EDD 7914 CRN 23508 OL1

Curriculum Teaching and Technology

Assignment 3
Teaching a Reading Strategy Using a Whiteboard
Sylvia Rodriguez
To be submitted to National Education Association

Nova Southeastern University

October 19, 2014
November 7, 2014

Introduction
Digital literacy is growing in importance in education today. Currently, students have
so much exposure to technological items at school. Technology promotes learning. As a
result of this, interactive whiteboards have become an important tool in K-12 classrooms
since their introduction in the early 1990s. Educators teach a variety of subjects, such as
reading, using the interactive whiteboard. The students become active participants in the
lesson by collaborating with their teacher and classmates. A type of tool used to measure
the effective integration of technology in the classroom is the International Society for
Technology in Education (ISTE) classroom observation tool (ICOT). This tool helps an
observer organize and evaluate the integration of technology into the curriculum.
ISTE ICOT
The ICOT is an evaluation form used in classroom observations. This checklist
consists of 12 categories including the setting, room description and student characteristics,
student groupings, teacher roles, learning activities, rating on how essential technology was
to teaching and learning activities, technologies used by the teacher, technologies used by
the students, Oregon technology standards, a three-minute chart, estimated time technology
used, and comments section.
The observer used the ICOT during a third-grade on-level reading lesson with an
interactive whiteboard, laptop computer, speakers, and a computer program entitled
Compass Odyssey. The school was an elementary, Title I, urban school located in Broward
County, FL. The lesson took place in a third-grade classroom with 19 students who had
different instructional levels in reading. Nine students received Exceptional Student
Education (ESE) services for their disabilities including learning disabled (LD), specific
learning disabled (SLD), and autism spectrum. Two ESE students were retained from last
year. All of the students were seated facing the interactive whiteboard seated in groups of
two.
The ICOT was used to collect information showing to what extent the observed lesson
integrated technology in an effective manner. The observer wrote notes and checked off
information in each of the 12 categories. Eight of the categories gave different options from
which to choose. Also included in one of the categories was a list of technology standards
to state the lessons objective. Using the ICOT instrument was helpful in determining if
technology played a significant and effective role in the lesson because the observer
verified how technology was used effectively by the teacher and students.
Integration of Technology
The teacher used the interactive whiteboard and Compass Odyssey, an online reading
and math program, to teach a reading lesson that explained and assessed authors purpose, a
reading strategy that explains the reason why the author wrote the reading. The students were
engaged with the three short stories that taught authors purpose because they were highly
animated and the stories were interesting. After each story, a series of five questions were
asked in a game show format. Web-based resources, such as online learning games, are a way
of engaging and developing students cognitive and technological skills within the context of
K-12 education as schools are actively developing a digital and visual literacy culture
(Franco & Lopes, 2009).

After each question, students turned to their group partner and discussed what they
thought was the correct answer. By using the interactive whiteboard, the teacher was able
to stop and begin again at any time. This gave the students enough time to discuss the
answer with their partner. Afterwards, a student from each group took turns to click the
correct answer on the whiteboard. The students were very excited to go up to the
whiteboard and asked if they could do it again.
A technological learning environment is supported by audio, video, and text (Sethy,
2012). The lesson delivered multisensory learning because the teacher implemented an
educational web program with which students were able to interact. For this lesson, the
whiteboard was utilized for collaborative learning and problem solving. Collaborative
learning is based on the social interdependence theory. In collaborative learning, students in
a group construct knowledge together and communicate their ideas. The group as a whole,
whether it is two or 12 students, takes responsibility for its work (Lawrie, Matthews, Bailey
et al. (2014). The students were able to learn from each other even though several students
reading ability was not on-level.
Improvements
Even though the students were engaged in the lesson throughout the time period, the
lesson could be improved by having students, still in groups of two, work on the same
lesson using a laptop computer. Instead of listening and reading along on the whiteboard as
a whole group, they would do the same with their partner. As a result, the lesson would
become interactive. Students could take ownership when accessing the program by signing
in and following the prompts instead of the teacher doing it for them. In doing so, learning
through technology will enable them to apply their learning in different situations and
retain their interest in educational programs (Kelly, Baxter, & Anderson, 2010).
Standards
The standards noted in the ICOT that were used in the lesson were ET.2 and ET.6. The
ET.2 standard was communication and collaboration. The lesson followed this standard
because the students communicated with each other. By doing so, they supported their own
learning and their partners learning. The ET.6 standard was technology operations and
concepts. The lesson followed this standard because the students used technology to learn a
reading strategy. Technology increases learning performance when the computer-based
programs support curriculum standards. Students develop higher order thinking and
problem solving skills (Sethy, 2012).
Summary
The key to promoting improved learning with technology is determining how
effectively technology is integrated in teaching and learning. Sethy (2012) stated when
students participate in a technology-based learning environment, they are practicing
collaborative, cooperative, and lifelong learning. To ensure that the use of technology
enhances learning, the ICOT is an effective tool for teachers or administrators to use in
analyzing lessons. By using this tool, teachers can determine if they need to increase the
use of technology, or better integrate it, in the classroom. Furthermore, it helps teachers
determine if their students are using technology more frequently and effectively on their
own.

References
Franco, J. F., & Lopes, R. (2009). Learning through emerging technologies and
knowledge based interactions. Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference
on Cognition & Exploratory Learning in Digital Age, 439-442.
ISTE Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT): Technology checklist. Retrieved from
http://www.iste.org/icot
Kelly, D., Baxter, J. S., & Anderson, A. (2010). Engaging first year students through
online collaborative assessment. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(6),
535-548.
Lawrie, G. A., Matthews, K. E., Bailey, C., Kavanagh, L. J., Gahan, L. R., Weaver, G. C.,
Adams, P., Long, P. D., & Taylor, M. (2014). Technology supported facilitation and
assessment of small group collaborative inquiry learning in large first-year classes.
Journal of Learning Design, 7(2), 1-17.
NEA Member Benefits website. Interactive whiteboards enhance classroom instruction
and learning. Retrieved from http://www.neamb.com
Sethy, S. S. (2012). Cognitive skills: A modest way of learning through technology.
Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 13(3), 260-276.