INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA RESOURCES Riffle 1

Integration of Technology and Media Resources

Ronald Riffle
Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2019.

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Introduction

Technology is all around us. Every person comes in contact with some form of

technology each day. Students are at the forefront of technology mainly because they are drawn

to it, and has grown up with technology around them. Because of technology, one of the daily

struggles for a teacher is fighting technology, classroom materials or the students own

technology. Teachers should use technology to their advantage and create engaging lessons that

students can join and be collaborative on.

Rationale for Artifacts

These artifacts are a mix between two different points in my education career at Regent,

my first Practicum and my first placement for Student Teaching. When creating these artifacts

and using them in the class, I kept one thing in mind: “Will the students grasp what I am trying

to teach them?” Keeping this in mind, it maximized the opportunity for students to learn more,

all the while working with technology and having fun with education. Utilizing technology that

is effective to their learning, along with being simple enough to be used, really creates a

classroom dynamic that is powerful.

Artifact 1 – BoomWhacker Lesson (Practicum 1)

In this artifact, you will see a lesson plan that was created for my first practicum

placement. I was placed in a music classroom, in which I saw 3rd-5th graders each time I was

there. One of the lessons I created utilized YouTube. Growing up, I enjoyed doing Sing-Alongs

at church watching the bouncing ball go across lyrics. Not everyone student enjoys singing, but

each one of them enjoyed making music, so I found different Play-Along videos that had

students use BoomWhackers, a toned instrument that shaped like a pipe, to play a specific piece.
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After teaching them the proper way to use it, students helped make the C major scale, to practice

timing and teamwork. After that, students were shown videos of “In the Hall of the Mountain

King” (a personal favorite) or “Pirates of the Caribbean”, to play along with. It was really

simple, and engaging for the students. This is one of the best lessons I taught, especially with

being so early in my education career.

Artifact 2 – NearPod Lesson (Student Teaching, Placement 1)

This artifact was prepared for an introductory lesson about figurative language. One

struggle that I had with this lesson, is the potential of not retaining information due to the

Benchmark test happening the next day and day after that. This break possessed a huge problem,

and required an energetic lesson that made them collaborate, all the while using technology,

which they each have a Chromebook due to being in Virginia Beach Public Schools. Creating

this lesson was a lot of fun! I used NearPod, a teaching tool that projects not only the interactive

lesson on the Promethean Board, but their individual computers as well, keeping them engaged. I

utilized a pre-assessment at the beginning, which involved them checking yes or no. In our

lessons, we have anchor charts that we introduce, so I transferred information from the chart to

the lesson itself. From there, modeling was used in the lesson to show differences in figurative

language statements and literal statements. Moving on, we got into guided practice using The

Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and went through one example, where the picture of the page was

on the screen for them, and we decided whether or not it was figurative language. Students then

collaborated and worked on answer 7 questions deciding if a statement contained figurative

language, and this was recorded through a grading procedure within NearPod. At the end,

students wrote about what they learned, and what their favorite food is (just to wrap things up).
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Reflection on Theory and Practice

The use of technology in the classroom is revolutionary, and specific to our time. With

students sometimes being more tech-savvy than some teachers, it can be difficult to try and stay

ahead of the progression of technology. One way many teachers try to stay ahead, is using

technology for differentiated instruction, whether it be gifted students or not. “Traditionally,

technology enables educators to provide… students with (a) access to more advanced content,

(b) contexts for developing and applying critical and creative thinking skills, and (c) tools for

constructing and sharing sophisticated products while supporting the exploration of abstract

concepts and their interdisciplinary application” (Siegle, 2014). Allowing students to work on

projects, classwork, and homework that are based off of their own interests is great, but creating

programs and lessons that are specific to their learning levels is priceless and a godsend due to

technology.

One thing to be aware of, is the overuse of technology. I am always wary of how much

technology my students use, and how much direct teaching time they should have. We have to

recognize that "we're a very social society these days, and the prediction is that social networking

will continue to grow" (Elliot, 2011), however, I fully think, technology creates this barrier for us

to not need to communicate in person; it destroys the aspect of human relationship. Creating

lessons that use technology and student collaboration allows students to practice interpersonal

skills, and get them from the screen, physically and metaphorically. We cannot take for granted

the amount of learning that comes from hands on experience.

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References

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

Generation. Peterborough, NH: Crystal Springs Books.

Siegle, D. (2014). Technology: Differentiating Instruction by Flipping the Classroom. Gifted

Child Today, 37(1).