The purpose of this review is to explore how technology impacts literacy and writing in the classroom at all levels of education. This review seeks to answer the research question, in what ways does technology improve writing and literacy for students? The goal is to analyze studies about this topic while at the same time comparing them to be able to come to a conclusion on best practices for technology in the classroom to enhance writing and literacy skills.

As an instructional designer, I am always researching new technologies that could be implemented at the college level to create a stronger learning environment. Based on my experiences, I feel as though the use of technology in education is an important discussion to be had in all levels of education to ensure students are given the best possible resources to learn.

This work will focus on different types of technologies other teachers or researchers have used to improve writing and literacy skills as well as some concepts and theories that have proven to be effective. A few of the studies in this work will look at using technology to foster early literacy, technology and writing, blogs and internet projects, and instructional technology in the literature classroom.

In education today, it seems there are many techniques, tactics, and technologies that educators use to create the best possible learning environment in their classroom. I work in higher education myself as an instructional designer and assist the faculty when they need new ideas for instructional technology or a change in curriculum. I have asked faculty members in the past what they incorporate for writing and literacy activities. Most of them seem to use pen and paper type activities whereas a handful use some sort of technology to complete a writing or literacy assignment becasue they find it most beneficial in their settings.

After speaking with the faculty, I have wondered: how do teachers at different levels of education incorporate technology effectively to help writing and literacy skills? Yamac and Ulusoy (2016) researched the effectiveness of digital storytelling in improving 3rd graders’ writing skills. The study took place over eight weeks and 26 students created digital stories in groups (constructivist approach), pairs, and individually. To draft their digital stories they used the internet to storyboard using a technology called Photostory. Once they had developed their story, they published it and shared it with their classmates.

Researchers found that the editing stage in the storyboard process was extremely beneficial to the students’ writing skills as they had many opportunities to fix spelling errors and learn new words along the way.

Through observation, students were motivated to use this fun program which taught them how to work with technology having fun while improving their writing skills. Students who initially were not confident in their writing skills also found this to be an engaging way to enhance their skills and grow their confidence. A limitation of this is that students at this age could also become easily distracted and may have difficulties staying on task. A video is below for those who are not familiar with digital storytelling and would like to learn more.

In my career, I have used mobile devices to assist faculty in classroom activities as I think tablets or other handheld devices can be fun and engaging for any learning environment and help students develop a variety of skills if used appropriately. Sessions, Kang, and Womack (2016) studied the impact of using an iPad in a 5th grade classroom to improve writing skills. The class that was used in the research was split up into two different groups. One group used only paper and pencil to write and the other group used iPad applications.

The teacher then tasked the students over a nine week period to review and complete lessons aimed to improve narrative writing. At the end of the nine week period, researchers concluded that both groups had improved but that the iPad group showed stronger visualization skills and wrote their work more sequential.

The iPad students were able to develop picture sequences which provided them an advantage that the paper and pencil students did not have. During exit interviews, students that used the iPads reported it to be a fun way to learn and mentioned that they also enjoyed collaborating with their classmates which improved social skills as well.

https://www.ed2go.com

The use of technology motivated these 5th grade students to produce the best work possible and helped build their confidence in the end. As with any young learner however, a barrier to using this type of technology to enhance learning is making sure the students are staying on task and are working effectively together in groups.

Lawrence, McNeal, and Yildiz (2009) conducted a study over the use of incorporating multimedia to support reading, writing, and new literacies skills in twelve high school students who attended a three week, university summer camp. While at the camp, the students were introduced to digital literacy skills and were given a computer to create a short autobiography about themselves as well as respond to a graphic novel and group research project.

To complete their tasks, students used the internet to find images, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, and photos they took with a camera. At the conclusion of the three weeks, researchers found that the students were more proficient using the technology they were provided and developed skills to critically analyze information which then contributed to improvements to their writing and visualization skills. Students reported being engaged and motivated when using the types of technologies to complete their tasks, showing how specific technology can really enhance someone’s learning experience.

Jocius (2013) examined a 12th grade class and their use of digital media in an AP English course and wanted to know how students use specific digital media for academic purposes. Students were asked to work in groups or individually and come up with multimodal analyzations of a novel they were provided.

The tools they were asked to use consisted of PowerPoint, Keynote, and iMovie. After the students had produced their answers, the researcher found that the technology tool the students used had a direct impact on the kind of answer they presented. The research stated that students using Powerpoint used more quotes and written explanations whereas students who used iMovie used music instead of written explanations. The research also showed that students prefered to represent their knowledge and understanding through multimodal representations instead of traditional assignments because it was more engaging and they are able to gain a better understanding using technology to present their answers than just using paper and pencil.

A study conducted by Merrill and Rodriguez (2005) examined how online literacy tutoring programs can help high school students improve their writing skills. They conducted the study using an 11th grade class and paired them with university graduate students. The students were tasked with uploading written work into an online tutoring program and then the graduate students offered them feedback in different forms which included the following:

• Inserting commas
• Commenting at the beginning and end of the work
• Added annotations
• Suggesting ways for improvement

The researchers then examined the feedback that was provided to the students to determine what impact their comments may have had. The results indicated that the comments and suggestions left by the graduate students were effective and that the high school students who submitted work were able to develop new literacies skills using the online tutoring platform.

They further concluded that online tutoring programs can help students’ growth when it comes to writing and new literacies. Lastly, the researchers felt that strong feedback was necessary for this program to work as students need a lot of feedback when using programs likes this.

https://www.gettingsmart.com

Holdich, Chung, and Holdich (2004) conducted a similar study on online tutoring and found very similar results. They examined young children’s written work submitted to an online tutoring program and found that the stronger the feedback, the better results the children will show with their writing skills. They concluded that some children improved whereas others did not when they received little feedback and suggestions on what to correct or look for in future writing assignments.

These studies are significant because and relevant to the field because understanding how strong feedback in online programs such as these impact students’ writing and literacy skills is very important for educators.

At the university I work at, we provide our students with an online program that helps with a variety of subjects when they need assistance. We have found that the students who use the program, often end their semester with a higher grade than what they might have had earlier on thanks to the tutoring program that provided strong feedback for them to succeed.

https://aspirepublicschools.org

A study conducted by Gnach, Wiesner, Bertschi-Kaufmann, and Perrin (2007) examined the ways in which a web-based environment helped promote reading, writing, and new media skills in children who were in middle school. They had the children write stories directly online either in groups or on their own and chose writing topics based off of their interests. Once their stories were written or submitted, they were then peer-reviewed by others in their class who had the options of fully evaluating the paper commenting on places that could see improvement.

At the conclusion of the study, all of the children were interviewed to see how the program's interface enhanced their writing skills and results were positive as the web-based platform promoted text revision, critical evaluation, and spell check. The biggest feature reportedly used in the program was the comment tool which students used to give constructive feedback. When we look at limitations of this study, one could potentially argue that using this type of method with young children could be a bad idea as many children may be put in a position to be bullied if they produced poor work. I think for educators working in this age group, it is important to check feedback submitted by the students to ensure harsh words and feedback is not present. On the other hand, this could be extremely beneficial for some as students can learn from each other and grow their writing skills at the same time.

Belo, McKenney, Voogt, and Bradley (2016) examined what knowledge and skills teachers need to have in order to use technology effectively to foster early literacy development in young students. They specifically wanted to know the effects of the technology and how such applications are used in early childhood classrooms. Two reviewers were selected to determine what technologies the teachers would use for this study which included an electronic storybook, computer-based phonics, and vocabulary training, read and write programs, tutorial activity programs, and educational television. After determining the effectiveness of each technology in the classroom, the researchers concluded the following:

• Electronic storybooks - Results showed that e-books had a significant effect on children’s vocabulary development.
• Computer based phonics and vocabulary training - Results showed that a vocabulary training program called Treasure Chest with the Mouse was highly recommended to use.
• Assistive technology - This is technology that enhances communication and interaction. Results showed that the technology used was not very effective in children’s early literacy development.
• Educational websites and television programs - Results showed mixed results as some students are able to use these technologies effectively, whereas others could struggle to pay attention.

Overall, e-books and computer based phonics were very effective for fostering early literacy skills and development. One limitation of this study could be that some technologies may work better in other learning environments so it is really up to the teacher to determine which technology is best to use after evaluating their learners and understand how they learn best as a whole and individually.

Boling, Castek, Zawilinski, Barton, and Nierlich (2008) explored different ways blogs and internet projects can be used to enhance collaborative writing. They first looked at how blogs can be used to promote stronger writing in educational settings and used 3rd grade students to complete this study. A couple classrooms were used in this research to be able to acquire as much data as possible. The first classroom was tasked by their teacher to write a blog online about the class stuffed animal. If students were lost in what they might write, they were provided with websites they could easily read to think of ideas. Results from this class showed that students had lots of fun using the blog and were able to improve writing skills as they continued to use it.

Another class participated in an online blog over to discuss literature they reviewed in class. The students worked in groups when responding in the blog and end results for this class showed that students were able to enhance writing and social skills. Some students had previously been very shy and were able to gain confidence in social situations such as this which resulted in them being able to relax more and produce quality responses in the blog.

http://www.nicksenger.com

Overall, these studies show that blogs can be an effective way to enhance writing and social skills but teachers must also be aware that they must fully train their students how to use the web and what to avoid. I think that many students could become distracted with assignments like these and then could shift their attention to another website which could potentially be inappropriate and completely off task. If teachers can find a way for all students to stay on task, I believe using blogs is an excellent resource for improving writing, social, and literacy skills.

Lastly, Williams and Bean (2018) researched technology and writing and wanted to know what impacts technology had on students’ writing skills and what some of the issues were that teachers may face when using technology in activities presented to the class. Students in the class were given tasks to show their writing skills and knowledge of literacy materials and were motivated for this study because of the implementation of technology. Today, many younger generations seem to have a better grasp on technology than older which in this case, made the study more efficient. The researchers came up with three questions for this study which include, How is technology used to mediate writing instruction and activities among k-12 learners? How does technology mediated writing support the development of students’ writing skills? What are the barriers or issues that may arise?

To find the best results, the researchers used conventional content analysis to help answer their research questions and potentially uncover any other helpful insights along the way. Conventional content analysis is systematic process which involves fully understanding what is being investigated, identify the purpose and instructional pedagogies to answer the first question, and then major findings to answer the last questions.

Some of the end results showed that in order for technology to be used to enhance writing skills in the classroom, the teachers need to fully understand how the technology works and to be motivated to use it to help their students. For some students, using technology helped their overall development where others needed a little extra help or guidance to get the most out of the technology. A limitation was teachers’ confidence in actually using the technology and wondered if it would even work. Teachers and students also need access to effective technology which some school systems may not be able to afford.

When reviewing these pieces of literature, there is obvious need for further research as technology is evolving day by day. Some the technologies and techniques educators used in these studies may have worked well in their learning environment today, but may not work the same tomorrow as technology and education shift in new directions. I believe that further research is needed when it comes to hands on technology used in the classroom to improve writing and literacy skills. For example, what technology may overcome hands on devices in classrooms such as tablets or smartphones and how might new devices impact learning at different levels of education? I think there is room for further research each and every year as technology expands and learning paradigms shift in education.

As we look into the future, one can only wonder how technology will impact the lives in education and what endless potential those technologies might bring when enhancing writing and literacy skills in education. I have seen so much change since I was a young learner and think that new, powerful technology can only help a learning environment. These studies are significant because they show what can be used in today’s society to improve learning in many different aspects and also shows how advanced technology can further improve one's learning experience and overall development, I hope to continue to research this topic as the years move forward because I see endless potential for future learners in technology centered educational settings.