Nadine Chang-Dunkley

Prof. Szymanski

EDU 225

January 17, 2015

Integrating Instructional Technology of the Comprehensive Classroom

Technology Plan

The ways of teaching and the ways of learning have taken on a new look, attitude,
mindset and style. The days of students sitting in classrooms writing down notes from a
chalkboard and a teacher standing in front and directing the lessons are now a thing of the
past. The 21st century has adopted a new way of learning, teaching and interacting. We
are now in the computer age and technology is the way of the world and it is crucial that
all students get very familiar with it.
Technology is everywhere these days and most important, it is in our schools and
that is where we need it. Every school should be equipped with the new technologies and
all educators should be equipped with the knowledge of how to use it and teach students.
The integration of technology in our schools has been the best thing to ever
happen to education. Educators are better able to assess the needs of their students and
better able prepare assignments incorporating the technology and allowing the students to
receive a more interesting and individualized educational experience.
Technology has become a tool that given educators a new way of facilitating, a
new way of finding out that everything is not one size fits all and that students are not all
cookie cutter cut outs. Most students are diverse learners and they require different ways
of understanding, and different methods of teaching.

Educators now know that some children are visual learners, some are auditory learners,
others are kinesthetic and spatial learners. Due to these great discoveries school districts
have invested lots of money in new technologies.
New technologies enhance and develop a sense of confidence, excitement, and
curiousness to dig deeper to learn more to see whats next. Its not just the technology its
the ways they are being used. Technology is being used to enhance literacy instruction.
There are many types of technologies that support reading development such as
Audiobooksalsoknowasbooksontape,Electronicbooks,alsoknownasebooks,are
electronictextsthatarepresentedvisually,andElectronicTalkingBookswhichhavea
digitizedspeakingvoice.Thespeechcomponentoffersadigitizedreadingofgeneral
sectionsaswellaspronunciationsofspecificwordswithinthetext;itsupportsand
coachesstudentsastheyreadthetextofthestory(Leu,2000;McKenna,1998).
McKenna(1998)notesthatelectronictalkingbooksincreasemotivationtoreadaswell
aspromotebasicwordrecognition.Accordingtosomeresearch,theuseoftalkingbooks
hasshownpositiveresultsasanaidtohelpchildrenimprovetheircomprehensionoftexts
(Hastings,1997;Lewin,1997;McKenna,1998;Reitsma1988).
Thegrowingworldoftechnologyallowsstudentstogotoplacestheyvenever
beenbeforeanditgivesthemtheabilitiestodothingstheyneverthoughttheycould.
Gettingstudentsoutoftheircomfortzoneandpushingthemtobepresentiswhatthese
technologiesaredoing.Technologyintheclassroomsisenhancingcommunication,
throughemail,onlinechats,forums,blogs,webcastandSkype.Students,whomaynot
likespeakingpublicly,willdobetteronlineandbuildconfidencetoparticipateingroups.
Thisalsopromotesteamworkandcollaboration;studentsareleaningandmanyofthem

dontrealizeitandtheyarehavingfunwithit,technologyhasawayofbringingpeople
togetherlikenothingelse.
Integratingtechnologyinstructiondoesnotmeanteachersarelessnecessaryit
meanstheyareneededtoenhancelessons,tomotivatestudents,andneededtoencourage
growthandwisdom.Therefore,itiscrucialthateducatorsreceivethepropertraining,
guidanceanduptodateinstructioninordertoinstructandimpartknowledgeonmodern
daytechnologiestothestudentsintheclassroomsacrossAmerica.

References:
McKenna,M.C.(1998).Electronictextsandthetransformationofbeginningreading.In
D.Reinking,M.C.McKenna,L.D.Labbo,&R.D.Kieffer(Eds.),Handbookofliteracy
andtechnology:Transformationsinaposttypographicworld(pp.4560).Mahwah,N.J.,
LawrenceErlbaumAssociates.

Leu,D.J.(2000).Literacyandtechnology:Deicticconsequencesforliteracyeducation
inaninformationage.InM.L.Kamil,P.B.Mosenthal,P.D.Pearson,&R.Barr(Eds.),
HandbookofReadingResearch:Vol.III(pp.743770).Mahwah,NJ:LawrenceErlbaum
Associates.
Means & Olson (1995), Critical Issue: Using Technology to Enhance Literacy
Instruction. Retrieved from
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li300.htm

Valdez & McNabb (1999), Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners. Retrieved
from http://www.wested.org/cs/tdl/print/docs/tdl/research.htm

Corcoran, Elizabeth (1993), Why Kids love Computer Nets; Using technology to escape
the bounds of the classroom. Retrieved from
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1993/09/20/78335/index.htm