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Integration of Technology and Media Resources

Scarlett Palmieri

Regent University
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Introduction

In an “Instructional Theory and Technology for the New Paradigm of Education”,

Indiana University Professor Charles M. Reigeluth explains how our current model of education

came to be. Because of its development during the height of America’s industrial age, this model

regards students more like as parts of an assembly line than the independent, autonomous

thinkers and creators they truly are. It is evident in today’s information age that this traditional,

“factory-like” model of teaching and learning in the classroom is long outdated and archaic. Not

only is this model incongruous with the evolving demands of this 21st century, it is totally amiss

in its doctrine. A decade ago, failing to incorporate technology into the classroom for

instructional purposes may have been regarded as simply a matter of personal preference;

however, today, there is no doubt that failing to do so would be considered doing a severe

disservice to not only the students in your immediate classroom, but society at large. Whether or

not educators agree with the prominence of technology today, it is their responsibility to set

students up for success, like they would in any other aspect of life, by providing them with the

tools and expertise to approach and utilize technology to the best of their ability in their personal

lives and future professional lives.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

To demonstrate my commitment to the integration of technology and media resources in

the classroom, I have chosen a lesson plan that falls in alignment with both the Virginia State

Standards of Learning and the Virginia Beach Objectives, a Google slides presentation with Pear

Deck add-on, as well as three examples of student work generated from the interactive

technology resource utilized in this lesson.

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This lesson addresses the instruction of nonfiction, fiction and poetic texts and serves as

my first artifact for this competency. Throughout the planning, preparation and instruction of this

lesson I was sure to make multiple uses of technology that spurred student interest. The lesson,

which describes the elements of the traditional Japanese Haiku poem, features Pear Deck for

google slides. These are google slides that students can interact with on their personal

chromebook screen to make the lesson more engaging. A pdf document of this presentation

constitutes my second artifact for this competency. Furthermore, this lesson also made use of a

Haiku poem interactive, in which students were able to brainstorm words and phrases, compose a

poem and customize its design using the educational website ReadWriteThink.org. At the

conclusion of this lesson students were also provided with the opportunity to uploads their poems

to their Google portfolio websites. These completed student Haiku poems serve as the third and

final artifact for this competency. Together these artifacts illustrate the high-quality use of

various technology and media resources in the classroom, as each one promotes the active

engagement of students and works to make their learning personal.

Reflection for Theory and Practice

Technology in education today has the power to transform the learning process into

something extremely relevant and meaningful to each and every student. By allowing students to

partner with their teachers in the learning process, technology encourages students to explore

new ideas, make connections to what they already know, form bridges between old and new

knowledge, and create exciting ways to share that knowledge with others. Because of the very

nature of technology, participative learning becomes easier to initiate and differentiate

(Hamilton, 2015), and as a result, students are able to seek knowledge for themselves, altering

the traditional paradigm of the teacher providing wisdom and the student absorbing knowledge
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(Btiner & Bitner, 2002, p. 97) In this way, the role of the students shifts from that of a passive

receiver of information to that of an active pursuer of knowledge. In the process of actively

pursuing knowledge, students are able to internalize the understandings they have acquired more

fully (Hamilton, 2015).

To meet the needs of the information age, students will need to develop their real-life

skills, such as collaboration, communication, problem-solving and higher-order thinking (An &

Reigeluth, 2011). Although technology tools may initially take longer to incorporate into the

curriculum, they have proven to have more significant impact on students by fostering greater

recall, deeper understanding, and increased motivation (Hamilton, 2015, p.40).

In Creating Technology-Enhanced, Learner-Centered Classrooms, authors Yun-Jo An

and Charles Reigeluth state, “Our information society needs people who can effectively manage

and use ever-increasing amounts of information to solve complex problems and to make

decisions in the face of uncertainty.” (An & Reigeluth, 2011, p. 54) Reflecting this same idea in

Integrating Technology into the Classroom: Eight Keys to Success, Bitner and Bitner share this

statement with readers: “The knowledge needed for tomorrow’s jobs will change before many of

today’s students enter the job market. Students today must learn to search and discover

knowledge, actively communicate with others, and solve problems so that they can become

productive life-long members of our society.” (Bitner & Bitner, 2002, p. 97).

It is critical for any educator to understand that technology’s transformative power is only

useful when harnessed correctly. Technology should not drive technology; instead learning

should drive technology. Similar to how a teacher might utilize backwards design to prepare,

plan, implement and assess a lesson, a teacher should take into account learning goals and

objectives before considering how or when to use technology in the classroom. Incorporating
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technology for the sake of incorporating technology will not bring about the achievement

educators wish to see. Instead, educators must understand that it is not technology itself that

brings about change, but the specific ways in which technology is used and implemented by

people like themselves and the surrounding school community. Polly and Hannafin (2010)

proposed a Learner-Centered Professional Development (LCPD) framework for the

incorporation of technology into the classroom. Their model includes six major features: (a)

focused on student learning, (b) teacher-owned, (c) intended to develop knowledge of content

and pedagogies, (d) collaborative, (e) ongoing, and (f) reflective (Polly & Hannafin, 2011), and

ensures technology as a tool for bringing about the kind of positive change educators wish to see,

rather than a means to an end.

Teachers should be prepared to face obstacles when incorporating technology into the

classroom. These obstacles may come in the form of “first-order barriers”, or obstacles that are

external to teachers, such as lack of resources, institution, subject culture, and assessment, as

well as “second-order barriers”, or obstacles that are intrinsic to teachers, such as obstacles as

attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and skills (An & Reigeluth, 2011, p. 56). Even with technology, a

teacher remains the single greatest variable of a classroom. What he or she does directly affects

everything, even the reach of this powerful tool.

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References

An, Yun-Jo & Reigeluth, Charles. (2011-12). Creating Technology-Enhanced, Learner-Centered

Classrooms: K–12 Teachers’ Beliefs, Perceptions, Barriers, and Support Needs. Journal

of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 28(2).

Bitner, Noel & Bitner, Joe. (2002) Integrating technology into the classroom: Eight keys to

success. Jl. of Technology and Teacher Education, 10(1), 95-100

Hamilton, Boni. (2015). Integrating technology in the classroom. International Society for

Technology in Education, Chapter 3: Paths to Technology Integration, 39-60.

Polly, D., & Hannafin, M. J. (2011). Examining how learner-centered professional development

influences teachers’ espoused and enacted practices. Journal of Educational Research,

104(2), 120–130.