RDLA1200-Reading First

RDLA1200 Reading First: Supporting Early Reading Instruction with Technology
Syllabus
Click here to download printable version of syllabus

The Reading First initiative, as defined in the No Child Left Behind legislation, is based on the findings of the National Reading Panel. This course, co-developed by EDC and NEIRTEC (Northeast and the Islands Regional Technology in Education Consortium), one of ten regional technology in education consortia funded by the U.S. Department of Education, provides a review of the five key areas in early reading instruction as defined by Reading First--phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension--and explores how technology can best support reading instruction. The course also includes an introduction to DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills), a set of standardized measures of early literacy development. Workshop participants will review several software packages that can be used with early readers and develop strategies for integrating technology appropriately and effectively in early reading instruction.

Credit and Cost

Upon completion of all course requirements, South Carolina educators applying for certificate renewal under Options 1 & 2 of the Credit Renewal Matrix will receive 40 renewal credits.

The credit renewal matrix can be viewed at http://www.scteachers.org/cert/recert/pdf/matrix_dist_ent.pdf

There is a $25 non-refundable registration fee for this course.

Prerequisites

This is an introductory course for teachers, technology specialists, curriculum specialists, professional development specialists, or other school personnel. Participants are expected to have regular access to Internet connected computers. In addition, participants should be proficient with using email, browsing the Internet, and navigating to computer files.

Instructors

Regional Technology Specialists
http://ed.sc.gov/agency/offices/tech/rtc/techSpecialists.html

South Carolina Department of Education

Office of Technology

Materials and Online location

To participate in this online course you will need a computer with MS Word and a browser and Internet access. Several readings in this course are posted in PDF format. To view and print PDF documents, you need Acrobat Reader software, available free from Adobe's web site. If you do not yet have Acrobat Reader installed, go to the Adobe site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html and follow the directions to download and install the software.

The course is hosted online by eLearning SC Blackboard https://elearning.ed.sc.gov . Login and password are required to access the course.

The online materials are from EdTech Leaders Online and Education Development Center
Since the inception of EdTech Leaders Online (ETLO) in the fall of 2000, educational organizations from across the country have become a part of a national learning community. ETLO has enabled them to add standards-based online courses to professional development programs, to prepare teachers to effectively integrate technology into their curricula, and to develop successful online courses for teachers and students. ETLO's programs offer high-quality content delivered by an expert staff, along with ongoing, individualized support.
With over 350 projects around the globe, Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is one of the world's leading nonprofit educational research intuitions. Founded in 1958, EDC has long been a leader in curriculum development, professional development, educational research, and innovative uses of technology in education. EDC conducts research and develops programs in such areas as early childhood development, K-12 education, workforce preparation, learning technologies, and institutional reform.

Goals

This course will enable participants to:

Assignments

This 7 week course is divided into seven sessions which each include readings, an activity, and an online discussion and a final project. The time for completing each session is estimated to be two to four hours.

Orientation:	Week One:	an introduction to the course website
Session One:	Week Two:	Introduction and Overview
Session Two:	Week Three:	Supporting Phonemic Awareness Instruction
Session Three:	Week Four:	Technology-Enhanced Phonics Instruction
Session Four:	Week Five:	Developing Fluency
Session Five:	Week Six:	Building Vocabulary and Text Comprehension Skills with Technology
Session Six:	Week Seven:	Assessing Reading Instruction and Finalizing a Technology-Enhanced Classroom Reading Project

Final Product Template: As a final product, participants will plan strategies for each reading component identified by the National Reading Panel and develop a lesson plan that integrates technology effectively in early reading instruction. Workshop participants are expected to complete weekly assignments, including active participation in the online discussion board. In addition, participants will develop and share their ideas to incorporate tools and strategies presented in the course into their own curricula. The project must contain all elements listed in the rubric.
Discussion Forums: Participants are expected to complete weekly discussion assignments and actively participate in the online discussion board. In the discussions, participants will develop and share their ideas to incorporate tools and strategies presented in the course into their own curricula.

Attendance and Late Assignments Policy

• Attendance will be determined by completion of weekly online assignments. Assignment due dates are midnight of the last date of each session.
• BlackBoard’s time stamp given within the DigitalDrop Box and the Discussion Board will determine if the assignments were completed on time.
• Late assignments will not be accepted without prior arrangement with instructor.
• An assignment Calendar and rubric for participant use can be viewed online or downloaded via the Course Information button, after the course instructor has given registered participants login information for the online course.

Assessment and Support

A rubric will be used to assess weekly participation and the final project.

The Digital DropBox and the GradeBook feature accessed by the User Tools Button on the course homepage will serve as the participant’s portfolio and provide assessment feedback. Course participants will be assessed throughout this course by the assignments submitted to the facilitator via the Digital DropBox and Discussion Forums. The GradeBook will be used to provide participants with weekly assessment of assignments and discussion. 80% of the possible grade for each session must be achieved in order to pass the course.
These are the criteria to be used for evaluating successful participation in and completion of this course for 40 renewal credits.
Participants are required to complete readings, an activity, and a discussion assignment for each session.

Course Products
As a final product, participants will plan strategies for each reading component identified by the National Reading Panel and develop a lesson plan that integrates technology effectively in early reading instruction. The project must contain all elements listed in the rubric.

Discussion Participation
Participants will be evaluated on the frequency and quality of their discussion board participation. Participants are required to post a minimum of two substantial postings each session, including one that begins a new thread and one that responds to an existing thread. Postings that begin new threads will be reviewed based on their relevance, demonstrated understanding of course concepts, examples cited, and overall quality. Postings that respond to other participants will be evaluated on relevance, degree to which they extend the discussion, and tone.

Ongoing Support is provided online within a guided discussion forum used to discuss and share strategies, challenges, and resources.

Major Topics

Session One: Introduction and Overview to National Reading Panel Findings
Participants will explore the National Reading Panel's findings about effective reading instruction and assessment tools for early literacy skills. They will also consider how technology can be used to support early reading instruction and begin brainstorming strategies for technology-supported reading lessons.

Readings:

Participants will view a video summarizing the NRP’s comprehensive report, sign up for a materials account at the DIBELS site and download the Strategies Planner.

Session Two: Supporting Phonemic Awareness Instruction

Participants will review software that can be used to support the development of phonemic awareness, engage in preliminary planning for a technology-supported lesson, and explore DIBELS assessment tools for "Phoneme Segmentation Fluency." They will begin strategizing rough ideas for technology-supported reading lessons for Part I of the Strategies Planner section of the Final Product

Readings:

Participants will explore demos of software that help develop students’ phonemic awareness. They also watch a video of a teacher teaching phonemic awareness and they work on the phonemic awareness section of the Strategies Planner. In addition, they review the DIBELS Phoneme Segmentation Fluency test of phonological awareness.

Session Three: Technology-Enhanced Phonics Instruction

Participants will explore software designed to help students with phonics and plan technology-supported phonics instructional strategies for our own classrooms. Preliminary planning of student activities and teaching strategies used to address Early Reading components will continue on Part I of the Strategies Planner section of the Final Product.

Readings:

Participants will listen to audio files about teaching phonics and explore software packages for phonics instruction. They will plan strategies for phonics instruction using the Strategies Planner.

Session Four: Developing Fluency

Participants we will compare two software packages designed to help students read fluently and review DIBELS assessment tools for Oral Reading and Retell Fluency. Preliminary planning of student activities and teaching strategies used to address Early Reading components will continue on Part I of the Strategies Planner section of the Final Product.

Reading

Participants will download and explore two software packages designed to assist students in developing their reading fluency. They will listen to an audio file about teaching fluency and continue to work on the Strategies Planner by adding strategies for teaching fluency.

Session Five: Building Vocabulary and Text Comprehension Skills with Technology

Participants will explore several vocabulary and text comprehension features available in Kidspiration software. In addition, we will review the DIBELS assessment tool "Retell Fluency" for comprehension skills. Additionally, we will wrap up our preliminary planning on Part I of the Strategies Planner section of the Final Product.

Readings

Selections from Put Reading First:The Research Building Block for Teaching Children to Read
Selections from NEIRTEC’s Technology and Teaching Children to Read: What Does the Research Say?

Participants will view a video about teaching vocabulary. They will download and install Kidspiration software to explore its possible uses in their classrooms for vocabulary and text comprehension instruction. They will add strategies to the Strategies Planner for vocabulary and text comprehension instruction.

Session Six: Assessing Reading Instruction and Finalizing a Technology-Enhanced Reading Project

Participants will look at how teachers have integrated technology into their reading instruction as well as complete final planning for technology-enhanced reading lessons. Additionally, they will explore ongoing methods of assessment of students' early reading skills using DIBELS.

Readings

Participants will review the DIBELS Benchmark Assessments and plan their use with their own students. They will complete Integrating Technology in Early Reading Strategies Planner and complete Part 2 Planning a Technology-Enhanced Lesson by noting Goals, Standards, and Activities that describe how they will add new instructional techniques or technology-supported activities to an existing Early Reading lesson.

Mode of Instruction

Theory
Hands-On Practice
Peer Review and Collaboration
Independent Research and Project work
Feedback and Coaching
The entire course will be delivered online via eLearning SC Blackboard https://elearning.ed.sc.gov

Bibliography

A Resources button on the course homepage within eLearning SC Blackboard https://elearning.ed.sc.gov contains the bibliography for this course. A limited bibliography is included in the major topics section above.

Standards

ISTE Technology Standards
This course will help participants meet the following ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Teachers:

• II. PLANNING AND DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND EXPERIENCES.
Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology. Teachers:
o A. design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.
o C. identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability.
o D. plan for the management of technology resources within the context of learning activities.
o E. plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced environment.
• III. TEACHING, LEARNING, AND THE CURRICULUM.
Teachers implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning. Teachers:
o A. facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and student technology standards.
o B. use technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students.
o C. apply technology to develop students' higher order skills and creativity.
o D. manage student learning activities in a technology-enhanced environment.
• V. PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Teachers use technology to enhance their productivity and professional practice. Teachers:
o A. use technology resources to engage in ongoing professional development and lifelong learning.
• VI. SOCIAL, ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND HUMAN ISSUES.
Teachers understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK-12 schools and apply those principles in practice. Teachers:
o B. apply technology resources to enable and empower learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.
o D. promote safe and healthy use of technology resources.

(See:http://cnets.iste.org/ for details on ISTE NETS Standards. Standards listed here are taken from http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/t_stands.html and have been developed by the International Society for Technology in Education, http://www.iste.org/)

NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS
View all National Professional Development standards: http://www.nsdc.org/standards/index.cfm
Staff development that improves the learning of all students:
· Organizes adults into learning communities whose goals are aligned with those of the school and district.
· Requires resources to support adult learning and collaboration.
· Provides educators with the knowledge and skills to collaborate.
· Prepares educators to understand and appreciate all students, create safe, orderly and supportive learning environments, and hold high expectations for their academic achievement.
· Deepens educators' content knowledge, provides them with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and prepares them to use various types of classroom assessments appropriately.