October 7, 1996
Contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens, (615) 322-2706
VU technology-based literacy program
reaches at-risk children
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A literacy program for the classroom developed
by Peabody College researchers at Vanderbilt University and Applied Learning
Technologies combines animated stories on videotape with computer technology
to enable children of all skill levels, including those with little or no
exposure to books, to read, write and illustrate their own stories.
Studies in inner-city Nashville elementary schools over the past five years
indicate that the Little Planet Literacy series can make a great impact
on the language and literacy abilities of disadvantaged students. Teachers
at suburban and private schools also report that the series successfully
challenges and benefits their students.
"One of our goals was to develop a program that will help teachers
excite and support all students in the classroom, including students who
are at risk for school failure," said Diana L.M. Sharp, senior research
associate at Peabody's Learning Technology Center.
The series introduces children to engaging videos about an imaginary planet
inhabited by a group of animal-like characters. The use of a video-based
story provides dynamic visual support that helps children understand a more
complex story, according to Sharp.
"Teachers often have a difficult time getting children from disadvantaged
homes to talk about traditional stories because they have not had much experience
with that," Sharp said. "We found that by using video, we could
get students to begin their story discussions with more understanding, build
their language skills and then move on to more traditional stories."
"What has been exciting and of great benefit to my students is the
opportunity to tell stories orally, listen and take stories apart,"
said Michelle Allison, a former first-grade teacher at Warner Elementary
School in Nashville.
"Some of my colleagues have asked how I get my students to write so
much after viewing their work," Allison continued.
Sharp said that the multimedia tools on the computer assist students in
planning and creating the children's books. The tools are flexible enough
to be used in whole-class and small-group writing.
After the children view the video, they are asked to put the pictures for
the book in the correct order. Next the students take turns playing the
role of teacher and helping the group increase their reading comprehension
through more questioning and discussion of the story.
With the computer software, they can watch again the first scene and then
record what they want to say on each page. It is a collaborative process
with all of the group members recording at least one sentence per page.
Depending on their skill level, either they or their teacher can translate
the recorded story into print. The final step is selecting the music for
the story, and that facilitates discussion about the emotional tone of the
story.
Jennifer Bennett, who used the program in an alternative first-grade class
for children with reading difficulties at Percy Priest Elementary School
in Nashville, said the music was a huge motivator for her students. "When
we selected the music, we talked about whether the tone should be happy
or sad," Bennett said. "It really helped with their reading because
we had been working on reading with expression."
One of the goals of the project is nurturing positive reading and writing
habits. Sharp said one way to accomplish this is to let children make choices
about the books they read and the topics about which they write. Children
can use a laserdisc player and barcode reader to hear characters from the
video discuss both classic and modern books. Children's phonics skills are
reinforced through other books in the series that target short and long
vowel sounds and common word families.
Maureen Muldoon, a special eduction teacher at McCann Elementary School
in Old Hickory, Tenn., said her students have benefited from Little Planet
because they learn better by watching as well as listening to a story.
"My students need visual materials. They need to be able to touch things
such as the pictures and even the screen," Muldoon said.
"When we were working on nouns, I would freeze the frame and ask the
children to pick out every noun and touch it on the screen or the picture."
Sharp said the researchers are pursuing ways of helping teachers become
more comfortable with the technology and student-led instruction, especially
in small groups. They are also developing other activities that would integrate
math and science learning into the series' framework. In addition, the researchers
continue to explore ways to expand the technology for home usage, thereby
strengthening the connection between school and children's lives outside
the classroom.
Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately
5,900 undergraduates and 4,300 graduate and professional students. Founded
in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute,
a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center.
Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences,
education and human development, engineering and music; and a full range
of graduate and professional degrees.
For more news about Vanderbilt, visit the News and Public Affairs home page
on the World Wide Web at http://www.Vanderbilt.edu/News/
-VU-
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This document last updated Jan. 10, 1997