Stacey Besherse

http://besherseclass.weebly.com

EDU-225
August 23, 2016

Entry 2: Technology to Enhance Instruction

Integrating Instructional Technology
Teachers have a lot to plan out for their week and for the year and sometimes finding
ways to keep the students thrilled and ready to learn is a very tough thing to try and capture.
Lesson planning includes but is not limited to selecting content, organizing content, selecting
assessments and determines pedagogy (Womack Pepper, Hanna, and Bell 2015). A teacher make
lesson plans and often times what they plan is not fun at all and if the teachers do not make it fun
then the students will get bored really easily. Students get bored just listening to the teacher talk
from her podium or copy off the whiteboard all day long. Technology has changed a lot of how
teachers teach and it is used as an aide for the teachers on a daily basis. The teacher can use
technology as a way to begin the lesson. The teacher can show a video or a very fun clip that will
talk or introduce the lesson that the teacher will be teaching about to get them ready and eager to
learn more.
Brain Pop Jr.
It is not uncommon among teachers in our geographical area to find public school
teachers who are writing 10 to 15 pages of lesson plans to document the classroom instruction of
one single day (Womack, Pepper, Hanna, and Bell, 2015). The teachers do not have time to plan
an great introduction to get their kids ready to learn and get them focused. This is where Brain
Pop Jr comes into play. Brain Pop Jr. is a website that has a robot talk about the new concept and
gives the definition of it and how they will use it in the classroom and in real life. Students like

Mobli the robot because he is funny and he makes what they are going to learn fun. Teachers can
use Brain Pop for any lesson because it has videos for all history, social studies, math, science
and reading as well. The teacher can also have them do the online test to see if they understand
what they will be learning about and this gives them a chance to get ready and to think about
what is they will learn and how they will use it in their class.
Think Through Math
Think through math is used in many math classes. Think through math is an internet
software that teachers can use to reinforce what the students need to learn. Teachers can use this
as a station while the teachers work with other students. Think through math has quizzes,
tutorial, and an online teacher that will help them if they need help. The students will learn
everything they teacher has taught and if they need help the online teacher can help the student
learn what needs to be learned. Technology is so important because the teacher needs to have
sufficient access to technology, and the teacher must have adequate teacher preparation because
if the technology does not work then the teacher needs a backup plan because there will be times
when technology will not always work (Norris, Soloway, Sullivan, 2002). Think through math is
a great tool but it is best if the teacher understand the way this technology works and what
happens if the internet is not working and what can the teacher do in place of think through math.
Istation.
Istation is used as a way to help students with phonics and reading comprehension. At the
beginning of each month students take an online Istation test and once the test is over the
students work on lesson based on the results from their test. This helps students who are below
their grade level to try and reach the place and level the need to be at to be successful (Boon,
Burke, Fore, Spencer, 2006). Students do not like reading and Istation is a great tool because it

helps the students enjoy reading. Istation has little songs that teach students about two vowels
that go together and what sound it makes. This is great for all levels and the students really enjoy
learning.
Pros and Cons of using Technology to Facilitate Learning
A major pro of using technology is that teachers can use technology as a learning tool.
Teachers can use the video as a way to help introduce the lesson and get the students attention.
Technology can be used to help with stations. Teachers can have the students rotate and that way
she can help small groups at a time if the she needs to and she can see that her students are still
learning and having fun at the same time. A con would be that some students will use technology
as a way to help them get a good grade. Rather than learning their math facts the student will use
the calculator to get the answer rather than try and figure it out. Another bad thing would be is
that if the internet is down then the student needs to make a backup plan because there would
always be something that can cause the internet to go down and if the teacher has solely relied on
the internet then she would be in a rush to find something for her students to do to learn. The
teacher needs to always have a backup plan in case something happens and her students can still
learn what she intended for them to learn.
Wired and Wireless Classrooms (100-200 words)
Many students use internet and mobile devices on a daily basis. The average college
student has 3-5 enable devices that they use on a daily basis (Sessom, 2016). A wireless
classroom allows the students to roam the class and sit somewhere they feel is comfortable that
allows them to learn as well. Also if the student is behind on his or her work she can then go in
the hallway and use the ipad to work on their missing work. The wired classroom can allow for
the teacher to watch her student more carefully because she can contain them to a small space

and see what they are using and make sure they are on task. The only downside is that the wires
would get in the way and it would cause students to unplug them on accident or trip and fall.
Conclusion
Technology has come a long way and so many teachers are using technology as a way to keep
them eager and ready to learn. Technology is a way that can help the students be ready to learn
and teach them so many interesting things that the students would not have used if they were not
on the internet. Teachers can take kids on a virtual field trip that will take them to a place that
they have studied and they can see how it is in real life and they can write down interesting thing
they learned. There are so many endless possibilities for the students and they just need to use
technology to take them places that they have never been and reach for the sky.

References
Boon, R; Mack, B; Fore, C; Spencer, V (2006). The impact of cognitive organizers and
technology based practices on student success in secondary social studies classrooms.
Journal of Special Education Technology 21(1)
Norris, C; Soloway, E, and Sullivan, T(2002). Examining 25 years of technology in u.s.
education. Communciation of the ACM 45(8)
Sessoms, D (2016). Wireless networks for schools vs wired networks: which is better?
Retrieved on August 22, 2016 from http://www.securegenetworks.com
Womack, S; Pepper, S; Hanna, S; and Bell, D (2015). Most effective practices in lesson
planning. Running Head