Research
Over a nine-week time span, second grade participants were asked to create at least three video recordings of themselves reading self-selected books out loud using Flipgrid.com. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact using a digital tool to make audio and video recordings has on oral reading fluency scores, in particular looking at words per minute and accuracy scores. Students were given a pre and post fluency assessment to monitor for growth. The research question was: What is the impact of using digital recordings on oral reading fluency? The independent variable for this question is the use of Flipgrid to record digital video and audio. The use of the digital tool is also a categorical variable. The dependent variable is the students’ fluency scores, which is a quantitative variable. For this study, the two aspects of fluency scores that will be used are words per minute (WPM) and accuracy. The hypothesis is that the use of Flipgrid to record oral reading will significantly impact the fluency scores of participants.
Students were given the code to access a different Flipgrid “Topic” each week. Once they logged on, they read a self-selected book for up to five minutes. When finished, to create the thumbnail image for their recording, students took a photo of themselves and had the option to decorate it with a number of images such as hats, sunglasses, and beards. After they submitted their video, they could view their own, view videos made by other participants, or create another video. Participants were asked to make at least three videos per week, however, they ended up making an average of four videos per week. Overall, the students who participated in this study created over 712 videos and over 88 hours of recordings.
The suburban Ohio school district has about 350 2nd grade students in the three elementary buildings, with 125 students in the specific school that this study was conducted in. From the entire level, one classroom was used for the study containing 25 students total. From the convenience sample, 19 students and parents gave permission to participate in the study. The ages of the participants range from eight to nine years old. 52% of the participants were female, 48% were male. From this sample, four students receive intervention services and three have been identified as gifted in reading. All participants had experience using the digital tool, Flipgrid, from past assignments in the classroom. In addition, all participants had been previously assessed in fluency WPM and accuracy throughout the school year for regular benchmarking progress.
Investigating the Impact of Technology Use on Oral Reading Fluency Growth
By: Alyssa Lewis
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