Research


 * Research**
 * **Storybird-**
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This article, written by Helen C. Barrett, looks at the effectiveness of digital storytelling as well as the role of the teacher within the storytelling process. This roundtable also looks at how digital storytelling, such as Storybird, is a "student-centered learning experience." The piece also offers rubrics and ideas for successful assessment methods for evaluating digital stories.
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The link provides an example of a third through fifth grade grammar lesson using Storybird. The lesson includes a video and Storybird example.


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The web site lists information about digital storytelling and its benefits in the classroom. The site also lists research from the National Council of Teachers of English as well as other references. This web page provides many insights into the effectiveness and uses of digital storytelling in the 21st Century classroom.

(Storybird information added by Tiffany Wilson)

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 * **Discovery Education**-
 * 1) The documented uses and benefits for this resources is that it increases test scores and mastery of the content because students get immediate feedback and are able to work on their individualized weaknesses. It also allows teachers to quickly receive data for each student or class and reteach areas needed. The following websites include information about how discovery education data is beneficial to both students and teachers. It also explains how discovery education works and other uses for discovery education.

(Discovery Education added by Marivel Villa)


 * **SMARTboard Technologies Interactive Whiteboards**

Any educator can tell you that children learn the most when they are having fun. They must be engaged in the lessons in order to make the learning experience more meaningful. Current research in regards to interactive whiteboards state that these incredible resources increase student engagement, motivate children to want to learn, and increase the enthusiasm in the classroom. In addition to facilitating multiple learning styles, it also serves as a tremendous resource for those children that may have special needs. In my personal experience, students that rarely speak up or volunteer for any activity in class, are eager to take a turn using the board. Below are links several articles in regards to interactive whiteboards and their effectiveness in the classroom, as well as their position as a true motivator in student engagement. [] [] []

(SMARTboard Technologies information added by Amanda Yates)


 * Research: Moodle (Jessica Long)**

Though the power of Moodle as a tool seems clear, how do we know it works in everyday application in the classroom? A tool is only as good as its reviews, so what does the research say? How do the experts, researchers, teachers and students, seem to feel about this tool? I reviewed two pieces on the practical applications of Moodle, and both emphasized how effectively Moodle made constructivist learning possible. The first article, by Shaunda Wood (2010), discusses her study of Moodle as a tool for higher education through the lens of a post-graduate seminar in which she participated. She explains how students of today, digital natives, have some skills already nearly mastered, like visual-spatial skills, the ability to visualize solutions to problems, to multi-task, and to make observations and create hypotheses. However, she notes, these digital natives sometimes are lacking in other areas that are less naturally taught online. She notes that “…interacting with digital media…may not be establishing vital connections in their frontal lobes, where reasoning and social abilities are established” (p. 299). Because of this, Moodle is especially effective because it blends some of what students are already comfortable with and adds to the mix activities that develop what they need. She notes, “Moodle can provide a unique opportunity for students to engage in social negotiation and mediation in the form of asynchronous (email, threaded discussions) and synchronous (simulations, web-based data collection, and ill-structured problem solving) technology” (p. 300). Here, we see that Moodle can both pull from what students can do, and serve to develop, with the help of a teacher and peers, where some may fall behind. The technologically savvy student can develop his or her social skills while the more social student can learn how to collaborate more effectively online with a tool he or she may need practice in using. Overall, Wood notes how the flexible nature of the tool makes it most powerful to help students where they need it.

The second source I reviewed echoed many of Wood’s sentiments, but explored Moodle more as a replacement, in many ways, for the physical classroom completely. The author of this piece, Ayse Kok (2008), explains her experience in studying a classroom in Turkey that used Moodle for the first time. She too emphasizes the constructivist nature of the tools when she paraphrases Bonk, stating that, “one of the main advantages of Moodle is that its underpinning pedagogy is social constructivism that supports role sharing and enables each participant to be a teacher as well as a learner” (p. 89). She continues, listing many of the benefits Wood delineated, but added another: that students interacting online pulls them out of their “socio-cultural environment,” encouraging the students to alter their “cognitive schemas” to “make sense of the new information” (p. 91). To state it another way, that discussion outside of the traditional classroom environment asks students to think about what is actually being said in ways they may never have before, and therefore asks their minds to process the information in ways unlike they have been asked to before, making the usual “class room discussion” more challenging on a variety of levels. Overall, the research seems to agree: Moodle is a powerful tool, and a deceivingly simple one. It is easy to use, but can pay multiple dividends in flexible student learning and collaboration in the online world.

References: Kok, A. (2008). An online social constructivist tool: A secondary school experience in the developing world. //Turkish online journal of distance education//, //9//(3), 87-98.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/75404155/Kok-Moodle

Wood, S. (2010). Technology for teaching and learning: Moodle as a tool for higher education. //International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education//, //22//(3), 299-307.

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 * //Research-Glogster: //**[]


 * The documented uses of Glogster are currently limited due to its recent arrival, but its designation as a Web 2.0 tool provides a more detailed understanding of its purpose and the benefits it has to offer. I have listed several websites below to information verifying the benefits of Web 2.0 tools, including Glogster. I have provided tutorials, informational websites, as well as information for educators with respect to Glogster's various uses in the classroom.
 * The Journal documents the benefits to Web 2.0 tools and technology in the classroom. The article conducts surveys with school personal and uses data to build a clear case for the uses and benefits of Web 2.0 tool in the classroom
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 * This link provides an excellent overview of Glogster, and the sign up process. The website also uses screen shots to provide clear instruction. The article provides example glogs, lesson plans, real world applications and an explanation of its multiple benefits and uses.
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 * The author Ryan Goble presents a wide variety of web 2.0 tools in his article. The article presents five ways to support students centered learning through creation and public displays. In addition to Glogster, Ryan Goble covers several other Web 2.0 tools and their uses in the classroom.
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 * The following links provide additional information and insight into the benefits of Glogster and Web 2.0 tools.
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(Glogster added by Robert Tatarek)