Current and Emerging Issues in Technology

Diane Loghry
EEA 520

Current and Emerging Issues in Technology

Diane Loghry

EEA520
Current and Emerging Issues in Technology
Diane Loghry
EEA 520

Across many school districts, technology is used as a resource and form of

instruction in many subjects. This is especially true in the area of early literacy.

Schools have found that the use of skill specific reading programs improve student

performance and can be used as a tier two intervention for meeting Response to

Intervention (RTI) criteria.

There are many programs available but two of the most widely know, researched,

and practiced are the Waterford Early Reading Program and the iStation literacy

program. Both programs have research that supports its use in classrooms to

increase student achievement in literacy skills.

Waterford is the older of the two programs. Waterford Institute was founded in 1976

by Dustin Heuston, Ph.D., a visionary and pioneer in technology-assisted education.

It was his desire to create a technology program that could be customized to be

student specific and at the same time provide students with an engaging medium to

increase their literacy skills. It approached literacy instruction by providing a

complete continuum of instruction. It takes students from a very basic level of

literacy and can progress them to becoming fluent readers. . “Students using

Waterford Early Reading Program™ and Waterford Early Math and Science™ progress through a

carefully defined sequence of songs, activities, and assessments. Each objective

within the sequence is researched to ensure that students receive a consistently

high-quality curriculum” (Waterford 2009). This program’s effect on students is

generally positive due to the high level of student involvement. For students who

are struggling with acquisition of basic literacy skills, this program is able to provide

scientifically based instruction and assessment so that instruction can be

individualized and made more meaningful. Additionally, the program has a home
Current and Emerging Issues in Technology
Diane Loghry
EEA 520

component that supports student literacy through CDs, DVDs and books that

emergent readers can use to enhance teaching and learning in the home.

The Waterford system is a stand alone system when purchased individually. The

hardware comes loaded with the program and the workstation is used solely for

Waterford Instruction. This can cause issues with schools as the ability to have

multiple students’ access the program results in scheduling issues. Districts are

able to obtain site licenses but that is cost prohibitive for many districts.

Additionally schools do have to provide for initial teacher training in order to create

individualized instruction for students. Most students are able to work

independently on the Waterford Program but it does require teacher set up and

monitoring.

Following in the footsteps of Waterford is the istation program. It too was

developed to provide systematic literacy instruction in an on-line format. This is a

data driven program that allows for instruction to be differentiated and structured

to best meet the needs of the individual student. “Developed with input from many

of the nation’s leading researchers and aligned to the federal No Child Left Behind

act, istation individualizes instruction for each student, recommends individual and

small group instruction and provides reports, which enable educators to meet state

and federal reporting and accountability requirements.” ("Istation: company

overview," 2009) With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001

and the changes made to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement

Act (IDEA) in 2004 school districts were forced to re-examine how students with

specific learning difficulties were identified and served. The purpose was to provide

early interventions before the need for special education services was indicated.
Current and Emerging Issues in Technology
Diane Loghry
EEA 520

“Both laws underscore the importance of providing high quality, scientifically-based

instruction and interventions, and hold schools accountable for the progress of all

students in terms of meeting grade level standards.” (Klotz, & Canter, 2006)

istation is a program that meets these requirements.

As with the Waterford Program, istation requires site licenses but can be purchased

as a stand alone system. It differs from Waterford in that it can be accessed online

and does not require special hardware. Teacher training is necessary and since the

system is updated teachers need to have ongoing in-service to best utilize the

resource.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides stimulus funding to

find new ways to improve student achievement. Both of these programs support

student achievement in a new and different way. By looking at alternative sources

of revenue to fund these types of programs, schools will continue to engage

learners and set high standards for learning. Teachers will continue to strengthen

their repertoire of skills in providing quality instruction and parents will be given

tools to use in home to assist their child’s literacy development.

As districts move ever closer to the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) goal set forth in

NCLB and IDEA more and more emphasis is being placed on providing assessment

driven instruction, it is critical to utilize all resources available. By making programs

like the Waterford and istation available to students and teachers we move one step

closer to achieving our goals of students meeting and exceeding standards.

Current and Emerging Issues in Technology
Diane Loghry
EEA 520

(2009). Istation: company overview. Retrieved from

<http://www2.istation.com/about/company.asp>

The company website with links to program review, management and research.

Klotz, M.B., & Canter, A. (2006). Response to intervention: a primer for parents.
National Association of School Psychologists, Retrieved from
<http://www.nasponline.org/resources/factsheets/rtiprimer.aspx>

An article on the major components of Response to Intervention (RTI) for parents

and teachers

Waterford, Institute. (2009). Applying research. Retrieved from

<http://www.waterford.org/corporate_pages/Research_Apply.jsp>

Company website with links to program review, research and samples of actual
lessons of Waterford.