Technology Integration Plan

I believe that technology is an important aspect of education and should be utilized in all classrooms. Every school and classroom should have the opportunity to utilize technology regardless of where the school is located or the economical status. Many children do not have access to these tools at home, and by giving these students an opportunity to understand the importance of technology in their daily lives as well as teaching them how to do it at school; we are providing all children with an equal, fair learning prospect.

I feel that technology should be a support system for learning, rather than an escape from teaching. Meaning, many teachers seem to rely to harshly on the use of technology, it should be used simply as a guide and tool. I am an early education major, receiving a degree that will able me to teach children kindergarten through third grade. I feel that each student should feel comfortable typing on a computer as well as utilizing the Internet when needed and knowing the options that technology provides. I also feel that young children should not heavily rely on technology for social purposes. Children are being exposed to technology as a social outlet that it is creating a lack of social and creative skills.

In my future early childhood classrooms I think the two forms of technology that I will most commonly use are Google maps and blogs. I think these two tools will be helpful in my classroom because they are both easy to use tools for young children as well as create pathways to higher learning.

One way I would like to utilize these two tools is through a social studies unit. I will begin by reading the students the book, Letters from Felix: A Little Rabbit on a world tour by Annette Langen. This book follows a lost stuffed animal bunny on his trip around the world through post cards that he sends. This book is a great introduction to geography. After reading aloud the first part of the book where Felix ‘sends’ his first post card from London, we will stop and use Google maps. We will use Google maps to locate where we are, where London is, and use the directions tool to figure out how far away we are from London. This is a great way to use technology as a resource of information. As we read the book and learn where else Felix travels, we will continue to locate each location on Google maps.

Second part of this unit uses reading and writing skills as well; each student will create a blog. The student’s blog is to track Felix’s trip by creating a post for each new city Felix sends a postcard from. In each post the children will include where Felix is, and two sentences about that location. The students will be learning how to blog at an early age which will be a great introduction to blogging and using the Internet as a source of communication later in life.

I will range the success of children in my classroom using such technology by being present in the computer lab when children are creating their blogs. Also, I will create a Google Site page in which I will have an excel of each child’s name and their blog URL, similar to the site we have for edec 203. This will allow me easy access to each child’s blog. Each night after we use blogs in school I will read through the child’s blog to ensure they understand how to post. As far as Google maps, this tool will always be used in a group setting with the educator guiding the children step by step on how to use this tool. Children in third grade are often exposed to typing on a keyboard but rarely is it expected for them to navigate a web page. Second and third grade is an expected age group for this lesson.

By creating this Google sites page to have each child’s blog URL, I will be able to present this to future employers. This will be helpful because I will have each child’s blog and will be able to show the pros and cons of this project. Many students will succeed in creating blogs and will provide multiple sentences on each post, while some student may struggle. By incorporating each child’s site, I will be able to scale the variety of blogs, which will be helpful on a self-reflection level as well as sharing with future colleagues and bosses.

I am looking forward to including technology in my classroom as an outlet and resource for my children to learn. I hope to use this unit plan in my future classroom.

4 Discussion Posts

Web evaluation discussion
2 threads for each of the four webquest = 8 posts
2 comments on each discussion of other peoples = 8 posts

WebQuest discussion
2 floating sticky notes of my own for each of the four pages = 8 posts
2 post of other people's notes. = 8 posts

Google form discussion
2 floating sticky notes of my own
2 post on other people's notes

Lost arts of teaching discussion
2 floating sticky notes of my own
2 post on other people's notes

TOTAL POSTS 40

Assignment 12

(a) Do you think technology can facilitate learning? Why and why not?

I do think technology can facilitate learning. I think this because of the many varieties of technology we have learned about so far id EDEC 203. I think that teachers can use podcasts and blogs to faciliate learned and by incorporating the students in the learning by doing model.
Dispite that technology can be a great tool to encourage learning, it can also act as a burden and can become the topic of learning rather than the focused topic. For example, many times professors create powerpoints in which they read directly off of. This is very boring for students and does not encourage hands on learning.

(b) What are the factors that affect our decisions on whether and how we will use a technology in our classes or not?

I am an early education major and would love to teach Kindergarten and first grade. I agree that technology is a great tool but I feel that Kindergarten is too young to sit in front of a computer. I know that there are many interactive learning games available for young children and I do not agree with them. I think it is unhealthy for young children and hope that technology stops appealing to children of this young age. My degree does allow be to teach up to third grade, and I feel that if I am in an older classroom I would incorporate technology into my classroom. I think that smart boards are a great way to incorporate learning to both the visual learners, the hands on learners, and the auditory learners.

Google Maps

View My Town in a larger map

Learning with Games and Simulations

Game 1:  Interactive Coin Game

I like this interactive coin game because the coins are very life like and I feel that it truly helps children learn their coins. This game would be great for students in second and third grade learning and practicing their coin counting. I would use this in my classroom as a math center, I would be sure to be near the students to help with questions or problem dragging the coins; using a mouse can often be difficult for children with not as advanced fine motor skills.

Game 2: Matching Shapes with Krog

I like this game because of the fantastic theme of the webpage. From past experience if an educational game has an interesting theme and characters children will be drawn to it. I feel that this game offers those interesting aspects. This game would be great for kindergarteners who should be mastering shapes, while also getting the students comfortable using the mouse for their fine motor skills, and getting comfortable with technology.

Assignment 7b

Assignment 8

How do you plan to use VoiceThread in your future classrooms?
- I think that I could use VoiceThread in my classroom to help with phonics activities. I think that it would really help with providing children with visual as well as verbal cues.

How does that help you meet the ISTE standards?
- VoiceThread and using it in my future classroom helps meet the ISTE standard of "Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments." This is because I would be using technology to help assit me in learning. Technology can also be a great way to asses children's knowledge. Many times it is hard for just one teacher to keep track of each student's level, grades, and reactions to assingments; technology can lend a helping hand with keeping children's responses organized.

My Voice Thread