The Study

Associate Professor Yong Zhao, Professor Carol Sue Englert, and doctoral students Jing Chen, Su Chin Jones, and Rick Ferdig describe the development of a Web-based literacy learning software application known as Technology Enhanced Learning Environment on the Web (TELE-Web).

Findings

The focus of the article is the development of TELE-Web and how technology is affected by literacy practices in educational contexts, instead of concentrating only on the effects of technology. TELE-Web was developed based on an existing approach toward literacy development for students with mild disabilities at the primary grades, known as Early Literacy Project (ELP). ELP's curricular activities involved multiple forms of oral and written literacy, and several studies had documented its ability to accelerate the literacy achievement of special education students with mild disabilities. But technology offered an opportunity to extend and enhance the project's capabilities. The designers considered a number of technologies, including CD-ROM-based software. But they settled on the Web because it could incorporate on one site the many components and tools. With ELP as the conceptual map, the designers developed a site that offered a student and teacher interface. Among the innovations was the creation of a "writing room" that allowed students with a click of a button to hear stories read to them by the computer. TELE-Web was also configured to offer immediate assistance and provide the reader or writer with help on difficult words, "furthering students' development of work recognition skills, reading fluency, and awareness of sound-symbol correspondences." The teacher interface also produced a number of innovations, including allowing teachers to develop and deliver writing prompts to assist writers during the writing process. For the authors, ELP was the foundation on which the Web site was developed, not the other way around. "Although computers have the potential for may things, ELP helped to turn them into a special tool for special purposes." However, the technology also had an influence. In fact, it transformed ELP in many ways. Technology and established practice is a reciprocal process. They conclude by stating that their experiences make clear that (1) educators can have significant effect on technology, (2) every technology has its own internal structure that is not modifiable, which provides certain benefits and constraints, and (3) the process of applying technology in education is a very complex social process.

What It Means To You

Teachers may sometimes feel beholden to technology, unable to harness its potential in their classrooms. The experience of Zhao and his colleagues makes clear that educators can take established practices and curricula and combine them with technology to create exciting new opportunities for their students. However, the process can be complicated and technology does change the nature of those practices in many ways.

For More Information

Zhao, Y. Englert, C.S., Chen, J. Jones, S.C. & Ferdig, R.E. (2000). The development of a Web-based literacy learning environment: A dialogue between innovation and established practices. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 32(4), 435-454.