Annotated Bibliography (EDTEC 770)

Birch, Dawn and Volkov, Michael. "Assessment of online reflections: Engaging English second language (ESL) students." Australian Journal of Educational Technology. 2007, 23(3), 291-306.

Online discussion boards are now ommonly used in many university courses and, in particular, to provcide a communication forum for distance learning students. The study presented in this paper looks at the impact of online discussions on perceived cognitive and social learning outcomes of English as a First Langage (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Students were required to participate in 4 mandatory online discussions as part of their final grade. A rubric was provided for assessment which explained that their contributions would be evaluated as being excellent, good, sound, limited or minimal. An electronic survey was administered at the end of the course to determine how beneficial online discussion board are in terms of acheiveing key learning outcomes, such as understanding course content, developing learning networks and seeking advice on assessment items. ESL students consider online discussions to be beneficial for achieving a range of cognitive and social learning outcomes, as well as providing a convenient forum for communication. It also provided them with an opportunity to meet and develop a closer relationship with other stuents in the course and encouraged them to keep up with their studies.


Higgins, Eleanor and Raskind, Marshall. The Compensatory Effectiveness of the Quicktionary Reading Pen II on the Reading Comprehension of Students with Learning Disabilities. Journal of Special Education Technology, 20(1), Winter 2005. pp. 31 - 39.

Over the last decade, the use of optical character recognition (OCR) systems combined with speech synthesis has become increasingly accepted as a means to compensate for reading disabilities. The study presented in this study looks at the use of the Quicktionary Reading Pen II and whether its use increasing reading comprehension scores for students with learning disabilities. The pen is a handneld scanning device with optical character recognition and speech synthesis capabilities. It is held much like a pen and is guided across printed text. Thirty-four students ranging in age from 10-18 participated in the study. Students were given an opportunity for training in using the pen, a practice period and a time for the researcher to conduct classroom observations. The results of the study showed an average increase of 7 points on comprehension questions, more than one grade level higher when using the pen. Most students responded well to the technology, two of the students purchasing the pen to use at home.

Schactez, John. "The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement: What the Most Current Research Has to Say." Milken Exhange on Education Technology. 1999. 13 pp.

This document explores five large scale studies of education technology. These studies were selected for their scope, comprehensive ssamples, and generalizability to local, state, and national audiences. The first study (James Kulik's (1994)) employed a statistical technique called meta'analysis to aggregate the results of over 500 individual studies to draw a single conclusion. The second study (Jay Sivin-Kachala (1998)) reviewed hundreds of individual studies whreby the authors shed light on consistent patterns that emerged across studies. The third study (Baker, Gecrhart, and Herman's (1994)) reviewed a partnership between Apple and five schools across the nation. The fouth study (Dale Mann's (1999)) reported the results of West Virginia's 10 year statewide education technology intitiative. The fifth study (Harold Wenglinsky (1998) assessed a national sample of fouth and eighth grade students using newer simulation and higher order thinking technologies. The sixth (Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter (1996)) and seventh (Idit Harel (1988)) studies reviewed two smaller scale studies that show the promise of new emerging technologies on student learning. Findings suggest that lerning technology is less effective or ineffective when the learning objectives are unclear and the focus of the technology use is diffuse.