Technology and literacy in special education: examining conflicting research outcomes

Special Education

Goetze and Walker (2004) found that students who are most at risk of academic failure are those who lack reading skills. They found that use of technology enhanced literary capabilities of students who have special needs (Goetze and Walker, 2004). In fact, technology and literacy have a very strong link and scholars have been keenly interested in discovering various aspects of their relationship. Fisher and Molebash (2003) in their study wrote that the Digital Divide is as a cause of concern for many educators who believe that technology has a great role to play in education. They point out that despite the fact that many non-profit organizations have devoted more and more time and effort into constructing a sound and efficient technical setup of it in various schools, these attempts are not only insignificant but they are highly subjective (Fisher and Molebash, 2003). This is evident in studies which found that most schools, belonging to poor urban minority areas, failed to use technology and ended up with worst literacy outcomes (Dowrick, Kim-Rupnow, and Power, 2006).

Fisher and Molebash (2003) argued that some researchers and educationalists made the mistake of treating literacy and technical proficiency on different scales. However, the truth of the matter is that one cannot exist or work efficiently without the success of the other. A good example of this was visibly present in the past decade: the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund of 1997 aimed to advance technical learning and skills of every student while the No Child Left behind Act of 2001 aimed to adopt a more technologically-driven structure to boost the overall literacy amongst students. However, both failed to realize that neither can obtain their objectives without understanding that technical proficiency and literacy go hand in hand (Fisher and Molebash, 2003).

Kartal (2006) asserts that this discrepancy could be associated to lack of methodical studies on the use of technology in education/literacy. This could be because only in recent times technology has turned out to be practicable for educational applications (Kartal, 2006). However, in an earlier study, Martin (2003) pointed out that the results emanating from studies were not consistent. In fact, studies have shown negative impact of use of technology (Martin, 2003). Other researchers, for instance, Doering, Hughes, and Huffman (2003) found that lack of teacher preparation has been the major factor behind unsuccessful use of technology in classrooms. Nonetheless, some experts have advanced that notion that use of technology is an advanced way to deliver lectures and educate the students (Speaker, 2004).

Problem Statement

Use of technology has helped some students in acquiring better literacy/reading skills; whereas it has hindered the learning of others. Fisher and Molebash (2003) and Speaker (2004) found technology as an assistive tool. Martin (2003) and Doering, Hughes, and Huffman (2003) found technology to hinder the learning process. With billions being spent on education each year and with so many schools adapting technology as a means of delivering lectures, it is imperative to come up with accurate and consistent results which give a holistic picture of the use of technology.

Literature Review

Fisher and Molebash (2003) defined literacy/reading as purely a means to extract meaning and understanding from a form of information or knowledge database. What technological improvements has done is given the teachers and students a wide spectrum of choices to extract this information. At first all educational exchanges were mainly aural but with time the advent of books, libraries, the media, journalism, television, the Internet, video games made teacher's task easier. It also increased accessibility to the students. However, when dealing with the students who have special needs, mere accessibility is not the answer and all efforts on technology integration have to include the easier understanding and interpretation of the text available (Fisher and Molebash, 2003).

May (2003) found that technological improvements have made the job of the teacher easier; it has not actually decreased the workload. A teacher still has more than 2 dozen children in his/her class and there are various teaching/learning capabilities and methods that these teachers still have to understand. This difference in teaching/learning is even more enhanced amongst the special-needs students. A teacher cannot overlook a behavioral pattern or force a learning technique upon his/her students. This is one of the main ways that technology has helped teachers. They can now use everyday mechanisms to explain different educational theories with the help of other technological tools or interpretations. However, for technology to actually help in the long run, the teachers need to make sure that the students are giving their input and are involved in the utilization of the technology so as to ensure a higher success rate of education through technology (May, 2003). Leloup and Ponterio (2005) found that use of technology motivated students to learn more, "When students learn to browse online news and magazine sites for articles that interest them personally, they can become more highly motivated to continue to use their language skills long-term because this is a real, day-to-day use of those skills, not just a classroom exercise (pg: 3+)."

Schmar-Dobler (2003) found that reading on the Internet actually enhanced student learning. They wrote, "The union of reading and technology on the Internet is causing educators to take a new look at what it means to be literate in today's society. New forms of literacy call upon students to know how to read and write not only in the print world but also in the digital world." May (2003) emphasized the need of great technological sense and knowledge for all current and future students. This is one of the main reasons why the students need to get accustomed to using these advancements and their implementations. This is also what has led to the incorporation of technology in a classroom setting. All these technologies aim to increase the students' intensity of wisdom, cooperation and text assessment. A good and simple illustration of this is a book review, which can be an individual task or a group task that use software programs such as Kidspiration and Timeliner. These software programs help students visualize their thoughts and opinions as well as communicate them efficiently. Now literacy reading skills are very important for both normal students and special-needs students because exposure to literacy is not only through books anymore. In fact the range of information is more vast and varied in accordance with the technical improvements; this is why the teaching of literacy/reading is far trickier then before (May, 2003).

To improve the reading skills of special-needs students, teachers use technology in the following spheres to make them (a) hear word tones; (b) decipher and interpret words; - understand overall expressions; (d) understand word span; (e) become knowledgeable and confident with their reading style (May, 2003). Gwinn, Horn, Johnson, and Watts-Taffe (2003) found that use of technology has given students access to tools which allow them to interpret, compare and contrast, integrate, and communicate ideas electronically. Gwinn and his colleagues found that technology and literacy are fast congregating.

May (2003) notes that one of the most successful ways that reading amongst the special-needs students has been enhanced by using technology is through group book reviews. The class is first given a list of books to choose form and then the students are divided in different groups based on their choice of book. There are prearranged meetings and the pages that need to be read in each group are decided before students meet in groups. During group meetings students engage in certain leaning task hat involve the interpretation of the story, the characters and their choices, the plots, the twists, the climax, the main incidents and their denotations. The whole idea is to make the children focus on what the story is about and how it has evolved through events and different interpretations.

May (2003) found that one of the most commonly used applications in this group book review task is the AlphaSmart mainly because of its simplicity and popularity among the special-needs students. The task would mainly involve the interpretation and rewriting of the story so that the teacher is aware of how well the student understands the plot and how much work he/she does. This also helps the teachers analyze the influence that the group opinions might have on the individuals within the group.

May (2003) notes that amongst other applications that are fast becoming part of the curriculum for improving the reading and understanding of the special-needs students are Kidspiration and Timeliner. The Kidspiration software program helps the students recall the main events and characters of the story and their influence on the overall plot while the Timeliner software program helps the students to analyze the timeliner in which the major incidents in the storyline took place and their aftermath on the following timelines.

May (2003) writes that another technique that is now being used with special-needs students is the teacher reading aloud and then having the students roam around their environment and take pictures that they feel relate to the story. Then students use AlphaSmart software to paste the picture and explain in a paragraph why, how and where in the plot they feel that picture relates to the story. This tests three things: (a) student concentration; (b) student level of understanding of the general plot; and - student imagination. This is an important implementation because it opens the students' horizons and allows them to see the general links and relations that their own lives might have with the stories that they read. The implementation of taking the pictures is one way that this has been successfully achieved. This use of a camera is a very flexible application and is being used in different ways for different special-needs students.

May (2003) found that cameras are being used to also expand the span of words or vocabulary amongst the special-needs students. The teacher hands out a set of words to the students and explains their use and different interpretations and then asks them to take photographs in accordance to what they have understood. Any good reader will relay that the best part about reading is the expressions and vocabulary. Vocabulary is mainly an understanding of the use and interpretation of the words being used and this process has helped the special-needs students in their reading skills when it has been included in the curriculum.

Use of advancing technologies in education

Use of technology has been widely recognized as a vital tool for literacy improvement. Although, the relationship between technology and literacy improvement has been asymmetrical, enough evidence exists to encourage teachers to use latest technology tools to advance student learning. The three most successful applications that have enhanced the literacy education over the years for the special-needs students are (a) Voice detection software; (b) Tele-cooperation operations of the Internet, and - Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) and new portable processors or devices (Fisher and Molebash, 2003).

Fisher and Molebash (2003) in their study trace the track of technological advancements and point out that at the advent of the 21st century, all of the above applications were still being tested hypothetically on the drawing board. The speed at which these have been practically implemented and yielded successful result is simply astonishing. Fisher and Molebash found that all technological advancements have followed the pattern that Gordon Moore pointed out more then 4 decades ago. Moore had said that in theory all microchips had the capacity to improve and enhance within a period of 18 months. This statement, called the Moore's law, has held true since that day and stands true for the digitally driven society today. The alteration or adjustment in the Moore's Law is that Moore had restricted the phenomenon of speedy advancements to the speed of microchips while in today's society this theory holds true to include everything from speed, power, memory and price (Fisher and Molebash, 2003).

This rapid increase in the advancements of technology is one of the main reasons for the incorporation of tools like computers and cameras and others in the school setting because without them students will not only be bored but also the educational setup would be backward and not up to the par of what is required in the developing societies. Computers, Nintendo, cell phones, e-mail and the World Wide Web have become such an integral part of the daily life that it is hard to imagine a time when they did not exist. The use of technology within a classroom setting of special-needs students makes these students more confident and comfortable in thinking that they can operate all these things and tools that the normal students operate. This technology tools also help special need students' reading and comprehension skills. This ubiquity of technology tools like PDA, TVs, cell phones, video games, Walkmans, computers, and modern publishing resources, is why all types of students feel more accustomed and engaged in a classroom where technology is incorporated in the academic curriculum.

One of the most useful applications to enhance the reading skills of the special-needs students, thus far, has been the tele-collaborative venture that uses the Internet as its main source of communication. The significant fact of the Tele-collaborative ventures is that it mainly incorporates some of the most commonly used mechanisms of telecommunications like the tools e-mail, debate mediums, synchronous chats, and videoconferencing,. All of these tools and mechanisms are then use to communicate within and amongst classroom, schools, and universities as well as across borders to address the commonalities and difficulties faced by the special-needs students. Once these commonalities are identified then numerous organizations join hands to work on problem-solving techniques and structures (Fisher and Molebash, 2003).

Enough practical applications and evaluations have shown that the proper and informed execution of the tele-collaborative ventures can immensely benefit the K-12 special-needs students and encourage them to look for multiple interpretations, improve their reading skills and increase their span of knowledge as well as vocabulary (Fisher and Molebash, 2003).

The Personal Digital Assistants (PDA)

The rise in the use and success of the Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) is one of the main reasons why it is now being used on such a large scale in the educational institutions as well. Even though the PDA was initially used as a storage device for the names, dates, reminders and/or addresses, it has now become versatile enough to provide the teachers with a sort of an electronic calculator and mobile computer that they can use to access the Internet, perform online tests and assessments, record results, scores, and keep grade books. The popularity of the PDA has forced the Education Committees in Florida to create an efficient software based on the PDA format that will help the special education teachers to document student activities and follow the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) (Fisher and Molebash, 2003).

Fisher and Molebash (2003) pointed out that the PDA can also allow the teachers to manage or oversee a group of students and gather/record the facts in their ongoing discussions. This recording once believed to be painstaking, is done without much effort by using PDA's and teachers can use the information gathered to analyze student's comprehension abilities and modify their teaching methods accordingly. They also asserted that the PDA with the compilation and evaluation of information can be used for measuring and ranking the overall performance of the students by analyzing whatever information entered by the teacher (Fisher and Molebash, 2003).

One of the most important features of the PDA is the accessibility to the Internet and the online books. It is true that the generation gap makes some teachers want to carry on with books while the students prefer the Portable Document Format (PDF) format. The advantage of having a book stored in the PDA is that it can show the meaning, pronunciation and use of a word that the student did not recognize (Fisher and Molebash, 2003).

The downside with the use of PDA though, as Fisher and Molebash (2003) highlight, is that the overall monitoring by the teachers would have to increase. This simply means that the easy access to the email or Internet for the students might be distracting and destructive if used inappropriately and the notes passing between students will become easier and difficult to control. Hence the monitoring and repercussions would have to made stricter (Fisher and Molebash, 2003).

Purpose of the paper

The purpose of this paper is to find out the impact of using technology on learning/reading skills of low level student with special needs.

Research Questions

How is technology currently used in today's classrooms to enhance learning/reading skills of low level student with special needs?

How could teachers better integrate technology into instructions of low level students of special needs?

Methodology

Research method and design

The research method being used in this study is qualitative as qualitative study does not always ignore the bias side of things, and is not always objective. In fact, all qualitative researchers monitor people in certain settings (in this case, it is assessing the role of technology within the modern educational environment of low level students of special needs) and then come to different conclusions depending on the techniques or methods they have chosen to employ.

Phenomenology will be used as the research design as it analyzes and works as an investigative factor. It helps construct a holistic and intricate comprehension and analysis of the social problem (the role of technology within the modern educational environment of low level students of special needs). Researchers are a definitive factor during the data compilation process. Also, when carrying out qualitative research on the role of technology in education, the whole research will be accompanied by a thoughtful and vivid explanation with the process being the focal point.

Participants

In this research I will choose 20 teachers between 10 and 12 years of experience who are currently delivering education in a public school. This has been done so as to not only offer proportional data but also provide the other researchers some preliminary results of interest. I am looking at the role of technology within the modern educational environment of low level students of special needs

Recruitment strategy (Sampling Unit):

This study will choose its participants from a secondary public school situated in California. The school principal will be contacted through email initially and will be informed of this research and thereafter will be requested to make plans for a meeting with teachers in order to get their consent for this research. Thereafter, school principal will decide upon the participants and contact them in order to inform them about the study.

Sampling Frame

Three aspects will be taken into consideration when framing the sample for this study. Firstly, the experience of the teachers will be taken into consideration when selecting the sampling frame for analysis. The experience of the teachers should be between 10-12 years. Secondly, gender of the teachers will be taken into consideration. The sample will contain equal number of males (25) and females (25). Thirdly, only teachers serving low level students with special needs will be taken into consideration for this research.

Method of selecting the sample elements

Purposive sampling will be used in this study. Firstly, short-listing of the sampling frame will be done from the total number of teachers referred to in the school. This short listing will be based on the criterion mentioned above. Thereafter short-listed sample of teachers will be given an invitation for a telephone interview. The response of the first 50 teachers will be used in the data analysis.

Data Collection

Data will be collected by using audio-recorder and interviews will be carried out once, allowing me to record the response of the subjects related to their experiences of teaching with technology.

The interview technique used in this study will be semi-structured as it is an important method for information attainment. Semi-structured interviews merge a prearranged schema with the flexibility to inquire successive questions. The questions for this study will be drafted before the interview is taken and will be limited to around 10 questions.

Delimitations

One limitation of this case study has been the viewpoint assumed. This thesis has been primarily limited to assessing the role of technology within the modern educational environment of low level students of special needs. Even though the thesis has also considered additional observations and brief analysis of behavior, the most important point-of-view from which results have been sketched is to assess the role of technology within the modern educational environment of low level students of special needs.

Since, the subjects chosen to be interviewed belong to the same institute; therefore, the total population chosen for this thesis is limited to one institute. Since, this thesis takes place in California; therefore the location chosen to conduct the interview is California. The environmental factor that influences the result of this may change the approach of use of technology. Another limitation is that the data will be obtained only once.

Ethical Issues

This research is in accordance with the practitioners' work values and respects human dignity and demonstrates a commitment to human justice. It is also expected that research has a purpose of furthering educational practice rather than simply meeting the interests of the researcher. It is anticipated that this research will contribute to increase the knowledge of current practice and provide a basis for future discussions and development of practice.

The subjects will be informed that their observations would be used as data in this dissertation. This raises ethical issues in terms of subjects giving fully informed consent for the research to include their observations and comments for the case study. Pole & Lampard (2002) suggest that a balance has to be reached between giving too much information that may bias research findings and conducting convert research, which may harm participants. This will be overcome by explaining to all what method is involved and reassuring them that they would not be identifiable in the final research.

Data analysis

Phenomenology will be used as our data analysis technique as it will analyze and work as an investigative factor to help construct a holistic and intricate comprehension and analysis of the social problem being researched.

Anticipated outcomes

We assume that technology is being used in diverse ways to improve student literacy. We may find some teachers ill prepared for using technology, which may influence student literacy improvement. Furthermore, we assume that better integration of technology tools depend solely on the teacher's skills and adaptability.

Conclusion

This study investigates the role of technology within the modern educational environment of low level students of special needs. It is hoped that our research will add to existing literature on role of technology in education. Also, one practical implication of our research can be that it can change the way educational-providers deal with low level students with special needs.