Annotated Bibliography

EXAMPLE ENTRY (your paragraphs should be double-spaced):

Northrop, L., & Andrei, E. (2019). More Than Just Word of the Day: Vocabulary Apps for English

Learners. Reading Teacher, 72(5), 623–630. https://libraryaccess.kings.edu:2150/10.1002/trtr.1773

The authors of this study designed a rating tool to analyze the effectiveness and usefulness of 53 different vocabulary apps available to teachers of English Learners. They suggested that vocabulary instruction is a prominent focus for teachers of English Learners, and that technology-driven instruction is popular, but its use and availability is not equitable: “Although technology use in the classroom has increased recently, with the adoption of online standardized testing and district initiatives such as one-to-one programs, the quality of both the technology and implementation into the classroom has been uneven (p. 623). The article noted that the rating tool evaluates three broad areas in order to decide an application’s effectiveness: the effectiveness of the app in delivering instruction, types of activities students can engage in, and the different features of the app itself (p. 623-624).

The researchers in this article evaluated only apps available for iPad and Apple platforms, which this writer notes as a weakness. Although many apps are found on both the Android and Apple platforms, limiting the choices to one platform might only serve teachers who can access those apps on that particular platform. Though the distinct areas of evaluation, and the rating scale both were based on best practice research in technology and vocabulary instruction (p. 623), the scale is somewhat interpretive and subjective.

For this writer, using this tool to evaluate iPad apps is impractical to apply to one’s own teaching practice. The district this writer works in does provide some teachers access to iPads, but not all teachers, nor all students. However, for any educator looking at finding some apps for ELs and being able to justify their classroom use, then this rating tool provides enough data to potentially convince administrators to take the plunge on using iPads on a trial basis. While typically no app can replace explicit, direct, well-planned classroom instruction from a highly qualified teacher, another possible use of this tool could be to recommend apps students could download on their own devices and use at home for home practice.