Lowering the Cognitive Load through Differentiated Instruction Facilitated by Screen Casting in the Middle School Classroo

During the 2012/13 school year, the Tennessee Department of Education reported that only 21.8% of eighth-grade students score proficient or above in all categories on a standardized writing test. The results of research on effective writing instruction indicated that individualized feedback using worked examples was effective in raising student achievement scores on standardized writing assessments. Large classroom sizes and limited instructional time impair the use of this educational strategy. The use of screencasting technology to provide feedback in a blended classroom environment could provide a means for instructors to overcome these limiting factors. The problem was that it was not known if and to what extent screencasting used to provide digital feedback impacted student performance on writing assessments. The purpose of this posttest-only control-group study was to discover, in terms of academic gains on a standardized writing assessment, the impact of digital feedback on cognitive load in eighth-grade writing classes in middle Tennessee compared to the traditional model of instruction. One hundred eight students from the Tennessee middle school enrolled in the eighth-grade writing class participated in this study. The results indicated a statistically significant positive impact on student achievement on a standardized writing assessment, but no statistical significance one week after treatment. From this study, a more comprehensive understanding of how digital feedback through screencasting impacts the cognitive load was obtained and could lead to the better integration of technology into the writing classroom. Additional research using a correlational approach may provide understanding of the impact of digital feedback, as the factors connected to learning gaps in technology-based education are considered. Additional research could reveal information on the impact on leaner and educator attitude, as well.