Technology as an electronic mentor: Scaffolding preservice teachers in writing effective literacy lesson plans

A marked difference in the quality of reading lesson plans after early childhood education students were required to use the Unit Builder feature in a web-based productivity tool (TaskStream) prompted the design of a study to measure significant changes. A rubric was created that meshed the qualities of effective teachers of literacy and the elements of an effective lesson plan. Two researchers independently evaluated 32 lesson plans. Statistically significant differences in quality were found across all nine measures of effectiveness. It was concluded that technology, as a cognitive tool, positively scaffolded students as they learned about lesson planning in a content area and increased the effectiveness of their literacy plans.