The Use of eReaders in the Classroom and at Home to Help Third-grade Students Improve their Reading and English/ Language Arts Standardized Test Scores

Union, C. D., Union, L. W., & Green, T. D. (2015, September 1). The Use of eReaders in the Classroom and at Home to Help Third-grade Students Improve their Reading and English/ Language Arts Standardized Test Scores. TechTrends TECHTRENDS TECH TRENDS, 59(5), 1-15. doi:10.1007/s11528-015-0893-3

In Lawrenceville Elementary school, a study was conducted use of eReaders, in the classroom and at home, to help third-graders improve their reading and English/ Language Arts standardized test scores. In order to have something to base their findings off of, researchers first looked at that particular class of student’s end of year second-grade results. Twenty-five students were selected to participate in this study. Those twenty-five students chosen were given a Nook Simple Touch eReader and associated eBooks, both in and out of school to complete lessons called Nook assignments that focused on Common Core standards. The study was designed to determine whether or not the Nook, and the way the students were handling them, would improve student performance. The results of the study was that the use of technology in the classroom and at home is a viable choice. The study shows that, “Electronic books have shown the ability to engage students and motivate them to read. When motivated students are engaged in reading, their reading comprehension and achievement as well as their vocabulary improve.” So in conclusion, “the use of eReaders in the classroom and at home by third-grade students, when integrated with the everyday lessons provided by classroom teachers, can contribute to improving student reading performance.”

Although this study was only conducted and written about a year ago, it is beginning to look like old news in today’s 2016 world. More and more schools have been integrating the use of technology that students can carry back-and-forth from home for quite some time now. Not all schools are using Nooks though. Some schools have taken part in using other forms of readers such as Chromebooks, Kindles, and Ipads. Technology students can travel with is becoming more popular and relevant in schools today because of results from studies like these. All of the results of these studies have the same conclusion – students are more motivated and willing to learn if they had technology in their hands. This is why I would like to integrate technology like this into my future classroom. Even though this particular study was conducted in a third-grade classroom, the same results can still be seen across any discipline or grade level. Teaching in a middle or high school that allows students to take home devices, I would use said devices for students to complete assignments that have to do with reading and writing. It would be much easier for students to have all of the texts they need for my class right at their fingertips without having to carry around clunky back-breaking textbooks. Overall, I believe that technology used to make reading easily accessible to the student, and that sparks students interest in reading, is always a great thing.