Ryan Osweiler EDTECH 541 Relative Advantage of Instructional Software Post According to Roblyer and Doering (2012), two

questions must be answered when determining technologys relative advantage in a given situation: What is the problem? and Do technology-based methods offer a solution with sufficient relative advantage? (p. 55-57). To reference my current position and place of employment, a huge challenge for us is to engage and provide connections to reading and writing assignments. This would be a statement of the problem. Students will often admit they give up on reading and writing tests, call these processes boring, and moan and groan at the thought of anything related to these topics. Students reference the fact they spend hours (4 or more) doing practice testing on reading and writing activities. Some even say that they do not know whats in it for them. These statements solidify my belief that there is a problem with engaging students in reading and writing and making connections to students lives. I have begun two initiatives aimed at helping my students get excited for writing and in the process, showing teachers how they can use these technologies to correct and improve the attitudes towards reading and writing. The first program I use is Edmodo (www.edmodo.com) . This program is a social network platform for classrooms. Teachers can post writing prompts and/or assignments and students can respond to the teacher and others in the classroom. When students first log into the program, they think it is Facebook because it does look a lot like it. Students have been asking when can we get on Edmodo again? and can we use this program more? To say students get excited for writing while using Edmodo is an understatement. Teachers can use writing prompts as pre-assessments for lessons they may need to work on for direct instruction. The site can be integrated into all content areas. Some students get on the site at home and post at all hours of the night because this is engaging to them. All posts are moderated by the teacher before posting so it is a safe environment, even for elementary students. The second program that I have initiated is through the creation of eBooks. Students I work with gravitate heavily towards books that are in electronic form. We have iPads at our school so I use a free app called Scribble Press (www.scribblepress.com) . We have this app installed on all iPads. Students can create an eBook for any content area the teacher would like. This technology is project-based learning at its best. Last year, the third grade teachers used this technology with their simple machines unit in science. Students went around the school and took pictures of different simple machines. After they collected their pictures, they wrote about each and used their research information to create amazing projects. Students enjoyed the process but may have enjoyed reading each others books more. This process hooked students on reading (and writing) and again, would ask when can we create another eBook and Ive never had so much fun reading. Examples like these are relative advantages to technology integration. Student learning is maximized by analyzing the results of assessments done in classrooms. Teachers comment that their students have performed better and are more attentive to these topics. Student learning is the ultimate goal of education and technology integration impacts this is amazing ways. References

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. (2012). Integrating educational technology into teaching. (6th ed.). Pearson Education Inc.