The Importance of Technology and Education

College of Southern Nevada

October 9th, 2015
Winter Henrie

ABC Community School

The Importance of Technology and Education

Simon Rios said it best when he described the purpose of teaching standards,
For grades kindergarten through 12, the standards aim to prepare students for success
in college and career (Rios 2012). In todays world it is so important to use technology
to enhance learning experiences. Students, in todays world, have grown up with
technology. Computer, tablets, smart phones, electronic books, digital cameras, the list
goes on and on. Children are dialed into technology now more than ever. How can we
expect our students to, basically go back in time, and try learning in a way that they will
have no interest in? How can we prepare students for college and successful lives if we
are not using technology in the classroom?
I have been in both Special and General classrooms, and regardless of age or
intellectual abilities, students are always more interested in the lesson when the proper
type of technology is incorporated with it. A preferred activity, is exactly what it sounds
like, an activity or lesson that the majority of the students enjoy participating in. Thirty
years ago, this may have been watching a movie in class. In todays world, students
prefer interactive games, videos, power point presentations, painting or drawing
programs, and multiple choice tests on an electronic device. Students with Autism, who
generally have a hard time focusing and following directions, almost always pay
attention when they get to watch an interactive video. Singing songs is an extremely
important part of development in young children, especially those with special needs,
because it helps them remember important facts better. Technology enhances these
learning experiences by offering students a visual to go along with the song they are
learning.
Technology is all around us, and it is not going anywhere. Isnt it up to us as
educators to ensure that our students know how to properly incorporate technology into
their lives? Now, I do not mean that we need to teach children how to operate
technologies, most of them can use a computer better than adults. What I mean is
teaching them the importance of technology, and the ways that it can add value to your
life and your learning experiences. It is one thing to learn about evolution, but to be
involved in an interactive virtual program that allows you to experience how evolution
affects life, lends so much more than knowing the facts about Darwins theories.
Technologies in education have the ability to get students social and interactive in
ways that were not possible before. For example, I took a course in college where I was
asked to make a fake newspaper using article entries from other students in the class.
We all typed and up loaded our stories online, and then used a word processing
program to complete the newspaper. Without access to to a word processor, students
would not be able to collaborate with their classmates to make a creative piece of work
that challenges them socially and intellectually. The only alternative to using a word
processor is to make the newspaper by hand. Talk about a waste of money, time and
resources. In the long run, the use of technology in the classroom can save the school
district money. In spite of the costs on the horizon, there could also be savings. Conrad
said that with universal standards, district staff would spend less time customizing a
textbook that was written by Texas standards, for example. And with decreases in the
cost of technology compared with the costs of textbooks, technology could soon prove
to be more economical (Rios 2012).

References
SIMN ROS. (2012, Oct 17). Importance of classroom technology increasing.
The Union Leader Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.csn.edu/login?url=http://
search.proquest.com/docview/1112375582?accountid=27953

Technology Education Standards

Educational Standards are found within three different levels, school district,
state, and national. Both the state and school district standards, Nevada and CCSD in
this case, are based on the national standards. The national, or ISTE Standards, are
more broad and act as a guide for the state and school district levels. The ISTE
Standards are comprised of three different parts. Standard 1, Facilitate and inspire
students learning and creativity. Standard 2, Design and develop digital age learning
experiences and assessments. Standard 3, Model digital age work and learning. These
standards can be found at, http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-forteachers.
At the state level, The Nevada Computer an dTechnology Standards can be
found at, http://www.doe.nv.gov/Standards_Instructional_Support/
Nevada_Academic_Standards/ComputerTechnology/. These standards are not
curriculum base, but standards for which technology can be used within the classroom
across all subject matter. The standards found in this document will act as a guide for
the school districts. Just as the national standards act as a guide at the state level. In
Nevada there are six standards to help guide the school districts:
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 Operations and Concepts.
At the school district level, CCSD in this case, the technology standards are
actually curriculum based. Meaning, that the standards addressed for CCSD will
address the specific content that the students need to learn, and become proficient in,
with technology. The CCSD Standards can be found at, http://ccsd.net/resources/mathinstructional-tech/computer-performance.pdf. These standards are broken down by
grade level. Within each grade level, there are subsections that identify what the student
should be able to do, with technologies, to make them either exceed, meet, approach,
or below standards.
There is a trickle affect when it comes to educational standards of technology.
First the national level sets broad standards. Then, the state level provides a guide of
how to achieve these standards. Finally, the school district sets specific content
standards that need to be achieved at each grade level.
Technology can be incorporated into any subject. In the ISTE Standards for
teaching, Standard #2, Design and develop digital age learning experiences and
assessments, it outlines how technology should be used within all subjects to enhance
the educational experience.

 Name of lesson: (The name you give it)

Grade Level Appropriateness: Fifth Grade. This can be adapted for all grade
levels.

Technology Content Standard Addressed: ISTE Standard number 2, Design

and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments.

Other Content Standard Addressed: Science: Earths place in the universe.

ESS1B: Earth and the Solar system.

Objective: The students will demonstrate their proficiency using a word

processing tool to create a virtual model of the Solar System. Where they will
conduct research about each planet and create a hyperlink to the website they
used for their research.

Materials needed to facilitate the lesson: Word Processing program, internet

for research.

Suggested group size: Individual.

Procedures:

This is an opportunity for you to make a virtual solar system. Your Solar System
can either be made in a straight line or in a circle. The planets must be in order,
and a hyperlink to a website about each planet should be accessible when you
click on the planet.

Step one: Start by opening a word processing document like, Microsoft Word or
Apple Pages. You can change the landscape horizontally, if you feel like that
gives you a better space to work with. Think about how you would like your
Solar System to look. You can order the planets in a straight line. Or, you can
make it look like they are in orbit around the sun.

Step two: Once you have an Idea of how you would like it to look, start
gathering your planets together. You can use google image. Try to stay as
uniform as possible. Meaning, if you want use real life pictures for one planet,
use real life pictures for all the planets. If you use an illustration for one planet,
use illustrations for all the planets.

Step Three: Now that you've found all of the images that you wan to use, copy
and paste them into your document. Move them around so that they are in the
proper order (How they would be in the actual Solar System). Your Solar System
should include the Sun. Make sure to label your planets, use the insert text
option so that you can move the text around however you like. You can label on
top, below, or directly on the planet. Side note: We know that all of the planets
range in size, for the purpose of this project it is not important to make sure that
your measurements are perfect, however we know the Earth is smaller than
jupiter, so adjust your picture size to show that you know which planets are
smaller or bigger than others. (remember this does not need to be anatomically
correct, just apparent enough to get the idea).

Step Four: Now that you have your Solar System completely set up, you are
going to add a hyperlink to your planets that will take the user to a website or

article that will tell us more about the planet. Do some research and find credible
websites. Wikipedia is not an acceptable source. You can use the same website
for all your planets, but the hyperlink you add should automatically take me to
the page regarding that individual planet. I do not want to have to navigate the
website to find information about whatever planet Im clicking on. I should be
directed straight to the article.

!!!!How to set up a hyperlink!!!!! First, copy the URL for the website that you are
using. Go back to your document and highlight (by clicking and dragging your
mouse) the text or picture that you want to add the websites link to. Then right
click the highlighted section and click on the add link option. This will open up
a tiny box that will allow you to paste the URL. When you are done, the text or
picture you used to create the link should be underlined, highlighted, or both.
Click on your link to make sure it is working properly.
Step five: Make sure to add your first and last name and the date to your
document. Anywhere on the document is fine, you will probably want to add it to
a corner of the page so that it doesn't look like it is part of the Solar System.
Once you are done save your document. Usually you would export your
document to a pdf file. DO NOT export your document to a pdf this time,
otherwise your links will not work.

Assessment: This assignment is worth a total of 10 points. A maximum score

of 10 will be given to students who can properly complete steps one through
five. Your planets should be in the proper order, including the Sun. Your
document should have links attached to each planet that properly navigate to an
article or website that gives some information about that planet. Your planets
should be labeled properly, and your first and last name should be on your
document as well. Also, dont forget to adjust your picture size so that you can
see the various sizes of the planets (remember this does not need to be
anatomically correct, just apparent enough to get the idea).