Kara Mayo

ABC Community School

October 13, 2015

Technology is all around us. It is in our morning routine from how we wake up in
the morning with out iPhone alarm clock, to how we make our coffee in the ever so smart
Keurig Kups, to how we find out about the weather for our day on the local news, to
listening to our favorite song on our drive to work. Technology follows us. It is no
different then that technology should be present in our classrooms as well. Technology,
however advanced now, is a tool that has been used in classroom and school settings for
years on end now. And with emerging ideas on how to teach children using technology,
and emerging technologies in childrens home life as well, it is important to keep children
current and smart when it comes to using technology. This is precisely why I propose a
need for children to not only be familiar with how a computer works, but to be familiar
with all of the tools there are to better their education outside of the classroom.
There are a number of advantages to using technology inside a classroom. The
first advantage is children will be given a chance to broaden their learning styles and
reach outside of the normal learning style of simply reading and writing and will be able
to actively engage in computer programs to critically think. Students using technology in
the classroom for an English class will be able to research thousands upon thousands of
websites that are suitable for their age as well as easy to understand and to comprehend.
The student will then be able to engage in the website and take certain points of another
writers perspective. This will allow the student to become the researcher and the
publisher. The student may then take their ideas and become the writer and the editor all
at once all skills that are critical for students to learn as they grow and enter the
workplace (Boundless.com).
Another advantage to students learning with technology in the classroom would
be in math class. Where students can research example problems to help them better
understand any concept they may need extra help on. The amount of math help websites
and math creator websites is boundless. Students will have the opportunity to see how
math works in everyday life as well as study tips to help better their overall test scores
and daily math skills. Sites such as Kidsites.com, offers multiple ways students may
engage in online math learning. Technology tools such as electronic white boards and
overhead projectors make it easy for teachers to let children be hands on with the math
equations and therefore engaging in multiple learning styles while simply teaching
numbers.
Without the use of technology inside the classroom, students will be less likely to
use technology at home when no one is around because they will not be as familiar with
the tools they would have otherwise learned in a technology friendly classroom. Students
will be able to engage in at home learning sites that were made readily available at school
and teachers will have already familiarized these students with these learning sites. The
use of technology betters the students learning abilities as well as prepares them for the
challenges they may face in later years of school as far a researching, writing, and critical
thinking.

The national level for standards of using technology is called the ISTE Standards
for students. These standards are clearly written out so that school districts across the
United States can refine and revision their standards for technology in their communities.
The standards are as follows; first students must be able to use critical thinking to design
and construct knowledge of innovative products and processes using technology. This
means that students must be able to apply their existing knowledge of technology to the
new technology advances introduced daily. This standard also means that students must
be able to work as a group or on a personal level to use models to better express their
critical thinking ideas. The second standard is referred to as the communication and
collaboration standard. This standard requires that students use the technology at hand to
communicate at a distance. Therefore, they must be able to do things like email, digitally
send and receive information, as well as communicate their ideas effectively and
efficiently through technology. With this standard, students must also be able to engage
their audience in a visual way through group projects using effective media technologies.
The third standard is referred to as the research standard. This means that students must
be able to apply their critical thinking ideas and gather together information found using
different technological resources. They must plan a strategy to locate and organize that
research. Then students must be able to evaluate and translate that information into their
own thoughts. This standard also means students should be able to process data and make
result reports from that date in different mediums. Finally the last standard is referred to
as the problem solving and critical thinking standard. In this standard, students must be
able to evaluate an issue and make collective decisions based on the desired outcome.
Students must also learn to manage group projects and make informed decisions.
Students should know how to collect the needed data to make such decisions as well as
explore alternative solutions if their original thought didnt pan out.
Nevada has many standards in which teachers must follow and students must
know. As of the fifth grade students must be able to use appropriate productivity tools in
order to research and report. Processes such as, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and
other multimedia production applications. Students must be able to research on certain
mediums such as websites and databases to form certain reports as well. Students must
also be able to identify certain concepts and apply those concepts to their own learning
strategies. This means that students will select and manipulate tools that the task calls for
as well and resolving issues that may arise on their own. This state standard also states
that students should be able to recognize certain systems and be able to operate those
systems. Therefore students should be comfortable in all computer types i.e. Mac and
Microsoft, as well as using multiple types of web searches such as Google, Yahoo, Bing,
etc. to achieve a desired outcome. Students must also be able to evaluate their own work
and implement their critical thinking ideas on everyday life in society.
Lastly, the Clark County School District has its own set of standards that are
slowly being worked into the community school system. These standards require that
students all classrooms be equipped with computers, projectors, as well as classroom
voice systems and digital media outlets. This ensures student productivity on all mediums
of technology. CCSD standards also require at least one computer lab per schools and
computer access for students in each library. CCSD requires a certain quantity of
computers be placed at each grade level depending on the number of students and that
each student that is eligible must participate in the computer learning phase of school.

Nameoflesson:AllHallowsEve
GradeLevelAppropriateness:5th
TechnologyContentStandardAddressed:ISTEStandardsarefollowed.Students
areusingcreativethinkingaswellascommunicationskillstoworkasgroupandsolve
anyproblemsthatmayarise.Studentsarealsolearningtocriticalthinktodevelopastory
linethatmatchesthepicturestaken.
OtherContentStandardAddressed:CreativeWriting
Objective:Toteachstudentstoworkasagrouptoenhancetheirvisualandpoetic
learningskillsandwellenhancetheuseoftechnologytouploadanddownloadviathe
Internet.
Materialsneededtofacilitatethelesson:DigitalCamera,Memorycard,Computer,
Pencil,Paper
Suggestedgroupsize:6
Procedures: 1. Students will be paired into groups of 6. There are 18 kids in the class
therefore there should be 3 groups.
2. Students will be given a theme. The theme will be Halloween.
3. Students will then be given a digital camera. This camera will have a memory card
already in it so the students work will be saved. Students will then be given the
instructions of the actual assignment. Instructions are as follows:
This project should be exciting and fun! I want you to be as creative as
possible. You can use any kind of props or costumes you want! You may
also use any part of the school you want! However, you must ask
permission before leaving the classroom and you must take the out of the
classroom pass before leaving. This is going to be an all day project!
We are going to create a Halloween story using pictures, which will be
your illustrations, and then you will write a story to go along with your
pictures.
This book is going to be 10 pages in length to make sure you are very
detailed and organized in your pictures and writing. The pictures on each
page should match the writing on that same page.
Once you are done taking your pictures you will return to the classroom
and write your first draft of your story. Once I have checked your first
draft you will then type your story into Word and review it again to make
sure it is perfect, and then save your story under your books title.
Then you will upload your pictures to the computer using the memory
card stored in the camera and save them under your books title.
You will then go onto the Internet to Shutterly.com and start to design your

book. You will arrange your pictures to your story however you see fit.
Once you are finished with your book you wait until I have thoroughly
checked your work. Once I have checked your work I will then order your
book, you will each get a copy, and the project is finished!
Your books should only take a couple of weeks to come in the mail. Just in
time for Halloween!

Assessment: You will be graded on creativity, grammar, and comprehensive of the

project as well as how you interact as a group.

References
Boundless. Advantages of Using Technology in the Classroom. Boundless Education.
21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 12 Oct. 2015 from
https://www.boundless.com/education/textbooks/boundless-educationtextbook/technology-in-the-classroom-6/edtech-25/advantages-of-usingtechnology-in-the-classroom-77-13007/
ClarkCountySchoolDistrictK12TechnologyPlan.20102013.RetrievedOctober12,
2015,fromhttp://ccsd.net/resources/technologyinformationsystems
services/ccsd_techplan.pdf
ISTE Standards for Students. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2015, from
http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-students
KidSites.com - Math Sites for Kids. 1997-2014. Retrieved October 12, 2015, from
http://www.kidsites.com/sites-edu/math.htm
Performance Level Descriptors Computer and Technology Education Standards. (2000,
March). Retrieved October 12, 2015, from http://ccsd.net/resources/mathinstructional-tech/computer-performance.pdf