Week 3- Istation

Due to changing the key terms in my Google Alerts, this week I did not receive a sufficient amount of articles related to the use of technology within the ESL classroom or with English language learners. The one article that did receive an alert on related to our course is entitled, "Istation Named SIIA Education Technology CODiE Award Finalist" found on EconoTimes.com (2017). This article discusses a program named Istation which promotes students reading, math, and Spanish skills within PreK-12th grades. The program has been recognized for its effectiveness by receiving the award in "Best ESL, ELL or World Language Acquisition Solution Category" (EconoTimes, 2017). Geared toward teaching and assessing Spanish speaking students, this program was developed upon state standards. Thus ensuring students are being equipped to meet the grade requirements despite their language barriers. Data collected from student assessments indicates students reading ability increased over the course of the school year due to the Istation program.
This article captured my interest due to having experience working with the Istation program in the past. During that time the program was only offered in English. It surprised me to learn that they have extended the program to provide Spanish speaking students with the same program, yet in their primary language. This increases the programs validity in terms of teaching and assessing the students knowledge in both math and literacy concepts covered through the program. I would like the opportunity to see first hand how this new version of the program works and how it can enhance our Spanish speaking students learning experience. This can be a helpful tool to implement within an ESL setting if all students in attendance speak Spanish as a primary language. As it will continue to teach them grade level concepts within their primary language which is knowledge that can be transferred as they acquire their second language. 

References 

EconoTimes (Ed.). (2017, June 13). Istation Named SIIA Education Technology CODiE Award Finalist. Retrieved August 05, 2017, from http://www.econotimes.com/Istation-Named-SIIA-Education-Technology-CODiE-Award-Finalist-753845

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