Internet Research for TechQuest

Initial Research

When surfing the Internet for The CAIs, I found that there is a lot of information out there about CAIs, and the programs tend to be very expensive. To help narrow my search I used the article, Effective Reading Programs for Middle and High Schools: A Best Evidence Synthesis. This article that is on the site AdLit.org showed four programs that, according to the study, showed moderate evidence of effectiveness. Of these four programs two were CAIs, so I decided to read more about these programs. From the website I liked the Jostens' Compass Learning Odyssey program. I looked at their sample activities and information and thought my students would buy into it. However, in order to learn more I had to request a demo. This was not going to help me have something tangible right away to investigate. Also according to the article, it did not show any programs having strong evidence of effectiveness. Don't I want strong evidence of effectiveness of a program for my students, especially if it is going to cost my district money?

This research of showing no strong effectiveness evidence programs, along with the strongly suggested feedback about using Marzona's instructional strategies and GoogleLitTrips, have influenced me to change my concentration of CAIs to classroom reading strategies for comprehension and vocabulary using technology. The benefits of this change are the immediate implementation of the strategies and the cost effectiveness of not spending money on a CAI program.


Sites for Project

Putting the Pieces Together: Integrating Technology with Marzano's Instructional Strategies"
Using this site to help strengthen teaching reading comprehension strategies. I already use a lot of the strategies for example the Read/ Write/Think Venn Diagrams when comparing different texts/characters/subjects, but I like that students will have a variety of graphic organizers to choose from when comparing/contrasting. I am going to post this site on my website, so students can choose the graphic organizers to show me their understanding of concepts and ideas.

All About Adolescent Literature (AdLit.org)
This is another site that has an extensive choice of activities to do before/during /and after reading texts. I can also use these and have students reflect on what they have learned. For example I use exit slips, orally with the students (many times using it as an early leave game). Now when students are blogging they could pull in their own exit slip and use the the prompts to write about what they learned or observed.

Reading Online
This site provides me with a lot of vocabulary activities do do with my students. Some of these activities lend itself to using technology to strengthen the learning. For example, students could make quizzes for each other on the vocabulary words. They can check each other's blogs/papers (highlighting and checking them) for use of vocabulary words and they can also create analogies for better comprehension of vocabulary words.

GoogleLitTrips
This site is where my students will take a Lit Trip with My Brother Sam is Dead. We also may try The Breadwinner by Deorah Ellis. I will first have to reread this book because I have not read it in a few years, and I remember the characters going on a trip, but I am not sure how extensive it is. (I'll have to reread the novel!) I will be able to try a LitTrip out with my former students this summer who read Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants to help me with all the features of GoogleEarth and how to best utilize this technology.

Improving Adolescent Literacy:Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices

I used research from this site that helped me shift my idea and help support the idea of not using CAIs, but using vocabulary and comprehension strategies with technology to increase student reading abilities. It states:

The research that met the criteria for inclusion in this guide included few studies involving the use of computer technology. Despite great interest in and increasing use of software for reading instruction in middle and high schools, there is little experimental or quasi-experimental research demonstrating the effectiveness of that work.The site also has checklists for carrying out recommendations for reading factors, that will be useful to me as I construct my lessons.

This site also has recommendation check-off lists that will help me in my thinking as I construct the lessons.