Date of Award

5-2018

Document Type

Action Research Project

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Education

Department

Education, Montessori

First Advisor

Alisha Brandon

Department/School

Montessori Early Childhood

Abstract

This action research was carried out to determine if the use of an application named Phonics Island would help student knowledge of letters/letter sounds increase. The research was completed in a full day Primary Montessori classroom of 4k and 5k students. Data was gathered using teacher observation and teacher made checklists. Data on students’ feelings toward learning letters/letter sounds was also assessed to see if students’ thoughts about letters changed after incorporating technology. Students were given an iPad for approximately fifteen minutes per day. The letters were grouped in categories, and the researchers chose which group the student needed to complete for the day. The students did show growth over the course of the sixweek study, but it is hard to determine if the growth was due only to the use of the iPads. During the six weeks, the researchers also gave many teacher-led lessons, and the students also completed many student-led, independent lessons that did not include technology. The researchers believe the outcome was due to a combination of iPad lessons, teacher led lessons, and independent lessons. More research could be conducted to test how influential the iPad lessons are by having a control group that received only iPad lessons for a few weeks.

Share

COinS