Long Tran

ENG 102
Adam Padgett
27 October, 2016
Can Technology Help Us Learn Better?
Inquiry: How does technology impact the education system and how it affects learning.

Commented [PA1]: Proofread a little closer.

Thesis: Technology can be beneficial to learning and creativity in the classroom and the

Commented [PA2]: Im going to need to know, more

specifically what you mean by technology.

education system if it is able to be efficiently integrated into a classroom setting smoothly.

ifti, Emrullah Yasin. "A Review Of Research On Intercultural Learning Through ComputerBased Digital Technologies." Journal Of Educational Technology & Society 19.2 (2016):
313-327. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.
Ciftci and Yasin discuss the importance of intercultural interactions and exchanges in
everyday life. The authors go into detail about how technology is making intercultural education

Commented [PA3]: Keep in mind that this is what is called

a literature review, which is an article that doesnt really
bring new research to the table as much as it consolidates
(and curates) research on a specific topic and kind of shows
scholars the current state of a certain area of study, if that
makes sense. So I would suggest that you look into the
research they review and use those sources as opposed to
using this as a source.

more efficient and support their claim with research that certain methods of using technology
increase intercultural learning. The article uses many charts and graphs to show their evidence
and help viewers visualize the study. This article most likely shows some sort of bias because the
authors themselves emphasize the importance intercultural learning and would want to make it
easier and more attractive for others to learn languages and cultures. This is suitable for my
paper because it shows evidence towards technology improving learning in the classroom. The
article states that Overall blogs can be regarded as a convenient digital tool to foster
intercultural learning and that some participants wanted to study abroad after the intercultural
exchange (Ciftci, Yasin 317). This article is relevant to my inquiry and thesis because it shows
that technology can make intercultural learning in the education system better by drawing in
students and making learning enjoyable. The article was published in 2016, so the timing is
current and information is up to date.

Commented [PA4]: This is interesting, but Id like to know

what kind of blogs. What kinds of audiences are they writing
for in these blogs?

Commented [PA5]: Is this something you think youll focus

on in your paper?

Henriksen, Danah, Punya Mishra, and Petra Fisser. "Infusing Creativity And Technology In 21St
Century Education: A Systemic View For Change." Journal Of Educational Technology
& Society 19.3 (2016): 27-37. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.
In the article, the authors discuss the exploration of implementing creativity alongside
technology in education in the 21st century. The authors of this article say that research on
creativity have only been focused on the individual, psychological, psychometric, and
personality approaches, but rarely on classroom education. They say that there are three parts
that are important to implement creative education with technology: teacher education,
assessment, and educational policy (Henriksen, Mishra, Fisser 1). They talk about the quick
technological advances of today and software such as Google, Facebook, and YouTube and how
the relationship between these advances and human creativity. They discuss the difficulty in
implementing creativity alongside education. The authors go into examining creativity itself, the
combination with technology in education, the three important parts to successful
implementation. I believe that technology will help move improvements in education in the right
direction if it is able to achieve the three parts to successful implementation. The authors cite the
research into creativity and classroom settings to give evidence towards their claim. This is

Commented [PA6]: What direction is that? I like the idea of

creativity and intercultural-ism. Perhaps this is the direction
you are talking about?

relevant because of the difficulty in implementing both technology and creativity in education.
This source shows little bias because it has been peer reviewed by multiple readers in the library
database and would be suitable for my paper.
Horrigan, John B. "Libraries at the Crossroads." Pew Research Center Internet Science Tech
RSS. N.p., 15 Sept. 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.
John Horrigan discusses the relationship between American citizens and libraries. The
article is a statistical one and took a poll from American citizens about their views on libraries
and their relationship to the public education system. This article explores the views of different
proportions of American citizens on the relationship between libraries and public education.

Commented [PA7]: I cant tell what kind of source this is.

The citation seems in complete.

American citizens believe that libraries are important but believe that the amount of citizens
visiting libraries have gone down over the years. There has been a finding that Large majorities
of Americans see libraries as part of the educational ecosystem and as resources for promoting
digital and information literacy (Horrigan 2). Since the article based mostly on a poll, there can
be bias from both sides because the poll in question is opinion based. The bias is not necessarily
coming from the authors, but the American public. The article displays both views of the debate.

Commented [PA8]: Dont conflate having an opinion with

being biased. Everything has a world view and that world
view affects compositions. Instead, you should think about
the objectivity the piece strives for (even if true objectivity
is an illusion).

The article was published in 2015, so it is fairly recent so the information is mostly up to date.
This article is relevant to my paper because the polls in question ask the American public about
their views on libraries and technology and show that 75% say libraries have been effective at
helping people learn how to use new technologies (2). This statistic is important because
increased digital literacy can help the integration of technology in the classroom.
Hyman, Jack, Mary Moser, and Laura Segala. "Electronic Reading And Digital Library
Technologies: Understanding Learner Expectation And Usage Intent For Mobile
Learning." Educational Technology Research & Development 62.1 (2014): 3552. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
This article talks about the rising growth and rising popularity of digital content such as
e-books in the electronic reading platform. They talk about how users can now use a different
variety of platform to read these e-books, such as the Kindle products and other e-readers. They
quote studies in which electronic textbooks showing promise in positively influencing academic
achievement (Hyman, Moser, Segala 37). They cite that students are more likely to look up
references online than go to a library to look for a physical reference. I know that in some of my
classes, the instructor actually assigns homework online and also adds the lecture of the day
online to give ease of access to students instead of having them to actually open a physical copy
of the book. I had a class last semester that made students learn on their own from online videos
and do practice problems once a week at recitation compared to actually teaching in person. This

Commented [PA9]: Okay, but is this different from

students relying on online sources? For example, yes all of
our work is online, and some of the reading Ive assigned
has been in a digital format. But students doing research on
random websites. Try to be more clear about this important
difference and what the source is talking about.

allowed students to actually get ahead in class if they wanted to do so. The authors go over
reasons to adopt the reading platform and its challenges. This article uses data gathered from
polls and experiments, cites other studies, and is written and peer reviewed by professors from
George Washington University, so the article is credible. This is relevant to my paper because

Commented [PA10]: Okay, so what do you think about all

of this? Can you connect it to your thesis?

digital platforms offer many benefits in and out of the classroom such as: ease of access,
mobility, and show promise in positive academic performance. The information was published in
2014, so the information is fairly recent, but digital platforms have already grown since then.
Pittman, Tiffani, and Trudi Gaines. "Technology Integration In Third, Fourth And Fifth Grade
Classrooms In A Florida School District." Educational Technology Research &
Development 63.4 (2015): 539-554. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.
This article talks about the relationship of students ranging from third to fifth grade to
technology usage. The authors want to know if the integration of technology in these classrooms
will be beneficial for either the teachers or the students. They believe that Technology can be an
important tool used to enhance and expand the learners opportunities to interact with the
environment by providing access to a virtual environment previously unavailable in real life and
real time (Pittman, Gaines 540). The authors already have the notion that technology will
already be beneficial to students in the classroom, so there is some sort of bias in that. The
authors are trying to find the difference between those who are for high or low integration.
Recommendations were that teachers should focus on attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. They talk
about the difficult barriers to break through when trying to integrate technology into the
classroom. I know that as a fourth or fifth grader, and given the opportunity to use an iPad in the
classroom, I probably would not pay attention in class. That can be a possible barrier for the
integration of technology in the class. The article goes through steps as if it were an experiment
and tells us their findings as evidence. The article was published in 2015, so the information is

Commented [PA11]: Again, dont conflate being biased

with having an opinion.

fairly up to date. I can use this in my paper because I can use this article to find out if technology
will actually be beneficial in a class with young children, or if it will be a detrimental distraction.
Voogt, Joke, and Gerald Knezek. "Guest Editorial: Technology Enhanced Quality Education For
All -- Outcomes From Edusummit 2015." Journal Of Educational Technology &
Society 19.3 (2016): 1-4. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
The authors goal of this article is to demonstrate the multiple ways digital technology
can help teaching and learning in education. Even though digital technologies can be beneficial,
the insights gained from these studies often do not result in the uptake of technologies in
educational practice (Voogt, Knezek 1). This means that even though studies show that
technology in the classroom can be beneficial, but instructors and teachers in the system are not
able to implement it into the system. The article starts out with introducing the editorial
EDUsummIT, which is an invitational summit focusing on the integration of Information and
Communication Technology in education (1). The article uses different papers and editorials to
demonstrate how learning in the 21st century can be altered. They believe that the challenge for
implementing technology in education is the transition from informal to formal learning. This
may show some sort of bias because the editorial itself is one based on science and technology.
This article was published in 2016, so the information from the studies and papers are current
and should not be outdated. This article is relevant to my paper because I am trying to find out if
it is actually possible to make a smooth transition to using digital technology more frequently in
classrooms. I believe that this is the main problem with trying to implement technology in a
classroom setting.

Commented [PA12]: Take some time to define these

terms.

Long,
I think you have a really terrific topic here, and the research youve conducted in
interesting and thoughtful as well. You do a good job with your annotations by summarizing
clearly. I need a stronger sense of your thesis. Make sure you are arguing something (and
asserting an opinion). When you discuss your sources in your research paper, make sure to
connect their ideas back to your primary thesis. With respect to your thesis: what do you mean
by technology? What kind of technology? The discussion of interculturalism was interesting, but
Im not getting a clear idea of how that relates to all of these other sources (aside from the fact
that it makes use of technology). Looking good so far. Really develop that thesis. I think thisll
be a strong paper.