Anderson, Rebecca S. & Speck, Bruce W. (2001)
Using Technology in K-8 Literacy Classrooms.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Anderson and Speck want elementary teachers to have it all when it comes to introducing technology into the literacy classroom. They offer chapters on using computers to teach, facilitating student use, using the Internet and other electronic tools, computers in writing and publishing and computers in special education and English as a Second Language (ESL). For each of these topics the book covers both the research basis of the suggestions and practical examples for implementation. That's a lot to promise in 196 pages, but in many ways they succeed.
Technology beginners will find solid information to help them understand how easy integrating a computer into class work can be --the first example involves simply bringing students to a computer lab to type a story, with help from older students who are already familiar with the equipment. The research backgrounds, while not extensive, offer basic information about why the suggested activities are supported by current theories of teaching and learning. Possible pitfalls, such as assessment difficulties with collaborative work are mentioned.
The chapter topics may be a bit misleading about the range of topics covered. For instance in the section on the Internet, there is not only a list of recommended sites, and a discussion of the various types of services -- chat, email, newsgroups, etc. -- but also a fairly lengthy introduction to HTML coding.
Obviously with so much to cover, nothing gets covered in much depth. The research basis of the book is well documented in bibliographies at the end of each chapter. The practical examples, lesson ideas and web links are supplemented by the book's web site at http://www.prenhall.com/anderson which links to lesson plans and background reading.
It wouldn't be a book about computers without a few outdated links - actually I only found one -- but overall this is a high quality, high utility item for technology beginners.
