Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
John Travers
Committee Member
Charles Schlosser
Committee Member
Ronald P. Kern
Keywords
blogging, elementary school children, integrated learning systems, Internet, language arts literacy, New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK), open-ended interviews, teacher perceptions, third grade students, writing-analysis, writing development, writing mechanics, writing processes, writing skills
Abstract
This qualitative study took place at a school district located in a northeastern state in the United States. The town has approximately 25,000 residents and covers approximately 8.5 square miles. The study took place at an elementary school with approximately 400 students in kindergarten through Grade 4. This study targeted the 69 students at this research site who were enrolled in the 3rd grade and divided into 4 sections. Each section utilized the same district-approved language arts literacy program.
The problem addressed in this study was that students were not receiving maximum scores on the writing-analysis portion of the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK). The intervention involved 4 teachers who utilized blogging as a tool to grade students and boost student performance on the NJ ASK.
This study examined the perceptions of the teachers on the implementation of blogging as a strategy to improve their students’ writing skills. The intervention was implemented over an 18-week period during which time students posted their writings on their blog pages. An open-ended, one-on-one interview research approach was used to collect and study the perceptions of the 4 teachers regarding the performance of the 3rd grade students.
The data collected as a result of this intervention suggested that the teachers perceived that the students’ writing skills had improved regarding content and organization, usage, and sentence construction. Conversely, the data indicated that the teachers had a negative response regarding the effects of blogging on the students’ performance with writing mechanics. Based on these findings, it was perceived that the intervention leads to higher scores on the NJ ASK.