Engaging EL
Student Writers
with Technology
Dana L. Grisham, Ph.D.
National University
ACOE 6th Annual English Learner Conference,
Hayward, CA
January 26, 2013
The CCCSS
 Common Core State Standards (CCSS, 2010) adopted by
the State of California (California Common Core State
Standards or CCCSS)
 A call for the integration of language arts (reading,
writing, listening, and speaking) into all disciplinary areas
 A call for the integration of technology into teaching
 A call for greater text complexity and more independent
reading
The Millenials
 What is unique about the 21st century student is
that they exercise all their learning modalities
[verbal, kinesthetic, visual, and aural] by using
and playing with technology. Technology
extrinsically and intrinsically engages these
students (Grisham & Wolsey, 2012; Grisham &
Smetana, in press)
Generational Differences
 Millennials (Born after 1982)
 Students in grades 6-12 today were born after
1995
 They have always worked on computers
 They almost always have cell phones and iPods
An Example
Sarah and I go home and she calls me on the phone when
she’s ready to log on. We keep the phone conversations
going while we log on and decide where to go. We’re
always on the talker, but sometimes we go idle to visit
other places. I keep telling dad I need a bigger monitor,
because I wind up with so many windows open that I can’t
always follow what’s going on in each one. Then we do
about six different things at the same time. We’ll have my
talker open, our ICQ on, we’ll have the role-playing MOO
we just joined open, we have our homework open (which
I’m pleased to report we both get done at the end of the
night and its soooo much more fun doing it this way!), we
have the palace open, we have our own private
conversation windows open for different friends, and we
have our phone conversations going on at the same time
(Thomas, 2007, p. 167).
Some Statistics
 93% of the adolescents surveyed (ages 12-17) used
the Internet for social interactions—such as
blogging, webpages (for either school or social
uses), sharing artwork, photos, stories, and videos
as original content, and “remixing” online content to
create new texts.
 However, there are access problems for students
that need to be addressed in schools (Grisham &
Wolsey, 2006).
Technology is an important part of the
solution
 To teaching words and strategies
 To increasing volume of reading
 To developing an interest in words
New Tools for New Times!
Why Technology?
 CAST’s Universal Design for Learning
approach calls for the following:
 “Multiple means of representation, to give learners
various ways of acquiring information and knowledge,
 Multiple means of expression, to provide learners
alternatives for demonstrating what they know,
 Multiple means of engagement, to tap into learners'
interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase
motivation” http://www.cast.org/research/udl/index.html
Writing Instruction
 The Neglected “R” (National Commission on Writing, 2003)
 Teachers often do not feel prepared to teach writing
 Teacher preparation programs focus more on reading
instruction than writing instruction
 Writing becomes a “week” (Monday—prewriting; Tuesday—
drafting; Wednesday—revision; Thursday—editing; Friday—
publishing)
 Lack of technology resources and support for teachers to
integrate technology into their classrooms in a high
accountability environment
NAEP
 National Assessment of Educational Progress (2011) is the
first to integrate technology into writing (LiteracyBeat)
 Gaps continue to exist among ethnic groups (as does a
gender gap)
NAEP
NAEP
Driving Questions
 What can we do to improve the writing scores of over 5
million Spanish-speaking English Learners?
 What can we do to improve the motivation and self-
efficacy of these students?
 What can we do to integrate meaningful technology into
our teaching?
Definitions
 Composition may be defined generally as “the action of putting
things together: formation or construction” (Google, 2012).
Another website
(http://grammar.about.com/od/tz/g/writingterm.htm) defines
composition as, “The nature of something’s ingredients or
constituents; the way in which a whole or mixture is made up.”
We like these definitions because, although they are general,
they focus on building and generating an end product.
 Writing is defined as “a system of graphic symbols that can be
used to convey meaning
(http://grammar.about.com/od/tz/g/writingterm.htm).
 Multimodal texts exceed the alphabetic and may include still
and moving images, animations, color, words, music and sound
and consist of web pages, films, and podcasts in addition to
print-image hybrids (Selfe & Takayoshi, 2008).
TPACK
Mishra & Koehler, 2006
Provides a framework
for planning to use a
technological tool for
a learning outcome.
A Study of Teacher Candidates
 Grisham & Smetana (in press) conducted a study with 21
preservice teacher candidates in general and special
education.
 TCs planned and taught a “generative” technology lesson
as part of the course
 TCs integrated technology into their teaching in a way
that addressed real students in real K-12 classrooms
 Tools were suggested, but TCs could use others they heard
of or found
Findings from the Study
 Scaffolding TC thinking through a proposal process with
instructor feedback helped TCs to think and plan with tech
 TCs showed remarkable diversity in their choices of tech
tools and integration into their teaching
 TCs initially found TPACK “too abstract” but their choices
revealed that they actually used the framework and
matched the technology to their teaching objectives.
 Lessons were primarily generative in nature, but a few
were teacher directed/structured
Examples of Generative Tech
 “Lila” and “Neta” taught 4-6th graders at elementary level
 Learning to write an expository essay by means of a blog
 They used Wordpress (http://wordpress.org) to construct the blog and
Step Up to Writing (Cambium Learning Group) for the writing
curriculum
 They used YouTube videos to introduce two topics and another
software (Text2Map) to organize students’ thoughts into digital
format
 TCs demonstrated that students successfully completed the project
and were “engaged” by the technology and “21st Century Skills”
Example 2
 “Elana” used a more teacher directed project with Prezi
(http://prezi.com) in her Special Day Class to teach phonemic
awareness and phonics
 Wanted software that was “interesting, but not too distracting”
and to take old lessons and make them new and exciting
 Scanned Zoo Phonics picture cards and inserted into Prezi
 Projected Prezi onto whiteboard and students chanted sounds
and made appropriate body movements
 Elana now plans to add sight words to the Prezi
Example 3
 “Avram” taught 8th grade and sought to engage a group of
disaffected English Learners, all boys
 The pullout students developed the “Flamingo Writers
Workshop” with their teacher, creating a website on Weebly
(http://www.weebly.com)
 They drew parallel between writers workshop and website
construction:
 Prewriting, Organizing, Writing, Editing, and Revising (POWER)
 Plan, Design, Create, Register, Inspect, and Publish
 Technology made the project engaging and increased student
self-efficacy
TC “Take Aways” 1
 Lesson reflections indicate that TCs often became more
positive in attitude toward technology integration
 one “technophobe” changed substantially, stating that the
assignment “has certainly helped me understand that
students need the enrichment and engagement that
technology can provide.”
 Another student stated, “Technology made everything we
did more engaging to the students.”
 “This project was a great help in getting our students to
practice writing and use new elements in their writing in a
fun and developmentally appropriate way.”
TC “Take Aways” 2
 TCs described the deep engagement of low SES students,
English Learners, Special Education students, many of whom
have poor academic self-images and may resist school or act
out.
 The “learned helplessness” exhibited by some students
disappeared as they felt empowered by technology.
 “Monte” noted, “The learned helplessness that I sometimes
encounter with some students in the classroom was nonexistent in
the computer lab.”
 “Jenny” stated, “I observed an increase in individual creativity and
a surge of verbal communication between students” as they
worked with the technology
TC “Take Aways” 3
 Technology integration required time and K-12 students
required time for exploration of the tool
 “Carlos” shared, “I forgot that giving the student new
technology was just like giving a student math group linking
cubes. I needed to provide a time for play and exploration
before using the cubes in a lesson. Once I got on board with
the students and allowed ‘playtime’, our projects progressed
well.”
Implications
 We need support for 21st Century Learning tools and technology
integration (funding, technical help, TIME)
 We need to embrace the need for technology integration and
what it will do to help our students
 We don’t need to do all of it, but we do need to start. Try one
new tool integrated into a lesson this year!
 We need to find “spaces” for this despite program
improvement, pacing guides, and directed curricula
 Our students NEED this because this is what motivates them
Multimedia Retelling
 Martina, the Beautiful
Cockroach: A Cuban
Folktale
 by Carmen Agra Deedy
 Illustrated by Michael
Austin
 Garage Band recordings
of character’s retelling
 PowerPoint book
Dana Grisham and Linda Smetana with 7 gr 3-5 children
Abuela
Martina’s Cuban
grandmother, Abuela,
tells her to test a
suitor’s real nature by
pouring coffee on his
shoes.
“Josephine” talks about
how Abuela gives good
advice to Martina.
Keys to success
 Read and discussed story beforehand
 Children chose their character
 Gave a partial retelling (not the whole thing)
 Used book illustrations to guide retelling
 Adult recorded with garage band and created PowerPoint book
(scanned images, inserted sounds, text)
 Resulted in tangible product that was shared digitally and in
print
For those transitions….FREE RICE
http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1401
Practice with Tools
 VoiceThread http://www.voicethread.com.
 Animoto http://www.animoto.com/education
 ComicCreator
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/comic/inde
x.html
 Edmodo http://www.edmodo.com
 Glogster http://www.glogster.com
 Prezi http://www.prezi.com
 Popplet http://popplet.com
Practice with Tools
 Slidepoint http://www.slidepoint.net
 Storybird http://storybird.com
 Strip Designer http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/strip-
designer/id314780738?mt=8
 Stripcreator http://stripcreator.com
 Screencast http://screencast.com
 Screencast-o-matic http://screencast-o-matic.com
 Cool Tools for Schools
http://wwwcooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Presentations+Tools
 Toontastic http://launchpadtoys.com/toontastic/
Directions
 With a partner, choose one tool and explore it for the next
10 minutes.
 How do you download?
 How easy is it to navigate?
 What do you envision you might do with it? (Think TPACK)
 Be prepared to talk about it to the whole group
Additional Resources
 TextProject http://textproject.org
For Our Students:
Customization and Choice
Contact
 Dana L. Grisham
dana.grisham@gmail.com