Reading Recovery teachers don't like using iPads for instruction

There is a critical need, according to national policy statements in the United States, to integrate information and communication technologies into instruction, and yet research about the effect of such integration on the literacy learning of at-risk populations is scant. In addition, barriers exist that prevent teachers from realizing the goal of information and communication technology integration. 

To address this issue, this mixed-methods study investigated the effects of LetterWorks, an iPad app, on the letter learning of 6- to 7-year-old children in an early literacy intervention, Reading Recovery. 

Despite the positive effects of the iPad app on the letter learning of the children in the treatment group, teachers identified a misfit between their beliefs about literacy teaching and learning and the app as a barrier to their continued use. 

The authors suggest that the successful uptake of information and communication technologies into literacy instruction may depend, at least in part, on whether and how well training addresses the coherence between the information and communication technology itself and teachers’ theories about teaching and learning.