EDTECHResearchAssignment

SubjectArea/GradeLevel:
Math/4thgrade

InstructionalObjective:
Increasemathproblemsolvingskills

PreResearchDiscussion:

Accordingtodatafromlastyearsstatetests,thereneedstobeanincreaseinthemath
problemsolvingskillsofourstudents.Theyespeciallystruggledwithconstructedresponse
problems.Workinginanonlineschoolenvironmentrequiressomeextracreativitytosolvethe
problem.

IamresearchingtheuseofLiveScribePensalongwithLiveScribeDesktopsoftwaretoincrease
mathscores,especiallyforconstructedresponseproblems.Thepensrecordthewritingaswell
asaudio.WritinginBlackboardCollaboratewithapenwouldbemucheasierforteachersand
studentsthantryingtowritewithamouse.

Itwouldalsobeanefficientwayforstudentstosharetheirthoughtprocesseswhile
problemsolving,makingcorrectivefeedbackmoreeffective.

PostResearchDiscussion:
Thesepensarecosteffective,runningabout$100apiece.They
addressmultiplemodesoflearning.Thinkaloudsareaneffectivestrategyusedbyinstructors
andstudents,andareanaturaluseforthisdigitalpen.Thepencanbeusedforall
subjects/coursesbythestudentsandbytheinstructor.Learningtousethepentakesabout30
minutes.Theycanbenefitallstudentsincludingspecialpopulations.

AnnotatedBibliography
Hickman,M.(2013).Engagingstudentswithprerecordedlivereflectionsonproblemsolving
withLivescribepens.
ResearchinMathematicsEducation
,
15
(2),195196.

Inthisstudy,studentteacherssolvedprimarymathproblemswhileexplainingtheirthought
processes.Thepencastprovedavaluabletoolforthinkalouds.Atalaterdatetheyviewedtheir
pencasts,listenedtotheiraudioinstructionandimprovedtheirlessonscollaboratively.Usingthe
penandrecordingtheirthoughtsgavethemsomeinstructionalpractice.Listeningtothe
recordinghelpedthemdiscovertheirmistakesandimprovetheirlessonbeforepresentingit.
Repetitionisvaluableforlearning.Studentsbeingabletoreplaypencastsandlistentoaudio
withtheirnoteswouldenhancelearning.

Mehlhorn,S.,Parrott,S.,Mehlhorn,J.,Burcham,T.,Roberts,J.,&Smartt,P.(2011,February).
Usingdigitallearningobjectstoimprovestudentproblemsolvingskills.Paperpresentedatthe
SouthernAgriculturalEconomicsAssociationAnnualMeeting,CorpusChristi,TX.Retrieved
fromhttp://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/98763/2/LivescribeSAEAPaperFINAL.pdf

Teacherscanrecordinstruction,notes,vocabulary,andproblemsolvingexamplestobeused
bystudentswhoareabsent,completinghomework,orstudyingforexams.Thestudyshowed
improvementinexamscoresandhomeworkcompletionbystudentswhoseteachersprovided
pencasts.Thestudentshadfavorableresponsestothepencasts.Thisisanefficientwayto
provideinformationforthosewhoneedit,withoutwastingthetimeofotherswhodonot.Iwould
beabletomeetwithastudentonlineandwatchthemworkoutaproblem.Itcouldbedonelive
orrecordedformetoreviewforfeedbacklater.Studentscouldtakenotesonmathvocabulary
toreviewlater.

Carlson,J.K.(2011).Whatdoyoudowithadigitalpen?InJ.E.Aitken,J.P.Fairley,&J.K.
Carlson(Eds.),
CommunicationTechnologyforStudentsinSpecialEducationandGifted
Programs
(pp.303306).Hershey,PA:IdeaGroupInc(IGI).Retrievedfrom
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=b87CHJwtBWsC&oi=fnd&pg=PA303&dq=what+d
o+you+do+with+a+digital+pen%3F&ots=D_WsjS3JI&sig=bntn2pC8z_zEfweHRnnuXVIvU#v=
onepage&q=what%20do%20you%20do%20with%20a%20digital%20pen%3F&f=false

Digitalpensaremultimodal,providinganengagingvisual,auditory,andkinestheticlearning
experience.Notonlymeetingneedsinmath,theyareavaluabletooltobeusedinreading,
writing,andscience.Digitalpensarecosteffective,andhelpmeettheneedsofspecial
populationssuchasELL,GT,andthosewithautismspectrumdisordersaswell.Thisarticle
spelledoutmanyspecificusesforthepen.Providingthisarticleduringprofessional
developmentforthepenwouldgetteacherstobuyintousingthistechnologyintheclassroom.

McCartney,M.(2012).Producingsupplementarylearningandteachingmaterial.
Media
EnhancedTeachingandLearning:casestudiesandevidenceofeffectiveuse.
1922.

LiveScribepenisusefulforsummarizinglessonstopostforabsentstudents.Itworkswellfor
mathematics,asinstructorscandemonstrateproblemsolvingandprovidecommentary.
Teacherscaneasilyproducetutorialsthatcanbeaccessedbystudentsasneeded.Teachers
couldcreatealibraryofpencaststopostontheirblogorwebsiteforstudentsandparentsto
accessasneeded.

Hickman,M.(2011).Atalkframeworkforprimaryproblemsolving.InC.Smith(Ed.),
ProceedingsoftheBritishSocietyforResearchintoLearningMathematics
(Vol.31,pp.7176).
Retrievedfromhttp://www.bsrlm.org.uk/IPs/ip313/BSRLMIP31313.pdf

Muchofourmathinstructionincludesthinkaloudsbytheinstructorandbythestudents,either
ontheirownorcollaboratively.Talkingthroughourthoughtprocessesimprovesproblemsolving
abilityinmathematics.Mystudentsmustsendinworksamplesperiodically.Rightnowthey
havetoprint,solve,andthenscanandemailthemtome.SubmittingpencastsfromLiveScribe
wouldgivemeamuchbetterpictureofhowtheyaredoing.Iwouldseethemwritingonthe
paper,andIwouldheartheirthoughtprocessesastheyworked.