology in the classroom. This study also found that primary school teachers were using more technology in comparison to high school teachers.
Prescott, J., Bundscuh, K., Kazakoff, E., and Macaruso, P. (2018). Elementary school-wide implementation of a blended learning program for reading intervention. The Journal of Educational Research. 111(4), 497-506
This study examines the use of a blended learning program for literacy instruction, using a technology program called Core5 integrated with a blended literacy program. Core5 provided a personalisation and systematic approach including phonological awareness, phonics, structural analysis, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The activities in the program were led by videos and students progressed at their own pace. A reading performance test was done before the program started and after the program was used in grades kindergarten to grade 5. Results indicated that in all grades performance showed significant growth. This study found that kindergarten to second grade students showed bigger gains in their reading abilities than did those in grades 3-5, although they too showed growth. The researchers admitted they would have some classes in these schools as control groups and therefore they found the limitation of being able to separate the use of the blended literacy program coupled with Core5.
Smith, C., Lora, L., King, L., Williams, J., Metcalf, D., Rhyse Myrick Potts, K. (2017). Evaluating pedagogy and practice of universal design for learning in public schools. Exceptionality Education International. 27(1), 1-16. http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/eei/vol27/iss1/1/
This research study looks at how to meet the demands of an ever increasingly diverse range and population of student abilities. The objective was to research how teachers could bring in and utilize the universal design with the use of technology. This is to be able to meet the needs of 21st century learning, where the learner needs to be able to think critically about knowledge and not depend on memorization and rote learning in the classroom. The research was conducted through survey, direct observation and interviewing. The study found that having technology to support the Universal Learning Design in the classroom was effective and that the addition of another teacher in order to guide the learning process of the technology was even more effective. The study found that when teachers were offered the proper training to implement the program and technology into the classroom the outcome was successful. The study was small and there is need for more research on the topic to be conducted.
