Running head: TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA RESOURCES 1

Integration of Technology and Media Resources

Faith Ferrulli

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2021

TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA RESOURCES 2

Introduction

The 21st Century is no stranger to technology and media resources, and it is becoming

ever more prevalent in the school systems. With Virginia Beach City Public Schools, every

student from Kindergarten to 12th Grade has their own Chromebook for academic use. Quick

access to knowledge and resources at the tips of our fingers is beneficial when there is a clear

understanding of the resources’ effectiveness and the ability to use them correctly. After all, the

primary purpose of integrating technology and media resources into the classroom is to “increase

the quality and success of education” (Mehmet & Bilge, 2016, p. 203). This competency is

evident in almost every lesson and task. However, the two artifacts chosen to represent the

diversity of technology and media resources are a Nearpod activity and the usage of calming

instrumental music from YouTube throughout the experience of student teaching.

Rationales of Selected Artifacts

Artifact One

The first artifact that I chose for this competency is a Nearpod activity that addressed

multiple standards. These standards included using setting, characters, and plot to make

inferences about the story, determining important pieces of text evidence to support inferences or

conclusions, and using important details from a text to summarize a fictional text. The formation

of this independent activity resulted from two whole group lessons shaped together in a Nearpod.

The Nearpod had various tasks, including polls, open-ended questions, drawing, an interactive

read-aloud, and more. The activity was created based on the read-aloud text called “The

Runaway Wok”. During the creation of the Nearpod, I manipulated the video to have various

stopping points with comprehension questions and tasks. Students completed this task
TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA RESOURCES 3

independently, and the results were used to dictate whether or not students were proficient in the

given standards.

The Nearpod software allowed me to download an analysis document that provided me

with the results for each activity that the students provided. For the English language learners in

my class, I recorded myself giving directions as they went through the activity. This Nearpod

activity Reflects this competency in that I was able to create the activity for them to complete

independently on their Chromebooks while listening to my recorded directions. By making the

two lessons into an independent task via Nearpod, I addressed other standards that needed more

attention, given that the grades were being calculated for progress reports at the time.

Artifact Two

The second artifact chosen to represent this competency is the usage of peaceful

instrumental music during the school day. This artifact encompasses the media resources portion

of this competency to demonstrate how media and technology have varying and diverse

platforms. YouTube can provide to be very effective. Especially when using the features to play

music to calm nerves or address behavior issues. At the beginning of every day, I turn on

peaceful instrumental music. When the students come in, they are given a lighter transition from

getting off the bus and eating breakfast to completing their morning work. I noticed the first day

of implementing this procedure that students completed more work in the morning.

I have also implemented Instrumental music as background noise in the classroom is

during any assessment or independent task. We recently had a week where we had quite a few

assessments, and students were very stressed and full of anxiety. It made a world’s difference to

have an instrumental background song playing while students took their assessments to calm

their nerves. Students would point out the music initially when I first started implementing this;
TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA RESOURCES 4

however, once It became a routine. Students were able to Relate the sound of the music to

productivity. My team teacher had decided to play the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams on

Fridays to give them that extra energy to complete their tasks, which made a positive difference.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

Since first taking my technology of education course at Regent University, I have

accumulated several experiences in the classroom. The courses have provided me with varying

resources to use technology and media in the classroom throughout my degree’s progression.

The integration of technology into the elementary curriculum can seem far-fetched given the

ages of the students. However, we live in a world that is inclined to technology. Most students

have not gone a day in their lives without the observation or usage of technology. Rather than

shrinking back from implementing technology into the classroom, teachers should embrace the

change and choose to do what is best for the students. Elaborating more on that idea, I would go

as far as to say that implementing technology is beneficial to the students given the

technologically induced world we are currently living in.

Now, there must be the understanding that technology is only effective when it is

“positively influencing student learning by requiring students to use higher-order thinking skills

such as analyzing or evaluating information or creating new representations of knowledge”

(Polly, 2011, p. 20). Each level of Bloom’s taxonomy must be reached and developed for the

technology to be effective and impact the students’ learning. There needs to be the consideration

that each technological resource in media resource must be linked to a lesson and purpose when

effectively implementing a technology-based classroom (Mehmet & Bilge, 2016, p. 204).

Random technology platforms and devices might confuse students. With that being said, The

Journal of Educational Technology and Science published a study that compared the success rate
TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA RESOURCES 5

of students in a digital classroom versus students in a classroom without digital technologies.

The results indicated that the students in the digital classroom had a higher success rate. One

reason this was the result was that “by doing digital-based activities, which are visually and

auditory more attractive, increases students’ motivation, and thus resulted in higher success”

(Mehmet & Bilge, 2016, p. 209).

It is common for students to listen to music while they’re studying or performing other

individual tasks, even in college. Music is also used by students to “counter the effects of stress

or anxiety while completing difficult academic tasks as background music promotes cognitive

performance” (Dolegui, 2013). Having calm and peaceful music for students to listen to while

working on independent tasks such as assessments allows for them to focus on the task at hand. I

have first-hand seen the difference that peaceful instrumental background music has made on

students’ abilities to focus and complete the task given during my student teaching experience.
TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA RESOURCES 6

References

Dolegui, A. S. (2013). The impact of listening to music on cognitive performance. Inquiries

Journal/Student Pulse, 5(09). Retrieved

from http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/a?id=1657.

Mehmet A. O., & Bilge H. E. (2016). The effect of the digital classroom on academic success

and online technologies self-efficacy. Journal of Educational Technology & Society,

19(4), 203-212. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.19.4.203.

Polly, D. (2011). Developing students' higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) through technology-

rich tasks: the influence of technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK).

Educational Technology, 51(4), 20-26. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/44429927.