RESEARCH PAPER TEMPLATE

North American University

Education Department
M.Ed. in EDLE & CUIN
EDUC 5324: INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO EDUCATION

Name:__Gabriel Hernandez_____ Date: __10-13-17____

Topic Selected: Topic 2: What are some of the innovative tools that research
says is suitable and works great for distance education? Include history and
definitions. Choose one or highlight several tools that works in distance
education according to research.

1. LITERATURE REVIEW:
What does the literature/research say about this issue/topic? By using NAU
Library or Online Search engines, conduct a literature review.
You need to include 5 different sources (book, journal article, web article
etc.) in your review. Try to use current sources as much as possible.
You need to summarize and synthesize your sources by discussing a
common theme or issue.
You don't need to critique your sources
You don't need to evaluate your sources (if the sources are trustworthy,
weather the author has a bias or not)
You need to provide background information such as history and
definitions
Brief Literature Review:
As technology increases, educational opportunities and capabilities increase
and transform, thus provoking ingenuity and innovation. From history in such
topic we find that online education is a descendent of and has a shared history
with correspondence learning (Caruth, 2013). To begin, it is important to
express online learning is a general term used to describe learning using the
world wide web. It is important to also point out that online learning was not
always how people performed distance education. Distance education was first
done through the postal mail system. Understanding that distance education, is
not just online classes will aide in understanding the different methods and
practices we may learn from distance education in the future. In a sense,
looking at the past to help think of the future. One piece of technology that
supports this ideology is Scrible. Scrible is a program that help(s) students
share notes, compare ideas and collectively work on projects (Henryson,
2017). You can take any type of pdf, website, or content and have students
annotate it and access later for classroom use or discussion. This collaboration
is what builds value and essence in the beauty of online learning. To further
explain, education relies on technological strategies like this one to build quality
and thus, make distance education of higher quality. Another tool used to
enhance online learning is ExamView, a test development and publishing tool
designed to improve the efficiency of the assessment process which
challenges students to connect with the lessons learned online and apply them
in this assessment tool (Wilde, 2004). Because newer platforms are being
managed for learning, advances that allow teachers to rely on a number of
sophisticated computer programs to provide online or other forms of computer-
controlled assessments are highly needed (Popham, 2017, p.64). Finally,
another aspect of distance learning includes m-learning which is defined as the
learning that can be produced through mobile devices such as cell phones.
Despite the options for learning, (t)he educationists view these devices as a
distraction, rather antithetical: primarily due to the excessive entertainment
options compared to the educationl options. A serious effort is required on the
part of governments, as well as educatinists, to dispel this
misconception (Iqbal, Khan, Malik, 2017). As a result these authors suggest to
fight back the negative views of cell phones for education, and design
instruction to properly and effectively teach students.
2. REFLECTION:
What is your personal opinion on this issue? Do you agree with the
research? If you agree or disagree, please explain why?
Provide examples/experiences regarding this issue from school
perspective or If you are not working in a school, from your profession.
Be specific with your examples. You can mention software/hardware
names, specific methods that you plan to use, etc.
How would you implement this research in your career? (At least 1
paragraph)

Reflection: Despite knowing the United States educational system calls

for free, appropriate, and public education, I agree with the research
when it suggests that teachers need to grow fondness towards
technological devices to increase educational methods. From experience,
these methods tend to be more appealing to students which raises
attention span. Examples include laptops, smart boars, and cellular
devices. The most important goal is to keep teachers teaching
appropriate content. If we have this, then technology helps them
effectively teach the material. Technology is a resource, not the answer to
good teaching practice. For example teachers may use a smart board to
do multiple hands on activities with students. For ELA, you can annotate
in groups and share ideas easily through the smart board. I do not have
access to one in school but I do use my projector, document camera
when I can. I answer multiple choice questions with students as they see
my annotations on the board. I also use the STAARs online testing
program to quiz my students on reading passages. We go over them on
the board and students write down their answers on a sheet of paper. I
know some schools get voter remotes with their smart board, so if I had
that, I would also use them. One of my college professors expressed one
day, You are afraid, of what you do not know. If we are too scared to be
flexible and use technology, it is not just hurting ourselves, but also the
students as their world becomes more technology centered each and
everyday.

3. REFERENCES:
Cite at least 5 References in APA.
You may use http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-journal for citing
your sources in APA style.
References:
Caruth, G. (2013). Distance Education in the United States: From Correspondence
Courses to the Internet. Turkish Online Journal Of Distance Education (TOJDE), 14(2),
141-149.

Henryson, L. (2017, October 11). 9 Essential Online Tools For Distance Learning.
Retrieved October 13, 2017, from https://elearningindustry.com/9-essential-online-
tools-distance-learning

Popham, W. J. (2017). Deciding What to Assess. In Classroom Assessment: What

Teachers Need to Know (8th ed., pg. 64). Pearson

Wilde, Russ. (2004) Evaluating Digital Authoring Tools. The International Review of
Research in Open and Distributed Learning from https://www.irrodl.org/index.php/
irrodl/article/view/178/260.

Iqbal, S., Khan, M. N., Malik, I. R. (2017). Mobile Phone Usage and Students
Perception towards M-Learning The International Journal of E-learning & Distance
Education. (IJEDE), Vol. 32, No.1