Development of a mobile application as a didactic strategy to improve english vocabulary in elementary school students

Propose the use of a mobile application as a didactic strategy to improve English vocabulary in elementary studentsThe present research work entitled “Development of a mobile application as a didactic strategy to improve English vocabulary in elementary school students" aimed to propose the use of a mobile application with worksheets as a didactic strategy to improve English vocabulary. A mixed study of quantitative and qualitative tools was applied, with surveys for teachers and students. The results justified that teachers and students of the Unidad Educativa San Roque need to integrate a teaching and learning model based on mobile applications. This analysis allowed the development of the application called "My First English App" and an activity guide in worksheets for teaching English vocabulary to 2nd-grade students. Finally, it is expected that teachers will benefit and see how important apps are in professional works with children.Licenciatur

Interactive Technology Use in Early Childhood Programs to Enhance Literacy Development & Early Literacy Development for Children with Cochlear Implants

Interactive technology use in early childhood classroom and the effects it has on literacy development. Children with cochlear implants and their development of literacy skills as compared to typical hearing peers

A Quasi-Experiment Examining Expressive and Receptive Vocabulary Knowledge of Preschool Head Start Children Using Mobile Media Apps

The American Academy of Pediatrics (1999, 2011) recommends no screen time for children under two years and limited screen time for three- and four-year-olds. Despite these recommendations, most young children have easy access to various types of screens. In particular, children*s use of mobile media, including tablets and other touch screen devices, is increasing (Common Sense Media, 2013). Even though scholars have highlighted positive uses for mobile media (Christakis, 2014; Radesky, Schumacher, & Zuckerman, 2015) and there are recommendations in place for using mobile media with young children in active, open-ended ways (NAEYC & Fred Rogers Center, 2012), there has been very limited research conducted on the impact of mobile media on young children*s development. What is more, as early childhood professionals are beginning to incorporate mobile media into their classrooms, they are struggling with the ability to use these devices in developmentally appropriate ways (Marklund, 2015; Nuttall, Edwards, Mantilla, Grieshaber, & Wood, 2015). The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the efficacy of using different types of mobile media apps to increase the receptive and expressive vocabulary development of preschool children living in economically disadvantaged communities. Children and teachers in four Head Start classrooms participated in the quasi-experimental study, which included an eight-week intervention in which the children interacted with one of two types of apps: one classroom used direct instruction vocabulary apps (n = 16) and one classroom used open-ended vocabulary apps (n = 15). Two classrooms served as control groups (n = 18; n = 14) which used apps that were chosen by the Head Start program with no specific instructional method. Children*s vocabulary was assessed pre- and post-intervention. To assess receptive vocabulary, the PPVT-4 (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) and an iPad Receptive Vocabulary Assessment (Vatalaro, 2015a) were used. To assess expressive vocabulary, the EVT-2 (Williams, 2007) and an iPad Expressive Vocabulary Assessment (Vatalaro, 2015b) were used. Using a repeated measures analysis of variance with split plot analysis, children who used direct instruction apps performed statistically significantly higher on the PPVT-4 than children who used open-ended apps. Children in the direct instruction app group also performed statistically significantly higher than both control groups on the iPad Receptive Vocabulary Assessment. There were no statistically significant differences between groups for receptive vocabulary as measured by the EVT-2. However, when children were credited for describing a function instead of the iPad vocabulary word, the analysis of the iPad Expressive Vocabulary Assessment revealed that the children using direct instruction apps performed statistically significantly higher than children using open-ended apps and the children in one of the control groups. A secondary purpose of the present study was to examine the use of apps in mobile media by Head Start teachers. The teachers in the two intervention classrooms participated in weekly meetings with the primary researcher for support in using mobile media in their classrooms in order to ensure that the child intervention was carried out with fidelity. After analyzing data from teachers* self-report daily logs across the eight-week intervention, it was determined that the children received instruction on the assigned apps in both intervention classrooms. Although caution is given to the findings due to some limitations such as the quasi-experimental choice of a research design and the number of participants, the present study contributed to the early childhood research literature with the findings that interactive, animated apps which provide the meanings of vocabulary words in a direct instruction manner may have the ability to increase a child*s receptive vocabulary, and to increase a child*s descriptive definitions of iPad functions. This information increases the chance that teachers in Head Start will begin using direct instruction apps, in the hope of increasing a child*s vocabulary knowledge

Language Learners as Digital Bricoleurs: Exploring Independent Learning in Individual Digital Ecologies

Though there is a wealth of digital resources available for independent computerassisted language learning, language teachers may find mixed success in supporting learners in using it. Teachers need to understand their learners and how educational information-communication technology and the target language are integrated in their lives. We present the concepts of digital ecology and digital bricolage. Building on a prior survey study on English learner technology use at a Korean college, this qualitative case study explores ways that four Korean college students integrated technology and English into their lives. Drawing on a priori and emergent themes from interviews, we explore students’ digital ecologies and their processes of digital bricolage. We found that types of technology use varied across these cases, suggesting the value of digital ecologies for thinking about student technology use. Further, variations of technology use across the cases suggest that learners draw selectively from their available digital ecologies based on their perceptions of what it means to learn English and their personal priorities. We propose a framework for understanding language learner digital bricolage based on formality and instrumentality. This framework is of value to researchers and teachers who want to support students in digitally mediated self-directed language learning

Utilizing Ipads To Enhance Student Engagement In Vocabulary Learning: A Case Study

According to research evidence, the relationship between vocabulary and reading proficiency is so powerful that it is a valuable predictor of reading comprehension and academic achievement in the later school years (Scarborough, 2011). The major contributor to reading problem is the vocabulary demand of texts that students are assigned in school (Mckeown, Corsson, Arts, Sandora, & Beck, 2012). National Assessment of Education Progress (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012) stated the essential link between the words students know and students’ ability to use those words to understand what they read. Therefore, researchers and educators have both agreed the importance of minimizing vocabulary gaps in order for students to be able to succeed academically and deal with rigorous content (Sparks, 2013). This case study examined the effects of how utilizing an iPad would enhance a student’s engagement in vocabulary learning. A third grade student performing below grade level in reading comprehension and vocabulary participated in this study. The research took place at the University of Central Florida, College of Education, Reading Clinic. This research study concentrated on five different iPad applications that focused on enhancing the student’s engagement in ways to use the iPad to engage students with vocabulary learning. The data obtained from this research were gathered through pre and post vocabulary test developed by the researcher to assess the student’s learning gains. In addition, multiple sources such as attitude pre and post survey, game results, and observations were also collected. At the end of the research, the participant displayed tremendous learning gains in vocabulary. In addition, the researcher concluded that utilizing an iPad significantly enhanced the student’s engagement in vocabulary learning

Affordances and limitations of electronic storybooks for young children's emergent literacy

AbstractStories presented on phones, tablets and e-readers now offer an alternative to print books. The fundamental challenge has become to specify when and for whom the manner in which children retain information from stories has been changed by electronic storybooks, for better and for worse. We review the effects of digitized presentations of narratives that include oral text as well as multimedia information sources (e.g., animations and other visual and sound effects, background music, hotspots, games, dictionaries) on children's emergent literacy. Research on preschool and kindergarten children has revealed both positive and negative effects of electronic stories conditional upon whether materials are consistent with the way that the human information processing system works. Adding certain information to electronic storybooks can facilitate multimedia learning, especially in children at-risk for language or reading difficulty. Animated pictures, sometimes enriched with music and sound, that match the simultaneously presented story text, can help integrate nonverbal information and language and thus promote storage of those in memory. On the other hand, stories enhanced with hypermedia interactive features like games and “hotspots” may lead to poor performance on tests of vocabulary and story comprehension. Using those features necessitates task switching, and like multitasking in general, seems to cause cognitive overload. However, in accordance with differential susceptibility theory, well-designed technology-enhanced books may be particularly suited to improve learning conditions for vulnerable children and turn putative risk groups into successful learners. This new line of research may have far-reaching consequences for the use of technology-enhanced materials in education

Using eye-tracking as a tool to develop lexical knowledge

Eye-tracking is primarily used as a tool to capture attentional processes in second language (L2) research. However, it is feasible to design visual displays that can react to and interact with eye-movements in technology-mediated contexts. We explored whether gaze-contingency can foster L2 development by drawing attention to novel words reactively during reading. In particular, we investigated whether the acquisition of lexis can be facilitated by interactive glosses, that is, making glosses visually salient when triggered by fixations on a target word. We found that interactive, gaze-contingent glosses led to more and longer fixations at target words and glosses but did not lead to superior performance in recognition scores. We observed, however, an interaction between interactivity and form recognition, with more gloss fixations being associated with better performance under the interactive, but with worse outcomes in the non-interactive, condition. We attributed this difference to distinct motivations for viewing glosses in the groups

Exploring the influence of early screen use in the home on psychological development from an ecological perspective

The present research focuses on the influence that early screen use in the home has on young children’s psychological development. While a large body of research has been conducted on the influence that screens have on physical health factors, there is a paucity of literature focusing on early psychological development. Furthermore, the little research that has been conducted in this area has not considered early screen use from a fully ecological perspective. To explore this topic, the current research draws on Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model while using a nationally representative birth cohort study, as well as primary data, to assess the unique contribution early screen use has on developmental outcomes. The empirical studies in this thesis suggest that screen use had varying influences on children’s cognitive and socio-emotional development. However, the effect sizes were small in comparison to those seen for environmental factors, such as household income or parent-child relationships. Longitudinal analyses also indicated reverse-causal effects, which suggests screen time to not be the initial causing factor for the children’s later developmental outcomes. Further ecological factors, such as parental screen beliefs and engagement during screen time were also found to be associated with the prevalence and type of early screen use, highlighting the importance of controlling for such factors in the analyses. These findings highlight the screen use factors, and the ecological factors related to this, that are important to measure in future research to provide a more nuanced understanding of screen time’s unique role in early development. The findings are discussed within the context of the bioecological model and provide evidence-based guidelines for caregivers, educators, practitioners, and policymakers, on best early screen use practices. The findings also add to the debate on what influence, if any, early screen use has on the young developing child – an area that has been under-researched to date.N