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=Project Title: Integrating Technology in Reading Instruction = =Student Researcher: Krista Bowen = =Topic Overview:=  Many students enter kindergarten every year with a broad variety of life experiences and abilities. It is a teacher's job to continue to facilitate the transition from oral literacy to written literacy all throughout the kindergarten year. Our school has made great progress in increasing CRCT reading scores in the percentage of meeting requirements on the CRCT. A 2001 study showed “that only 32 percent of the nation's fourth-graders performed at or above the proficient achievement level, thus demonstrating solid academic performance. And, while scores for the highest-performing students have improved over time, those of America's lowest-performing students have declined” (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2001). Based on this information, our school would like to increase the percentage of students that exceeds the CRCT. I feel that the use of technology could help in this process. Children have many different learning styles. Based on this fact, technology can address the visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and many more of the different learning styles. Also, reading and writing go hand in hand. Through reading and writing, the use of technology can allow students to interact with other students in another state or even in another country. Students can blog to express their own ideas or opinions. Students can work on projects together in an online community or in their very own classroom. However, technology should not be taught as a separate subject, but as a seamless part of instruction. The difficult part of incorporating technology is finding software programs or Web 2.0 applications that are effective. Also, planning for the incorporation of technology can be time consuming. This is why I am choosing to do my research on integrating technology in reading. My focus will be on the early childhood classrooms. I would like research to find out what technology is available and what technology would appropriate for students in my age group. Troup County is in the process of installing Promethean Boards in all of our elementary schools. I would like to find ways that I can use the Promethean Board once it is installed in my room. I would also like to investigate more Web 2.0 applications to see their effectiveness in teaching reading. I believe with this research I can become a more effective teacher and I will be ready for any new technology the future may hold.