Running head: INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY 1

Integration of Technology

Martha Martin

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2018

INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY 2

Introduction

Living in the Age of Information, almost all students have constant access to some form

of technology on a daily basis. In order to properly ensure the well-rounded education of our

children, teachers must be proficient in integrating technology into the classroom as a tool to

enhance learning. Additionally, instructors are obligated to properly model how to use these

resources responsibly. As districts in the Commonwealth (such as Virginia Beach) strive to

become 1:1 ratio for students to technological devices, it is imperative that teachers practice

navigating these resources and demonstrate these to the class. When utilized properly, these

resources can provide visual elements, speed instruction, facilitate interactive activities, and

prepare students for real world application. Two of the online resources I incorporated into my

fourth-grade class are Achieve 3000 to increase reading comprehension and fluency and Quizlet

Live so students could strengthen and review vocabulary. As evidence, I included photos

documenting my students using these sites responsibly.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

The first artifact I utilized in my placement was the literacy program Achieve 3000.

Every day, students have four, fifteen-minute small group rotations. One of these will always be

Achieve—a program that varies reading level depending on individual student ability. Students

are assigned seven to ten articles a month to read and must complete eight comprehension

questions after reading. The program provides independent practice of baseline articles to track

student progress for the teacher and school data; it increases in difficulty as the students improve

or lowers if they need more time developing certain skills. It enhances student learning because

students do not need direct instruction, leaving time for myself or another teacher to provide

small group instruction, goal setting, or remediation.

INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY 3

The Kings Grant Reading Specialist gives students small incentives for completing eight

activities where they score over seventy-five percent. However, both my morning and afternoon

classes began dropping in overall performance because of accomplishing quantity of articles over

quality. As a result, we implemented a new type of goal setting. Every Wednesday, my

cooperating teacher and I set a different goal: “this week I will have only two articles below

seventy-five percent” or “this week my average goal will be eighty percent.” Students conference

with either myself, the special education teacher, or my cooperating teacher to discuss specific

steps to accomplishing their goal. Already, according to the collaborative data, our class average

has increased several points to 75% in the morning class and a 76.7% for the afternoon class.

My second artifact, Quizlet Live, displays a test-prep, interactive, online resource that has

students review vocabulary gains for the week. Quizlet offers a variety of learning activities for

students—for my English students, I utilize it with their Wordly Wise workbooks. It has all

terms from the fourth-grade course book stored in a word bank and provides different activities

each week. Students complete small group rotations of Wordly Wise using textbooks to highlight

words, choose definitions, and practice spelling. Once the book work is complete, they may use

activities, flashcards, and games to on Quizlet to practice the set of words. Their favorite aspect

of the site is Quizlet Live; students are paired into teams to compete against each other by

answering twelve multiple choice questions (three or four each) before another team. No other

resource has my kids as engaged, excited, and motivated to work collectively. Students practice

supportive behavior towards each other while clarifying misconceptions about terminology.

More than anything, I continually use it in my class because my students love it so much and

they practice teamwork and responsible technology use. I particularly like giving them the
INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY 4

freedom to choose how they prepare for the test as a means of building trust as well as

developing their prosocial behavior in harmonious relations (Bergin & Bergin, 2018, p. 377).

Reflection on Theory and Practice

Virginia districts have recently developed this buzzword of “transformational learning.” I

have heard it permeate practically every teacher collaborative meeting, lecture, or education

article. While it sounds fantastic, rarely has it been defined in any of these settings until I

attended the annual TLC Symposium at Regent University this month. At the conference, well-

seasoned Kindergarten teacher and curriculum developer for Virginia Beach schools, Karen

Drosinos, defined transformational learning as simply “changing the way we teach students as

society moves and develops” (“Growing Mindful Learners”, 2018). Technology incorporated in

the classroom should be a clear choice to employ in a transformational learning class; but it is

imperative to remember, technology must enhance the lesson, not distract or take away from it.

We live in a world of visual learners—so much presentation of information to society is

through images, videos, audio clips, etc. In fact, “[students] already understand how to use the

Internet to find images and tutorials to help them understand the world around them” (Elliott,

2011, p. 13). Often times, younger students connect ideas together and cement material in their

minds with images associated with the topic. Additionally, they look to resources online

themselves to clarify information, so demonstrating responsible usage of website should already

be a priority for educators. Teachers must remember to plan for classroom management aspects

of technology integration in order to facilitate meaningful learning. Recognizing that it can

provide visual aspects to increase student exposure to environments, concepts, or ideas beyond

their immediate cultural understanding, teachers can use technology in the classroom as a way to
INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY 5

differentiate instruction. I intend on staying current with new, creative online resources and

facilitating them as tools in my classroom.

INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY 6

References

Bergin, C. A., & Bergin, D. A. (2018). Child and adolescent development in your classroom:

topical approach. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Drosinos, K. (2018, March 10). Growing Mindful Learners. Lecture presented at TLC

Symposium in Virginia, Virginia Beach.

Elliott, L. (2011). Teach Like a Techie: 20 Tools for Reaching the Digital Generation.

Peterborough, NH: Crystal Springs Books.