This research explores the impact of CD‐ROM storybook features on the reading behaviors of 6‐ and 7‐year‐old students with limited exposure to CD‐ROM storybooks. Six categories of behaviors were identified: tracking, electronic feature dependency, distractibility, spectator stance, electronic feature limitations, and electronic features as tools. Results from this study indicate advantages and disadvantages of the features found in this electronic text medium. One of the most intriguing examples of advantageous use is the ability of CD‐ROM storybooks to set a mood and context for a story in a highly appealing manner. They can also support struggling readers' initial attempts at unfamiliar vocabulary. However, there are also elements of CD‐ROM storybooks that merit caution. They have the potential to promote passivity, putting readers into a sort of “spectator stance” in which they let the computer do the “work” of reading rather than becoming actively engaged in the reading process. Implications from this study suggest that an awareness of the benefits and limitations of CD‐ROM storybooks can ensure their use in classroom instruction provides maximum reader support without building reader dependency.
A recent editorial in the New York Times (Editorial, 2013) raised an awareness of a growing demand for more college graduates in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. This fact, coupled with a declining interest on the part of students in those areas (ACT, 2013) necessitates a dramatic and urgent need for K-12 curriculum that fosters an interest in these fields and promotes skills that facilitate success. Many educators believe the solution is a curriculum steeped in a problem-based approach that integrates strong communication skills (Sanders, 2009). This article will describe the importance and essence of making STEM instruction relevant through a problem-based learning approach at the same time promoting students' literacy skills. Specific suggestions for instructional strategies that can be used effectively in a problem-based curriculum to promote competence and interest in STEM areas will also be described.
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