Alena George ELED 104A

Professor Davola Assignment 2

Having the ability to successfully and productively integrate technology in the school

curriculum is important to me as a future educator. As we continue to progress into a society that

is becoming more and more technologically advanced, it’s evident that taking advantage of these

unique tools will benefit me and most importantly, my future students.

There are a couple of personal technology goals I have in taking this course. Firstly, I

would like to become more familiarized with digital tools and how to use them in the classroom.

The most technology in the classroom I’ve experienced as an elementary school student was

using an overhead projector, a smartboard, and the basic computer. Elementary school students

today have access to iPads, tablets, mobile apps, software applications, etc. that were not utilized

educationally when I was an elementary student. So, I would like to know more about them and

how I can effectively teach my students through the use of accessible technology. Second, I want

to know if using technology in the classroom is as effective as people claim it is. There’s a lot of

debate as to whether it’s more helpful or harmful to integrate technology in the classroom, and I

would like to see firsthand if it does more harm than good, or vice versa. In my opinion, I don’t

like the idea of letting young children use more technology than they need to because I think

then they’ll grow up becoming dependent on it. But, I know that it’d be wiser to embrace it

rather than shy away from it as technology is something that is only becoming more prevalent in

society. Also, it’s worth noting the fact that technological advances have allowed for a wider

range of methods to teach students who don’t respond to one strict way of learning. Increased

means of visual, auditory, and tactile teaching methods through digital tools allow students to

engage in ways that did not previously exist.

 One of the ISTE Standards for Teachers reads as follows: “4c. Use collaborative tools to

expand students' authentic, real-world learning experiences by engaging virtually with experts,

teams and students, locally and globally.” I would implement this standard in my classroom by

assigning a project for my students in which they must work together as a class to create an

innovative solution to a real-world problem such as global warming, conserving energy or water,

etc. and as a team, must engage in digital communication to design the solution using

collaborative tools, collect data, and work together to fund the project using social media outlets

and community efforts. This would allow for the students to be part of a real-world learning

experience and increase their skills in using collaborative tools. They would also learn about the

effectiveness of these collaborative tools, increase their interpersonal skills, and gain knowledge

about helping the environment in their (hopefully) successful solution to the real-world problem.

It would be important for my students to know about the ISTE Standards for Students

because they would allow my students to set personal goals for themselves in their use of

technology. The standards encourage students to be empowered learners but also to exhibit safe

and positive behavior in the digital world. They provide valuable information for my students to

keep in mind such as that their actions in the digital world remain permanent, that they must

abide by the rules of using other people’s content to avoid plagiarism, and that they must safely

manage their personal data and be conscientious about sharing things online. These are all

important practices that the students will need for the rest of their lives. The standards also

promote the idea of using digital tools to engage in meaningful learning experiences as well as to

use collaborative technologies to contribute work constructively. If my students are aware of

these standards I believe that it will allow them to become safer and smarter digital learners.
 The SAMR Model can be used for technology in the classroom in that educators can use

the model to make their lessons or assignments more functional and effective. Using technology

as a direct tool substitute enhances learning, however, it doesn’t transform student learning in the

way that modification and redefinition can. A hypothetical lesson that can be used to

demonstrate the effectiveness of the SAMR model could be to have the students write an

autobiography. Technology can be used as a Substitution by having the students type their

autobiographies in a Word document, substituting the handwritten autobiography for the typed

one. However, this lesson can be improved through Augmentation, Modification, and

Redefinition. Augmentation can be implemented through the use of the features in the Word

document, such as inserting photos, Spellcheck, and formatting tools to improve their writing

and allow their autobiography to take the shape of a real published biography. Through

Modification, students can have their typed autobiographies published on a class-only website

that allows them to view their peers’ autobiographies and comment on them, allowing for

significant task redesign and introduction of student collaboration. In Redefinition, the students

can transform their autobiographies into video interviews. They can then edit the videos and

publish them online to a global audience where they can receive global feedback as well. In this

way, technology is redefining the original task of handwritten autobiographies that may have

been previously inconceivable.