University of Connecticut

DigitalCommons@UConn
Northeastern Educational Research Association
NERA Conference Proceedings 2012 (NERA) Annual Conference

10-19-2012

The Effect of Technology on a Student

Motivation and Knowledge Retentions
Mark Granito
East Brunswick Public Schools, markgranito@gmail.com

Ellina Chernobilsky
Caldwell College, echernobilsky@caldwell.edu

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/nera_2012

Part of the Education Commons

Recommended Citation
Granito, Mark and Chernobilsky, Ellina, "The Effect of Technology on a Student's Motivation and Knowledge Retention" (2012).
NERA Conference Proceedings 2012. Paper 17.
http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/nera_2012/17

This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by the Northeastern Educational Research Association (NERA)
Annual Conference at DigitalCommons@UConn. It has been accepted for inclusion in NERA Conference Proceedings 2012 by an
authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UConn. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@uconn.edu.
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention 1

TheEffectofTechnologyonaStudent's
MotivationandKnowledgeRetention

MarkD.Granito
EllinaChernobilsky

Abstract

Thepurposeofthisstudywastoexaminetheimpactthattechnologyhasonastudent'smotivationto

learnnewinformationandretainsaidinformation.Theprocedureinvolvedthecompletionoftwo

projectsoverthecourseofanineweekstudy.Onegroupwastocreatetraditionalstorybookprojects.

Asecondgroupwastocompletecomputerbasedprojects.Athirdgroupwasgiventhechoiceof

whichprojecttocomplete.Aprepostretentiontest,Likertscalesurveys,andpostprojectinterviews

wereusedtocollectthedata.Theresultsofthisstudysupporttheideathatwhengiventhechoiceof

project,studentsretainknowledgenomatterwhichprojectischosen,traditionalorcomputerbased.

Introduction

Inaneverchangingtechnologicalworld,computersseemtobeattheforefrontofeducation.

Atthesametime,theexactimpactofusingtechnologyforinstructionisstillunknown.Somequestions

teachingcommunitiesgrapplewitharetechnology'sroleinstudent'sdesiretolearnandhowtechnology

affectstheretentionoftheinformation.Morespecifically,itwouldbeusefultoknowwhetherstudents

respondinamorepositivemannertoparticipatinginasocialstudiesclasswhenusing

st
web2.0toolsversuswhenusingpaperbasedmethods.Foraneducatorinthe21 century,itis
importanttogainadeeperunderstandingoftheimpactoftechnologyoneducation.Thegeneral
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention2

questionthatguidedthisstudywasTowhatextentdoestechnologyhelpstudentmotivationand

th
retentionofinformationina7 gradeSocialStudiesclassroom?Tothisend,forthisinvestigation,

theresearchersoutlinedthreemajorgoals.First,thepurposeofthisstudyistouncoverstudents'

motivationforlearningwhenengagingwithtechnologyduringtheinstructionaltime.Thesecond

goalistomeasuretheretentionofinformationafterusingtwodifferentmethodsofteaching.The

finalgoalofthisstudyistoanalyzeasmallerspecialneedsgroupandhowtheirmotivationand

retentionareaffectedbytechnologybasedprojects.

LiteratureReview

Motivationisafundamentalconcernamongteachers(LinnenbrinkandPintrich,2003).

Motivatingstudentsisacontinualproblemthroughouteducationandalthoughtherearenoclearcut

solutions,thereareseveralstrategiestohelpteacherswiththedilemma(LinnenbrinkandPintrich).

Motivationisgenerallydefinedasaninternalconditionthatinitiatesbehavior(Motivation,2009).

Motivationgetshumansgoing.Motivationarousesinterests.Motivationcreatesthewanttoachievea

goal.Teachersarealwayslookingtoseewhatmotivatestheirstudents.Motivationisthekeyto

academicsuccessaswellaspromotinglifelonglearning(Sanacore,2008).Thereluctancetolearn

mustbeturnedintothewanttolearn.

Therearereluctantlearnersineveryclassroom.Reluctantlearnersaretheindividualsthatdo

notfinishtheirassignmentsand,sometimes,avoidtasks.Reluctantlearnersarecontentwithjust

gettingby.Onecommonthreadamongreluctantlearnersistheirperceptionofthemselves,knownas

selfefficacy(Sanacore,2008).Iftheirselfefficacyislow,thentheirmotivationtoperformwillbe

low.Whenstudentsareconstantlyberatedwithnegativecomments,theirselfesteemandselfefficacy

becomediminished.Student'sreluctancetolearnisalsoaffectedbytheassignmentsteacherscreate.If

anassignmentistooeasyortoodifficult,reluctantlearnersareunmotivatedtosucceed.Studentsare
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention3

motivatedwhentheyfeelexcitedaboutataskorfeelthatwhattheyaredoingisworthwhile

(LinnenbrinkandPintrich,2003).Teachersmustadjusttheirteachingtomatchthemotivationsoftheir

students.

Inatraditionalclassroom,teachersneedtoencouragestudents'intrinsicmotivation(Sanacore,

2008).Intrinsicmotivationstemsfromfactorssuchasinterestorcuriosity(WoolfolkHoyandHoy,

2009).Extrinsicmotivationfocusesonrewardsorincentives.Inordertomotivate,teachersmust

encourageandchallengetheirstudents(Sanacore,2008).Studentspresentedwithtooeasyortoo

difficultmaterialwilleventuallybecomeboredandunmotivated.Inatraditionalclassroom,teachers

mustdifferentiateactivitiesinordertoplacesomepowerintothehandsofthestudents(Sanacore).

Thisfreedomcanpositivelyaffectthemotivationforastudentwhoisunwillingtoparticipate.Great

motivatorsintraditionalclassroomshouldencouragestudentstolovelearningandhelpstudents

maintainhighselfefficacybeliefs(LinnenbrinkandPintrich,2003).Thisoftenprovestobethemost

difficulttaskforsometeachers.Tomotivatestudents,teachersmustrelyonwhatinterestsstudents

andwhattheyalreadyknowandwithwhichtheyaresuccessful.

Creatingactivitiesthatstudentsenjoyandrespondtoisachallengingtaskforteachersofall

subjects.Introducingtechnologyinfusedlessonsmayprovetobeabeneficialmotivatorforevery

gradelevel.Digitalnativesrespondwelltotechnologyinfusedactivitiesbecauseoftheirfamiliarity

withtechnology(Prensky,2001).Technologyandteachermotivationhavepositiveeffectsonstudent

motivation(Atkinson,2000).Becausestudentsrespondpositivelytotechnologyandaremotivatedby

technology,teachersshouldmakeconsciouseffortstocreateactivitiesthatencompasssomeformof

technologicaltool.Motivatedstudentswillbemorelikelytoperformattheirhighestlevelsbecauseof

theopportunitiesthattheirteachershavemadeavailable.

Retention

Insteadofmemorizingfactsforatest,teacherswanttheirstudentstoretaintheinformation
longerthanaweek.Teachersfinditdifficulttoteachmoreandmorecurriculum(Wolfe,2001).Just
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention4

coveringtheexpansecurriculumdoesnotbuildstrongconnectionsinstudent'smemory(Wolfe).

Becauseofthepressuresofstandardizedtests,teachersmustfinddifferentwaystoteachtherequired

curriculumandhelpstudentsretainthenecessaryinformation.

Inmanytraditionalclassrooms,teachersengageintraditionalstylesofteaching.Somegive

lectureswherestudentsareexpectedtotakecopiousnotes,whileothersassignvocabularywhere

studentsareexpectedtomemorizedefinitionsandspellingsofimportantwords.Thesetwostylesof

teachingfallunderthecategoryofroterehearsal(Wolfe,2001).Therepeatedrehearsingofinformation

mayhelpastudentstudyforavocabularytest,butdoesnothelpastudentretaininformation(Wolfe).

Instead,studentsshouldusethestrategyknownaselaborativerehearsal(Nuthall,2000).Oncea

studentelaboratesoninformation,theyaremorelikelytoretaintheinformationoveralongerperiodof

time(Nuthall).Asstudentscollectnewinformationthatisunfamiliarandrelatethatmaterialto

informationtheyalreadyknow,thentheywillbeabletoretainthisnewinformationmoreeasily.

Studentsneedtoseemeaninginordertoremember.

Becausetodayschildrenhavegrownupwithadifferentdigitallandscapethantheirteachers

(Jukes,2008),they,mostlikely,areinspiredandmotivatedbydifferenttechnology.Todaysdigitalnatives

speakadifferentlanguagethantheirteachersdo(Prensky,2001).Forthesereasons,studentsof

st
the21 centurymayretainmoreinformationifitcomestothemthroughadigitalmedium.Inamore

digitalworld,onlineteachingtoolsarebetterforastudentsmemory(Miller,2009).Notonlyonline

tools,butdigitaltoolsingeneralarebetterforastudentsmemory.SMARTboards,digitalclickers,

andcomputersallspurinterestinachildandaremorelikelytomotivateastudenttoperformathisor

herhighestlevel(Miller).Onlinetoolsthatpromotecontentcreationamongstudents,suchasvideos,

audiopodcasts,andwebpages,aremoreeffectivestrategiesthantraditionalmethods(Miller).

LearningwithTechnology
Theeffectivenessoflearningwithtechnologyhasbeentackledfrombothsides.Thereis
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention5

evidencethattheuseoftechnologyincreasesachievementandselfefficacy(Liu,Hsieh,Cho,and

Schallert,2006),butsomestudiesindicatethattheuseoftechnologyincertainareasisnotbeneficial

tostudents(CramerandSmith,2002).Stillyet,somestudiesshownolinkbetweentechnologyand

achievement,butapositiverelationshipbetweentechnologyuseanddiscipline(Garthwait,2007).

Technologyuseinschoolshashadmixedresults.Technologyintegrationmusthavea

purposeinorderforittobebeneficialforproducingpositiveresults(CramerandSmith,2002).

Web2.0.VoiceThreadisapopularwebsitethatallowsuserstocreate,share,andlearnfrom

eachother.VoiceThreadisawebbaseddigitalstorytellingtoolthatallowsuserstocreatedigital

slideshowswithcaptivatingimages.ThesocialaspectofVoiceThreadallowsalluserstolearnand

growwitheachother.Usingdigitaltoolsallowsstudentstousetechnologywhileachievingthe

sameobjectivesofthosestudentsusingtraditionalmethodsoflearning.

DigitalStorytelling.Storytellinghasbeenaneducationalmethodforcenturies.Aschildren

becomepersonallyinvolvedwiththestory,theyaremorelikelytolearnfromit.Digitalstorytelling

helpschildrenactivelyparticipateinthelearninginsteadofpassivelywatching(Ohler,2005).

Childrengainmanyskillsthroughstorytelling.Thetellingofstoriesorallyhelpsstudentsdeveloptheir

listeningskills,planningskills,andallowsstudentstocreateacademiccontentintheirownlanguage

(Ohler,2008).Criticalthinkingskillswilldevelopasthelistenerisguidedthroughthestory.Listening

toandcreatingstoriesprovidesachildwiththeframeworktotelltheirownstoriesabouttheirown

lives(Ohler).

Withtheadventoftechnology,storytellinghastakenonadigitalmedium.Storytellinghasgone

fromspokenwordstotextandnowtomediawiththearrivalofthedigitalage(Gils,2005).Digital

storytellingoffersnewwaystoeducatepeople(Ohler,2008).Duringthecreationprocess,studentscan

personalizetheircreationwithrelevantpicturesthatalignwiththestory.Notonlyarestudentsaffordedthe

opportunitytousetechnology,buttheyalsohavethepotentialfordeeperlearning(Ohler).Digital
storytellingallowsstudentstheopportunitytobecomemorecreativewiththeirstories(Robin,2008
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention 6

Method

Participants

Theparticipantsinvolvedinthisactionresearchstudyconsistedof102seventhgradestudents

enrolledinaWorldHistorycourseinfivesocialstudiesclasses.Allparticipantswerebetweentheages

of12and13yearsold.Therewere50boysand52girlsinvolvedwiththisactionresearch.Therewere

5ethnicitiesinvolvedwiththisactionresearchstudy:86Caucasian,2Black,5Asian,2Indian,and7

LatinAmerican.Sixoftheparticipantshadindividualizededucationplans(IEP)andwereclassified

withspecialeducationneeds.Threeoftheparticipantshelda504educationplan.

Thestudentsinthestudyweresplitintothreegroups:experimentgroupA,experimentgroupB

andacontrolgroup.ExperimentgroupAconsistedofthosestudentsinthetwoclassesthathadhistory

duringtheperiods4and5.ExperimentgroupBwasagroupofstudentsinanInClassSupport(ICS)

classthathadanadditionalspecialeducationteacher.Thecontrolgroupofstudentswerethestudents

inthetworemainingclassesthatmetduringtheperiods1and3.

Participantswerebrokenupintothreedifferentgroupsduringthisprojectinordertotest

theoriginalresearchquestion.GroupBwaschosenastheexperimentgroupbecauseoftheneedto

differentiateassignmentsforthevarietyofdifferentlearnersintheclass.

ThestudytookplaceinasuburbanmiddleschoolinNewJersey.Theteacherinallfive

classeswhatthefirstauthorofthisstudy.

TheUnitofStudy

Allparticipantsincludedinthestudywereenrolledintheregularseventhgradesocialstudies

course.TheseventhgradesocialstudiescurriculumcoveredEarlyMan,EarlyCivilizations,Ancient

Egypt,AncientIndia,AncientChina,AncientGreece,andAncientRome.Thestudywasconducted

atthetimewhenthestudentsstudiedAncientChina.

Materials
Thequantitativemethodsthatwereusedincludedaseriesoftests.Studentstookonepretestat
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention7

thebeginningoftheunitofstudy.Thistestconsistedof35multiplechoicequestions.Thepurposeof

thispretestwastoseewhatthestudentpreviouslyknewaboutAncientChina.Attheendoftheunit,

studentstookaposttest.Thistestwasidenticaltothepretest.Thepurposeofthistestwastomeasure

theextenttowhichstudentslearnedthecontentofstudyimmediatelyaftertheteaching.Finally,a

retentiontestwasgiventwoweeksafterthestudywasover.Again,thistestwasidenticaltothepre

andposttest,exceptfortheorderofthequestions.Thisquantitativemeasurewasgiventostudentsin

ordertoseehowmuchinformationthestudentsinbothgroupsrememberedaftertheAncientChina

Unitwaswellover.Thethreetestsallowedtheresearchertoseewhetherornotthestudentslearned

andthenretainedtheinformation.

Onequalitativemethodofdatacollectionincludedadailyjournal.Aftereachclass,the

researcherwrotedownwhatoccurredinclassthatday.Theresearcherlookedfordiscontent,

motivation,excitement,engagement,andfocus.Thismethodofcollectingdatawaschosenbecause

itallowedtheresearchertoexaminenotonlywhatthestudentsdid,butalsohowtheyfeltaboutthe

process.

Anotherqualitativeinstrumentofdatacollectionincludedasurveycompletedattheendofthe

9weekstudy.Eachofthethreegroupsofstudentswasgivena12questionsurvey.Theuseofthe

groupsurveyprovedbeneficialinassessingtheoverallemotionsofthe9weekstudy.Thesesurveys

wereimportanttothisparticularactionresearchprojectbecauseofthedifferentgroupsinvolved.

Becausethetriangulationofdatawasextremelyimportant,afourthqualitativeinstrumentof

measurewasincludedinthisstudy.Theresearcherconductedtenminuteinterviewsofparticipants.

The participants were allowed to elaborate on several questions without judgment or

encouragementfromtheresearcher.

Procedure

Duringthecourseofthisresearch,thethreegroupsofstudentswereinvolvedwithtwoprojects.
ExperimentgroupAcompletedthesetwoprojectsinacomputerlab.ExperimentgroupBstudentshad
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention8a

choiceofwhethertousetechnologywhileworkingontheprojectornot.Finally,thecontrolgroupdid

alltheirworkintheclassroomwithouttheuseoftechnology,nevervisitingthecomputerlabduring

thisresearch.

Onthefirstdayofthestudy,allstudentsinthestudytookthepretesttoassesstheirprevious

knowledgeofAncientChina.Afterfourteendaysofinstruction,studentsenteredintoaprojectweek.Over

thecourseoffiveschooldays,studentscreatedastorybook.TheexperimentgroupAcreatedadigitalstory

utilizingVoiceThreadinthecomputerlab,theparticipantsintheexperimentgroupBhadtheoption

whethertousethetechnologyornot,andthecontrolgroupcreatedapaperbasedstorybook.

DuringthefirsttwoweeksofFebruary,studentsreenteredtheclassroomfortenmoredaysof

instruction.Aftertenmoredaysofinstruction,studentsenteredintoasecondprojectweek.Again,the

experimentgroupAcreatedadigitalstoryutilizingVoiceThreadinthecomputerlab,theparticipants

intheexperimentgroupBhadtheoptionwhethertousethetechnologyornot,andthecontrolgroup

createdapaperbasedstorybook.

DuringthethirdweekofFebruary,studentstookthesurveysthatmirroredtheconditionin

eachgroup,i.e.studentsintheexperimentgroupsAandBweredirectedtoanonlinesurveyinwhich

theiranswerswereemaileddirectlytotheresearcher,andthecontrolgroupparticipantsweregiventhe

Likertsurveyonpaper.

ThefinalweekofFebruarywasdedicatedtoanymakeupsurveysand/orinterviewsthat

neededtobeconductedbecauseofabsenteeism.Afterallsurveysandinterviewswerecompleted,

twoweeksafterthecompletionoftheunit,theparticipantstookaretentiontest.

Results

Theaveragescoreonthepretestwas19.08outof35possiblepoints.Theaveragepost

testscoreforallparticipantswas27.15.Theaveragescoreontheretentiontestforallparticipants
was28.07.Table1summarizestheresultsbyeachgrouponallthreetests.
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention9

Theresultsofthepretestwerelowforallthegroups.Theaveragemeanscoreforthepretest

forallthreegroupswas19.08withastandarddeviationof3.48,indicatingquitearangeofresponses

onthepretest.

Theaveragemeanscore(themeanscoreforthethreegroups)fortheposttestwas27.15with

astandarddeviationof3.95.Thestandarddeviationof3.95,whichissimilartothepretest(3.48)

indicatesthatthespreadofresponsesremainedequalonthetwotests.Twofactorsmayexplainlower

thanexpectedposttestscores.First,certainstudentsmaynothavepreparedforthetest.Second,

studentabsencesthroughoutthestudymayalsoexplainthelowerthanexpectedposttestscores.

Table1

MeanandStandardDeviationsforthethreetestgroupsonPre,Post,andRetentionTests

Group N PreTest PostTest RetentionTest

ExperimentGroupA(computer) 42 19.24(3.33) 26.48(4.23) 26.64(5.30)

ExperimentGroupB(option) 17 19.47(2.96) 27.47(3.74) 29.18(4.45)

Control(paper) 43 18.77(3.83) 27.67(3.75) 29.02(4.10)

Themeanscorefortheretentiontestforallthreegroupswas28.07withastandarddeviation

of4.79.Seventyeightpercentoftheparticipantsachievedretentiontestscoresequaltoorhigherthan

theirrespectiveposttestscores.Atthesametime,thestandarddeviation,whichincreasedonthe

retentiontest,indicatesthatattheretentiontest,thereweremorescoresdeviatingfromthemeanin

eitherdirectionthantherewereateitherpreorposttest.

Table1showsaretentiontestscoreof26.64fortheexperimentgroup.Whencomparing

experimentgroupA'smeanscoreontheretentiontest(Table1)withthemeanscoreoftheretention
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention10test

fromtheparticipantsthatchosethecomputerbasedprojectfromexperimentgroupB(Table2),yougeta

differenceof3.03points.Onecanexplainthisdifferenceifonetakesintoaccountthattheparticipantsin

experimentgroupAwereallforcedtoworkonthecomputer,whiletheparticipantsinexperimentgroupB

hadtheirchoiceofproject.Toseewhethertherewasasignificancedifferencebetweenthegroups,the

ANOVAanalyseswerecarriedout.TheANOVAshowsasignificantdifferencebetweenthegroupsatthe

retentiontestF(2,99)=3.316,p<0.040.Posthoccomparisonsindicatedthatthedifferenceisbetween

experimentgroupAandexperimentgroupB,Dunnettt=2.543,p<.051.

Table2demonstratesabreakdownofexperimentgroupB.Theparticipantsthatcompletedthe

computerbasedprojectinexperimentgroupBhadthehighestoverallretentiontestscore,29.67(SD

=4.18).TheparticipantsthatcompletedthepaperbasedprojectinexperimentgroupBhadamean

retentiontestscoreof28.33(SD=5.09).OftheseventeenparticipantsinexperimentgroupB,only

twoswitchedprojectshalfwaythroughtheresearch.Thesetwoparticipantsscoredameanretention

testscoreof29.50withastandarddeviationof6.36.SinceexperimentgroupBhadtheirchoiceof

project,theseparticipantschosethetypeofprojectthatbestsuitstheireducationalneeds.

Table2

Means(andStandardDeviations)onPre,Post,andRetentionTestofthreesubgroups

withinExperimentGroupB

No. PreTest PostTest Retention

Test

ExperimentGroupB(Paper) 6 19.00(1.67) 26.00(5.22) 28.33(5.09)

ExperimentGroupB(Computer) 9 19.33(3.74) 28.11(2.71) 29.67(4.18)

ExperimentGroupB(switchedprojects) 2 21.50(2.12) 29.00(2.83) 29.50(6.36)
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention11

TotalParticipation 17 19.47(2.96) 27.47(3.74)29.18(4.45)

Inaddition,experimentgroupBhadsixparticipantswithIEPs.Bythesecondproject,these

studentsallcompletedthecomputerbasedproject.Sincethesestudentsweremoreawareoftheir

educationaldisabilities,theyweremorelikelytochoosetheeducationalmethodsthatmatchedtheir

learningstyle.Byusingcomputerbasedmethods,thesesixparticipantswithIEPssucceededon

theirpostandretentiontestsbecauseofhowtheyvisualizedtheinformationonthecomputer

screen.

Table3showstheresultsfromtheLikertscalesurveygiventoexperimentgroupA.The

resultsoftheLikertscalesurveyforthisgroupindicatethatparticipantsfromthisexperimentgroup,

onaverage,agreedthattechnologyhelpedthemremembertheAncientChinaUnitandmotivated

themtolearn.

Table3
MeansandStandardDeviationsofLikertscalesurveyquestionsgiventoexperimentgroupA.

Standard
Question Mean Deviation

IlikedusingTechnologyforthistypeofproject. 4.59 0.72

IwouldwanttouseVoiceThreadinthefuture. 4.33 1.00

ByusingTechnology,I'llremembertheAncientChinaUnitbetter. 4.03 1.20

Usingtechnologymotivatedmetolearn. 4.07 1.17

VoiceThreadwaseasytouse. 4.87 0.44

Iwouldliketousecomputerstolearnhistoryinthefuture. 4.42 1.02

 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention 12

Table4showstheresultsfromtheLikertscalesurveygiventoexperimentgroupB.Sincethere

aretwodistinctivelydifferentgroupsansweringthissurvey,itwasimportanttoincludetwo

differentmeansandstandarddeviations;onefortheparticipantswhocompletedthecomputerbased

projectsandonefortheparticipantswhocompletedthepaperbasedprojects.

Table4
MeanandStandardDeviationvaluesofLikertscalesurveygiventoexperimentgroupA.

Computer Paper

Question Mean SD Mean SD

IpreferVoiceThreadforthisproject. 4.59 0.96 1.79 0.8

IwouldwanttouseVoiceThreadinthefuture. 4.73 0.55 1.21 0.43

Byusingtechnology,I'llremembertheAncientChinaUnitbetter. 4.27 0.83 2.21 1.12

Usingtechnologymotivatedmetolearn. 4.23 0.97 1.86 0.86

IwillnotremembertheAncientChinaUnitbecauseofVoiceThread 1.64 0.66 3.79 1.19

Iprefertoworkonatraditionalprojectthanusethecomputer. 1.55 0.96 4.07 0.83

Iwouldwanttousepaperforthistypeofprojectinthefuture. 1.27 0.55 4.79 0.43

Byusingpaper,I'llremembertheAncientChinaUnitbetter. 1.73 0.83 4.07 0.83

Completingapaperbasedprojectmotivatesmetolearn. 1.77 0.97 4.14 0.86

 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention 13

Iprefertoworkonacomputerthanworkonapaperbasedproject. 4.45 0.96 1.93 0.83

WhenaskediftheywouldremembertheAncientChinaUnitbecausetheyusedtechnology,the

participantswhochosethecomputerbasedprojectstronglyagreed(Mean=4.27,SD=0.83),while

participantsthatchosethepaperbasedprojectdisagreedasindicatedbyalowmeanof2.21(SD=1.12).

Itwasevidentthatthoseparticipantswhoworkedonthecomputerbasedprojectpreferredusing

technologyoverpaperbasedmethods,whilethosewhoinitiallychosetraditionalpaperbasedproject

clearlydidsobecauseoftheirdislikeofordiscomfortinthecomputeruseinlearning

Table5showsthemeanandstandarddeviationvaluesfromtheLikertscalesurveygivento

thecontrolgroup.

Table5
MeanandStandardDeviationvaluesofLikertscalesurveygiventocontrolgroup

Standard
Question Mean Deviation

Ilikedusingatraditionalmethodforthistypeofproject. 4.04 0.82

Iwouldwanttoparticipateonthistypeofprojectinthefuture. 3.40 1.13

Byusingtraditionalmethods,I'llremembertheAncientChinaUnitbetter. 4.18 0.93

Usingtraditionalmethodsmotivatedmetolearn. 4.07 0.95

Theprojectwaseasytouse. 4.50 0.81

Iwouldliketousepapertolearnhistoryinthefuture. 3.62 0.95

ParticipantsinterviewedfromexperimentgroupAthoughttheircomputerprojectwasfunandeasy

aswell.WhenaskedwhyhelikedtheVoiceThread,oneparticipantresponded,itwasfuntohavethe

headseton.Thesameparticipantclaimedthathiseyesaredrawntoelectronics.Atthesame
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention14

time,notalltheparticipantsinterviewedfromexperimentgroupAlikedtheVoiceThread.One

intervieweefeltthepressuresofthetimeframeoftheprojects.Thissameparticipantfeltthatthe

VoiceThreadprojectdidnothelpherlearnaboutAncientChinaandthatwasalsoevidencedinthelow

scoreofherretentiontest.However,eventhoughshewasnegativeabouttheVoiceThreadprojectand

offerednosuggestionsforimprovingtheproject,shestillfeltitwasbetterthancompletingthepaper

basedproject.

IntervieweesfromexperimentgroupBwerestrategicallypicked.Theresearcherwantedto

chooseaparticipantthatcompletedthepaperbasedproject,aparticipantthatcompletedthecomputer

basedproject,andaparticipantthatswitchedprojects.OftheparticipantsfromexperimentgroupB,

onlytwoswitchedfrompapertocomputerswhencompletingtheirsecondproject.Thesetwo

happenedtobetwinbrotherswiththeIEPs.Whileinterviewingthesetwinsseparately,theresearcher

heardverydifferentopinions.Oneoftheparticipantslikedtheprojects,whiletheotherdidnot.One

participantswitchedhisprojecttotheVoiceThreadbecausehewantedtolearnwithtechnology,while

theotherthoughtitwaseasiertocomplete.OneparticipantwasmotivatedtogetstraightA's,whilethe

otherjustwantedtogetitdonequickly.Theretentiontestscoresforthesetwoparticipantsalso

differed.TheparticipantthatwasmotivatedbystraightA'sscoreda34onhisretentiontest,whilethe

otherscoreda25.Sinceeachparticipantinthisexperimentgrouphadthechoice,realmotivations

wereclearlyevident.

Wheninterviewed,participantsfromthecontrolgrouphadonecommonfeelingtowardsthepaper

basedproject:itwasfunandeasy.WhenaskedhowthisprojecthelpedthemlearnaboutAncientChina,

oneintervieweeresponded,writingsentenceshelpedmemakeconnectionswiththepictures.Most

participantsinthecontrolgroupagreedthatcompletingtheprojectwasbetterthanbookwork.

AnalysisofData

Ifthechoiceofprojectweregiventoallparticipants,itislikelythattheresultswouldbe
different.Whengiventhechoice,participantswillchoosetheprojectthatbestsuitstheireducational
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention15

needs.TherewereparticipantsinexperimentgroupAthatwouldhavechosentoworkonthepaper

basedassignments,whiletherewereparticipantsinthecontrolgroupthatwouldhavechosentowork

onthecomputerbasedassignments.Eventhoughstudentsmayseemmoreinterestedandmotivated

withcomputers,thisdoesnotnecessarilymeantheylearnbestwithcomputers.

TheparticipantsinexperimentgroupAhadlowerlevelsoflearningandretention,but

enjoyedlearningwithtechnology

Whentakingacloserlookatindividualscoresonthequantitativetests,theresearchernoticed

anotherphenomenonwiththeresults.Afterexaminingtheresults,therewasanoticeablegrouping

ofparticipantsineachofthethreegroupstherewerestudentswhodidnotretaininformation,students

whoretainedsomeinformation,andthosewholearnedandretainedalotofinformation.Figure1

displaysindividualresultsofpretest,posttest,andretentiontestscorestakenfromselectparticipants

fromexperimentgroupA.Participants1and2showlowerretentiontestscoresthanposttestscores.

Whensurveyed,Participant1claimedthatusingtechnologyhelpedremembertheAncientChina

Unit.Participant2wasanextremecasewhere,althoughahighpretestandposttestscore,the

retentiontestscoreislow.
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention16

Wheninterviewed,Participant2stronglydisagreedthatusingtechnologywouldhelpremember

theAncientChinaunit.Participants3and5showedsomesignsoflearninggiventheirpretest

scores.Eventhoughtheseparticipant'sretentiontestsscoresincreasedfromtheirposttestscores,

theywerenotfullyconvincedthattheyenjoyedusingtechnologytolearn.

Figure2displaystheresultsofpretest,posttest,andretentiontestfromallparticipantsin

experimentgroupB.Thisgroupdisplayedoverallgreaternumbersontheirposttestandretentiontest

scores.TheFigureindicatesthattheparticipants10,13,and17hadretentiontestscoresslightly

lowerthantheirposttestscores.Ontheirsurveys,bothparticipants10and13claimedthattheuseof

technologywouldnothelpthemremembertheAncientChinaunit.Whengiventheopportunity,

Participant13switchedfromthepaperbasedprojecttothecomputerbased.Allthreeoftheseselect

participantsclaimedthatthecompletionofapaperbasedprojectwouldnotmotivateorhelpthem

remembertheinformation.Thesethreeparticipantsalsohappentobeclassifiedasspecialeducation.
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention17

Eventhoughtheyhadtheopportunitytochoosetheirownproject,thesestudentscontinuallystruggled

withthecontentbeingtaught.

Participants2,3,and15showedsignsoflearningalittlegiventheslightincreaseintheirpost

testscoresandsubsequentslightlyhigherscoresontheirretentiontest.

Participants1,4,and6showedsignsoflearningalotgiventheirlowerpretestscoresand

relativelyhigherposttestscores.Theseparticipantswerealsoabletoretainthisinformationand

scored30oraboveontheirretentiontests.

OnenoteworthycaseisParticipant8.Althoughthelowpretestscoreandevenlowerposttest

score,Participant8scoredaslightlyhigherretentiontestscore,whichshowssignsoflearning.Even

thoughtestscoreswerelow,thisparticipantwasstillcapableoflearning.Eventhoughthis

participant'sscoreswerelow,therewasnoswitchfrompaperbasedtocomputerbasedproject.This

studentstuckwiththestorybookbecausesheknewshedidnotwanttotryherluckonthecomputer.

Figure3exhibitstheresultsofselectsixparticipantsfromthecontrolgroup.Unlikethepatternthat

canbeseeninFigures1and2,thisfigureindicatesthatallparticipantsperformedbetteratposttestthan

theydidatthepretest.ExaminingtheFigurefurther,onecanseethatParticipants1and2had
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention18

retentiontestscoresthatwereconsiderablylowerthantheirposttestscores.EventhoughParticipant2

scored30ontheposttest,informationwasnotretained.Whenreviewingthesurveyresultsforthese

participants,theresearcherdiscoveredthatparticipants1and2scoredrelativelylowonaquestionthat

askedifthetraditionalprojectwasamotivatorforlearning.

Participants3and5scoredhigherontheirposttestthanpretestandyetevenhigherontheir

retentiontests.Thisshowsinformationwaslearnedandretainedaftertwoweeks.Theseparticipants

bothstronglyagreedthatthepaperbasedprojectwasastrongmotivatortolearn.Also,both

participantsagreedthattraditionalmethodswillhelpthemremembertheAncientChinaunit.

Althoughparticipant3stronglydisagreedabouttheeaseoftheproject,thisparticipantstillretained

informationafterthecompletionofthestudy.

Finally,Participants4and6,whosepretestscoreswererelativelylow,butretentiontest

scoreswereequaltoorgreaterthantheirposttestscores,bothstronglyagreedwhenaskedifthe

paperbasedprojectwouldhelpthemremembertheAncientChinaunit.Eventhoughthispaperbased

projectdidnotnecessarilymotivateParticipants4and6tolearn,theystillscoredhighontheposttest

andsustainedthatscoreontheretentiontest.

Discussion

Itwasdiscoveredinthisresearch,thatstudentswhochosetocompleteprojectsusingavailable

technologyscoredsignificantlybetterthanstudentswhowereforcedtouseavailabletechnology.

Muchtotheresearcher'ssurprise,whengiventhechoicebetweencompletingapaperbasedprojector

completingacomputerbasedproject,theclasswasvirtuallysplitdownthemiddle.Previous

assumptionswouldhaveledthisresearchertobelievethatmoreseventhgradestudentswouldhave

chosentoworkonthecomputerovertraditionalmethodsoflearning.

Thisresearchfoundamixofstudentsthatwouldnothavechosentoworkonthecomputerifgiven

thechoice.Whatwentwrongforthesedigitalnativesintheirpreviousschooling?Didtheyhaveateacher
thatdidnotknowhowtousetechnology?Didtheyhaveateacherthatpoisonedtheirminds
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention19

withhatredtowardstechnology?Dotheyhavetherightequipmentathomeandaretheyallowedtouse

ittogaintheproficiencytheyneedtolearnthetechnologylanguage?Thesestudentswereobviously

uncomfortableinfrontofacomputerbecausecomputersdidn'tlikethemorcomputersweretoo

difficulttounderstand.Butthentherewasanothergroupofstudentsthatwouldhavechosentowork

onthecomputerifgiventhechoice.Whywerethesestudentsacceptingoftechnology?Didtheyhavea

previousteacherthatencouragedthemtousethecomputerorwasenthusiasticwhenteachingwith

technology?Didtheyhaveaparentthattaughtthemtousethecomputeratanearlierage?These

studentspreferredthecomputerandsucceededincreatingmeaningfulVoiceThreads.Theseareallthe

questionsthatthefutureresearchstudiesmusttakeintoconsiderationandtrytoexplore.

ImplicationsforTeaching

Theresultsofthisstudybroughtmixedfeelings.Althoughtheresultsfromtheprepost

retentiontestsindicateagreaterposttestscoreforthecontrolgroupandexperimentgroupBthan

experimentgroupA,itseemedasthoughparticipatingintheVoiceThreadprojectwasmoredesired

thanparticipatinginthepaperbasedstorybookproject.Motivationforlearningwashigherwithin

experimentgroupAandgroupB,buttestscoresweregreaterinthecontrolgroup.Eventhoughthere

isadesirefortechnologyuse,thisresearchpointstogreaterachievementandknowledgeretention

withouttheuseofcomputers.Previousyearsofschoolingmaypointtothereasonsbehindthis

phenomenon.

Researchshouldbetakenonparticipantsthatchoosetheirstyleofproject.Participantswill

chooseaprojectthatbestsuitstheireducationalneeds.Ifsupposeddigitalnativesdonotchoose

technology,thenresearchmustdelveintotheirpreviousschooling.Perhaps,alongitudinalstudyof

schoolprojectscompletedovermanyyearscouldpointtosomeinsightastowhyaparticularstudent

isuncomfortablearoundtechnology.

Duringthisresearchproject,Ibecamemoreawareofhowstudentsmaywanttolearnas
 st
opposedtohowtheylearnbest.Manystudentsinthe21 centurygravitatetowardstechnologybecause
 TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention20

theythinkitisfunandeasy.Sometimes,justbecauseaprojectisfunandeasydoesnotmeanthat

studentwilllearninformation.

Conclusion

Theresearcherconcludesthattechnologyhasthepotentialtobeapowerfuleducationaltoolfor

thosethathaveinterestinit.Forstudentswithnointerestinusingtechnology,theywillstillbenefit

educationallyfromtraditionalmethods.Thisresearchalludestothefactthatassigningacomputer

basedprojecthaphazardlytoagroupofstudentswillnotnecessarilygeneratehightestscores.There

needstobeinterestandmotivationwithusingtechnologyinthefirstplaceforstudentstosucceed.As

withanyinstructionaltopic,technologyneedstobetaughtandembracedatanearlyage.Ifstudents

aretaughttohatetechnologyatanearlyage,thentheirdisdainfortechnologymayfollowtheminto

theirlateryears.
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention 21

References

Atkinson,E.S.(2000).Aninvestigationintotherelationshipbetweenteachermotivationand

pupilmotivation.EducationalPsychology,20(1).4557.

Cramer,S.andSmith,A.(2002).Technology'simpactonstudentwritingatthemiddleschoollevel.

JournalofInstructionalPsychology,29(1).314.

Garthwait,A.(2007).Middleschoolhypermediacomposition:Aqualitativecasestudy.Journal

ofEducationalMultimediaandHypermedia,16(4),357375.

Gils,F.V.(2005,June).Potentialapplicationsofdigitalstorytellingineducation.Paperpresentedat

http://wwwhome.cs.utwente.nl/~theune/VS/Frank_van_Gils.pdf

3rdTwenteStudentConferenceonITattheUniversityofTwente.RetrievedSeptember23,

2009,from

Jukes,I.(2008).Understandingdigitalkids(Dks):Teachingandlearninginthenewdigital

landscape.RetrievedNovember19,2009,fromhttp://www.hmleague.org/Digital%20Kids.pdf

Linnebrink,E.A.,andPintrich,P.R.(2003).Theroleofselfefficacybeliefsinstudentengagement

andlearningintheclassroom.Reading&WritingQuarterly,19.

DOI:10.1080/10573560390143076

Liu, M., Hsieh, P., Cho, Y., and Schallert, D. (2006). Middle school students' selfefficacy,

attitude,andachievementinacomputerenhancedproblembasedlearningenvironment.

JournalofInteractiveLearningResearch,17(3).225242.

Miller,M.(2009).WhattheScienceofCognitionTellsUsAboutInstructionalTechnology.

Change,41(2),1617.RetrievedNovember28,2009,fromResearchLibrary.

DOI:1667020291

Motivation.(2009).InWikipedia,TheFreeEncyclopedia.RetrievedDecember13,2009,

fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Motivation&oldid=331478062
Nuthall,G.(2000).Theroleofmemoryintheacquisitionandretentionofknowledgeinscienceand

socialstudiesunits.CognitionandInstruction,18(1).RetrievedDecember13,2009,from
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention 22

ERICdatabase.

Ohler,J.(2005).Theworldofdigitalstorytelling.Educationalleadership,63(4),RetrievedDecember

13,2009,fromhttp://imoberg.com/files/World_of_Digital_Storytelling_The_Ohler_J._.pdf

Ohler,J.(2008).Digitalstorytellingintheclassroom:Newmediapathwaystoliteracy,learning

andcreativity.CA:CorwinPress,Inc.RetrievedNovember19,2009,from

http://books.google.com/book

Prensky,M.(2001,October).Digitalnatives,digitalimmigrants.OntheHorizon,9(5),

RetrievedNovember19,2009,from

http://www.hfmboces.org/HFMDistrictServices/TechYES/PrenskyDigitalNatives.pdf

Robin,B.(2008).Digitalstorytelling:Apowerfultechnologytoolforthe21stcenturyclassroom.

TheoryIntoPractice,47(3),220228.

Sanacore,J.(2008,September1).TurningReluctantLearnersintoInspiredLearners.Clearing

House:AJournalofEducationalStrategies,IssuesandIdeas,82(1),4044.

Wolfe,P.(2001).Brainmatters:Translatingresearchintoclassroompractice.Alexandria,VA:

AssociationforSupervisionandCurriculumDevelopment.RetrievedNovember28,2009,from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/101004/chapters/LongTerm_Memory@_

The_Brain's_Storage_System.aspx

WoolfolkHoy,A.,&Hoy,W.K.(2009).Instructionalleadership:Aresearchbasedguideto

learninginschools.(3rded.)Boston:Pearson.