ABC Community School

Kyle Murrell
6/30/2015

Dear Members of the Clark County School Board,

The recent decision to stop using technology in all of the public schools, including the
one I work at, is a reckless one. The reason you gave for this is budget cuts and standardized
testing. The district has already spent a lot of money on the technology for the schools. At the
school I work at, ABC Community, alone, we have all of the items the students need to achieve.
Among many other tech devices we have computers with high speed internet, scanners and
iPads. If we stop using technology, now, it will be a waste, instead we should use it to the best of
its capabilities.
Education scientist Sugata Mitar realized that there are places in every country that good
teachers do not want to go, even though these are the places that need good teachers the most. To
address this problem he set up computers on the playgrounds of these schools to see what the
students would use them for. This resulted in the students learning things that interested them.
Sugata then took this experiment into the classroom. He allowed the students to work in groups
of four with a single computer. He also allowed the groups to share ideas and members with
other groups. The groups had to answer six questions. It took the students between twenty to
forty minutes to answer the questions. The students were able to answer the questions by any
means on the internet. The teacher of the class asked Sugata if what was going on was really
deep learning because the students were just looking up the answers. After a few months Sugata
came back and gave the students a test and did not allow them to use computers. The average
score with the computers and groups was 76%. After two months the score was 76%. There was
photographic recall inside of the children since they were discussing with each other. (Sugata)
Sugata Mitarss experiment shows us how we can use technology and students working
in groups to accomplish a deeper understand of a subject. When students have this deeper
understanding they will remember what they learned. I believe that many people think
technology in the classroom is used to replace teaching. When it is used correctly is should
actually help enhance the learning of the students.
If we do not teach students how to use technology how will they be ready for life in the
twenty-first century? Computer literacy is needed for a person to be successful nowadays. Let us
take a look at how the Clark County School District hires new employees. You have to create an
online account, fill out an online application, and then set a date for an interview. After the
interview they will email you to let you know if you got the job. Attached in this email are
documents that you need to fill out. The trend of online applications is only growing. Using a
web browser is one of the many skills that is needed to be successful. Can we say that we are
doing a good job teaching our students if when they leave our doors they do not have the basic
skills to apply for a job to work for us?
One thing that all teachers should admit more often is that they do not know everything.
How is it even possible with how fast new information is coming on a variety of subjects? Not
allowing teachers to use technology in their rooms, is not allowing the wealth of information in
the world into the classroom.
Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter. Included in this document is a
sample lesson on how we can incorporate technology in a lesson.
Respectfully,
Mr. Kyle J. Murrell, Educator

Mitra, Sugata. "Sugata Mitra's New Experiments in Self-Teaching."

YouTube. YouTube, 07 Sept. 2010. Web. 28 June 2015.

The International Society for Technology in Education or ISTE has a set of standards for
teachers and students. These standards apply when technology is used in a lesson. ISTE teacher
standards are 1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity, 2. Design and develop
digital age learning experiences and assessments, 3. Model digital age work and learning, 4.
Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility, 5. Engage in professional growth and
leadership. The ISTE students standards are 1. Creativity and innovation. 2. Communication and
collaboration, 3. Research and information fluency, 4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and
decision making, 5. Digital citizenship, 6. Technology operation and concepts. The ITSE
standards are the national standards, although some states choose not to use them. They do not
specify a specific grade or age.
The Nevada technology standards for students are the same as the ITSE standards.
Nevada adopted these standards in 2009. As with the ISTE standards they do not have an age or
grade attached to them. They say that they are simply standards and not content standards. They
also believe that we should integrate technology, not teach it. With the standards not being
specific it allows for the future change of the technology world.
However, Nevada does provide performance indicators. They break each of the six
standards up into 4 different sections based on grade-level. The sections are second, fifth, eight
and twelfth. As the grades get higher the performance indicators get more difficult to achieve.
With that being said, they do build on the previous indicator. Lets take a look at student standard
1. Creativity and innovation. In second grade they expect a student to be able to brain storm and
organize new ideas using digital tools. In eighth grade students are expected to apply existing
knowledge to independently generate new ideas, products, or processes with digital tools. Over
six years a student goes from entering new ideas into a computer to using a computer to generate
new ideas or products. From eighth grade to twelfth grade the standard changes once again. Now
students are expected to apply new and existing knowledge independently, or in collaboration
with others, generate new ideas, products, or processes with digital tools. Now the students have
to take the previous step and work in a group to share ideas to reach an end point.
Clark County technology standards are for grades third, fifth, eighth and twelfth. They
are also content standards. These performance indicators are broken down into four areas:
exceeds standards, meets standards, approaches standards and below standard. For example, a
third grader is below standards in the productivity standard if he or she is unable to locate keys
on a key board or unable to save a file on a storage media. Personally, I think content standards
are also important. If a student is unable to type or save a file how is he or she going to be able to
use technology to its fullest capabilities? This also gives you a guide line to what types of
projects you can do with your students based on what they should be able to do.
My lesson will meet the following technology standards for students. 1. Facilitate and
inspire student learning and creativity, 2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences
and assessments, and 3. Model digital age work and learning. It will also meet the following
teacher standards 1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity, 2. Design and develop
digital age learning experiences and assessments, and 3. Model digital age work and learning.

LESSON PLAN FORMAT FOR SECTION 4

Name of lesson: Fifth Grade Building Project
Grade Level Appropriateness: Third to sixth grade
Technology Content Standards Addressed:
NETS-S
1. Creativity and innovation
2. Communication and collaboration
4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
6. Technology operation and concepts
NETS-T
1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments
3. Model digital age work and learning
Other Content Standards Addressed:
Science
SEP-2 5th grade science developing and using models
SEP-3 5th grade planning and carrying out investigations
CCC-6 Structure and function
SEP-8 Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
English Language Arts Standards Addressed:
W.5.6 Use technology to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with
others, and demonstrate sufficient command of key boarding.
Objective:
The student will understand how to collaborate in a group setting to complete a building project.
The student will understand how to use a digital camera to document parts of the group project.
The student will understand how to upload photos to a computer and transfer files to a
PowerPoint.
The student will understand how to publish his or her work via a PowerPoint presentation.
The student will understand how to present a PowerPoint presentation in a group setting.

 Materials needed to facilitate the lesson:

Teacher computer that is hooked up to a projector

Physical and digital examples of student work.
Microsoft Power point on each computer
Flash drive for students to put their projects on
Camera with cable needed to upload pictures to a computer (one needed for each group)
Laptop computer with internet (one needed for each group)
Project kit with construction materials (one needed for each group)
Rubric for assessment
o Poster board
o 6 Straws
o 6 popsicle sticks
o Shoe box
o Hanger
o Yarn
o Scissors
o Ruler
o Roll of duct tape
o Garbage bag
o Cardboard box
o Paper bag

Suggested group size: Groups of four

Procedures:
For the past few months, I have been working with my students on how to work in groups, how
to use power point and how to take pictures with a digital camera and upload them. We have also
worked on these skills, weekly, in the computer lab. I feel that they are ready to begin a group
project to put all of these skills together.
Day 1
Active prior students prior knowledge and set the stage for learning. Using the teacher computer
that is hooked up to the projector. Review with students how to take pictures with a digital
camera. Remind them that the camera should be on before they try to take the picture. To upload
the pictures they need to connect the camera to the computer and drag their photo files to a file of
their choice. To insert the photo into PowerPoint: click on the insert tab on the top of the page.
Click insert picture and find the files that you previously uploaded. Also, show the students how
to add a new slide into a PowerPoint. Teacher will model this process with three to five pictures.
Check for student understanding and answer any questions that students might have.

Day 2
Introduce building project
Show students one of the project kits and all of the materials inside. After this, I will I let them
know that they are working in groups to build a structure of their choice. Then, explain my beach
shade structure and show them the physical example that I made a few days earlier. Next, I will
show them the PowerPoint I created, as an example, to show them the steps on how I made my
structure. I will also explain to the students that they need to document their work via photos.
Next, I will show them the rubric on how they will be graded and what I expect from them.
Then, I will let the students know which group they are in (groups were selected based on
students strengths and weaknesses). Finally, I will give the students fifteen minutes to meet with
their group and discus the project and brainstorm ideas.
Days 3 and 4 Group Building Projects
At the start of each day, I will let the students know that they will need to be done by then end of
day 4, so they can present on day 5. Students will work in groups to construct a project using the
materials kit. Students will take photos with a digital camera and upload them to the computer to
make a PowerPoint presentation. Students will prepare for their PowerPoint presentation.
Teacher will circulate the room answering question and making sure students are on task.
Day 5 Group Presentations
At the start of the lesson I will give the students 5 minutes to get into their groups, to gather their
thoughts. Next, each group will get a chance to present the structure they made using PowerPoint
and show their physical project. After every group has presented, we will have a class discussion
on how the project went as a whole and students will generate ideas for a future tech project.

 Assessment: Students will be graded by a project rubric out of a possible score of 100
Fifth grade building project grading rubric

Student name_____________

Collaboration ___/10
Creativity ___/10
Use of digital pictures ___/10
Use of a PowerPoint presentation ___/10
Quality of PowerPoint ___/10
Oral presentation ___/10
Time management ___/10
Use of project materials ___/10
Building project ___/20
Points ____/100

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