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Ayana Wilcox

December 3, 2018

Brother/Dr. Marshall

Brigham Young University Idaho

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Table of Contents

Cover page……………………………………………………………………………………………….1

Title Page………………………………………………………………………………………………....3

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………...4

About Me………………………………………………………………………………………………….5

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………...6

Technology Article……………………………………………………………………………………….7

References……………………………………………………………………………………………...10

Advertisement…………………………………………………………………………………………..11

Interviews………………………………………………………………………………………………..12

Backpage………………………………………………………………………………………………..15
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About Me
Hello readers! My name is Ayana Taylor. I got married to the love of my life last year and

absolutely loving every single second of it. We both love to travel, go on cruises, try new foods, and

watch sports together! We love the little life we live! He constantly makes me want to be a better person,

and I love him for that.

I am the oldest of 3. My mother is Japanese, so my brothers and I are both half-Japanese! I think

of my two younger brothers as my own babies, I basically grew up being their second mom. They

currently reside in Stanwood, Washington, which is where I was born and raised my whole life till I left

for college in 2016.

I was heavily involved in the music program in high school. I used to compete as a soprano in

vocal performance, and won many competitions in addition to going to state! I also had the pleasure of

participating in many musicals at my high school, and had the honor of playing some very fun roles. My

favorite role I played was Gabriella Montez from the Disney production “High School Musical”, what a

memory!

I played softball, volunteered at our local elementary school and library, and was able to serve my

community by sharing my musical abilities. One of the many things I love to do is play piano. I have been

playing piano since I was 3 years old. I got asked to teach piano to a family friend in the 8th grade and

that is what made me realize...I LOVE to teach! I started teaching piano, vocal, and Japanese lessons soon

after that. I had around 15 students by my sophomore year in high school and enjoyed every minute of it.

Now I am attending BYU Idaho and pursuing an Elementary Education Major. I just know that being a

teacher is my calling in life! (322 words)

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Abstract
The purpose of this article is to get readers to think about their own education and the pro’s and

con’s of technology in education, and the pro’s and con’s of a more traditional educational system. Many

adults now do not understand how education has evolved this past decade. We can remember learning

language arts, math, and science mostly from a textbook. Every morning when we walked into class, our

teachers instructions for the day would be written on the chalk or whiteboard. They took attendance by

hand, and students were assigned to pick the attendance sheet up at the office, then drop it back off. In

today’s classrooms, they each have a technological devices such as projectors, computers, ipads, tablets,

smart boards, and lots more that replace the traditional way classrooms used to be run. Teachers today

simply take attendance on their computers and send them in that way! Many of the curriculums are now

online based so that teachers can access them and teach the students using those resources provided from

technology.

Many teachers have different opinions on what the pros and cons are of technology being such a

big part of education in this generation. The pros are that it is extremely resourceful! Students can easily

learn through a video, and it is extremely helpful for the teachers to use them. Having advanced devices

allows students to do research in the classroom, type papers, and makes it easier for all students to

participate in lessons and activities. The cons include the cost of the devices used in the classroom. Some

schools cannot afford the high prices of specific devices, which puts the students at a great disadvantage.

Technology can also be very distracting to students! Instead of writing their essay, or doing their research,

they could be on social media, or playing games. This article will talk a little bit more of these pro’s and

con’s listed, and give us a true idea on different perspectives and thoughts of technology in education.

(334 words)

 
 
Technology VS Tradition
As a child who was born in the
1990’s, I grew up going to elementary
school just like any other student from any
generation. When I walked into the
classroom, our teachers had printed out
newsletters for us to take home for our
parents that we filed into folders. My teacher
wrote on both chalkboards and whiteboards.
When they would used colored markers or
colored chalk, we would be absolutely
ecstatic. It was such a treat! At every
teacher's desk was a huge ginormous
computer that they barely ever used. When
we took attendance, it was on paper that we
would pick up from the office and take it
back after out teacher had filled it out.
During my 5th grade year, my
teacher got what we called a “projector”. It
would display on the board what the teacher
was writing, and even connect to computers!
It was like Christmas Day when we received
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that technological device! It took my teacher
a while to get the hang of it and get used to
using it instead of the white board, but once
she did, boy was it helpful! During my 7th
grade year, our school got a set of our very
own mini HP computers. Our very own! The
teachers would have to take turns sharing it
with all the classes in the school, but
whenever we got it, it was a special day. We
could do our research on it and even type
papers! During my childhood education
years, technology was on the verge of taking
over education.
I grew up in a poor area, where we
didn’t have any funds to afford the
expensive technology devices. But when we
did receive any kind of device? It changed
the way we did things in the classroom. My
baby brother who is now a 6th grader has
grown up with always using technology
during his time in school. He does not learn
the “traditional” way like I did. His teachers
take attendance on the computer. His
teachers have smart boards they use, and
barely use their whiteboards and
chalkboards. When his teachers play music,
they play it from speakers that are connected
to their computers! My teachers had CDs
and tape players in order to let us listen to
music.
Sometimes I miss seeing the
traditional ways school were run, but am
absolutely blown away by how different and
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effective technology has been for the not seem like a lot, it can add up in the end
education systems. (“Expenditures,” 2016.). Although the
amount of money spent on technology varies
from state to state, (even district to district)
we can see that technology does not come
freely. It can come with a very steep price,
to the point where some schools can’t even
afford it! Does that make those students who
don’t have access to those things less
accomplished? Less creative? Less smart?
Do those who go to wealthy schools that can
Technology=Money afford those advanced technology devices
have an advantage in education? Just some
Growing up in a generation where questions to think about.
technology was not greatly used during my
education, I wonder how much schools
spend on technology now that it is mostly
required in most curriculums, softwares, and
online programs. An article I read states, “In
2013 schools purchased more than 23
million devices for classroom use”
(“Libraries on the Go: The Relevance of
Bookmobiles in the Modern World,” 2018.).
Trying to wrap my head around that fact that
Is Technology beneficial to education?
there are even 23 million devices just for
classrooms just blows my mind! How in the
This is a question I often think about.
world do schools have the budget for that, or
I never got to experience having technology
even afford it?​ ​Some states can spend more
as a vital part of my education during my
money on students than other states because
childhood years. Now that I am in college, I
of their economy, minimum wage, and many
see how vital it is in my college education! I
other reasons. . The average amount spent
communicate with all my teachers through
on each student in the United States is
technology, I view all the assignment due,
$11,009. In the state of Idaho schools are
schedules, conversations with peers,
only able to spend $7,157 per student. In the
assignments, and so much more. But is it
state of New York schools spend around
beneficial for younger students? Specifically
$22,366 per student (Maciag, 2016.)! People
those in elementary schools?
say that depending on the school, 11% of the
spending money is for supplies, which can
Janelle Cox wrote an article called
include technology. Even though that does
“Benefits of Technology in the Classroom”

and in it she says, “75 percent of educators
think that technology has a positive impact
in the education process” (Cox, n.d.). The 75
percent of people who thought it was
positive stated around the same things as to
why they thought that technology is
beneficial in the classroom. They say that
technology makes subjects more interesting
and fun for the students. There are so many
different games, apps, and softwares that
have been created to make the classroom
environment a lot more entertaining for
students. The elementary school students
right now have grown up in a world evolved
around technology. It makes it easier for
them to connect to learning this way.
Teachers also said that through trial and
error, they have come to the conclusion that
technology actually helps students
remember information better. There was a
study where classroom of 2nd graders were
given an assignment to make a powerpoint
project about an animal of their choice. 16
out of 18 students remembered more facts
about the animal after they completed their
presentation. Through this study it showed
us that technology can definitely be
beneficial for students and their education
(Cox, n.d.).
Another beneficial thing that was
stated was that technology allows student to
learn at their own pace in some aspects. For
example, there are new math programs
available for students. This allows some
time for the teachers to explain the math and
work together on it as a class, then allow
time for the students to get on their
computers and using their own codes, log
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into an app, software, or site that has games
and or lessons that keeps track of their
progress. As the students do this with
technology, it keeps track of what levels of
stages they are in, in the lesson. If they make
a mistake, it repeats that level in order to
make sure that the student understands it
before moving on. The teacher can also
access everyone's records to see which
student are struggling, those who are right
where they should be, and those who are
ahead.
Some ways that technology may not
be beneficial is that it can offer an easy
distraction for the students during their
learning. Students often goof off in class and
do not use their ipads, computers or tablets
in the way they are supposed to. Devices can
also break, stop working, or students can use
them to do other things besides the
assignment. It can be stressful for teachers to
plan a lesson, while relying on their
technological device, and have that device
break down on them. It costs money to
replace, to fix, and wastes classroom time
getting them repaired. But is it worth going
through all that trouble? I think only time
will tell.
As we can see from the beginning,
education has really evolved, and has
changed from the traditional ways of doing
things. Although I feel that the traditional
ways of education was extremely effective,
we can see that technology definitely makes
a positive impact on education now! (​1306
words)
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References
Maciag, Mike. (2016). ​The States that Spend
EBCSO​post. (​ 2018). ​Libraries on the Go: the Most (and the Least) on
The Relevance of Bookmobiles in the Education. ​Retrieved from
modern world. R ​ etrieved from http://www.governing.com/topics/ed
https://www.ebsco.com/blog/article/l ucation/gov-education-funding-states
ibraries-on-the-go-the-relevance-of-b .html
ookmobiles-in-the-modern-world
NCES. (2016). ​Expenditures.​ Retrieved
Hill, Jane. (n.d). ​Benefits of Technology in from
the Classroom. ​Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/dailyarc
http://www.teachhub.com/benefits-te hive.as
chnology-classroom
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Are you getting tired of your books constantly being ripped apart? Or your
students accidently leaving them at home, and losing them? Wouldn’t it be easier if you
had something that allowed each student access any book online without having to take
the actual physical copy of the book out of the classroom? Well, visit ReadNow.org to
see how you can make this possible!

10% of your total purchase will be donated to those children who do not have books.  

Make a difference in your classroom, and in the world, today.  


Shintaro Wilcox, Junior student,
Stanwood High School, Stanwood,
Washington
Q: What kind of technology is in your classroom?
“My teachers all have a computer, nothing nice. We have
an overhead projector we use sometimes, depends on which
class. Sometimes in our AP classes we get tiny computers
to use if we have projects or essays.”
Q: In what ways is the technology helpful?
“Its nice that we can type up stuff and use computers in the
classroom. We don’t get it a lot though because there's so
many kids in the school, but when we do it’s fun and
helpful with research.”
Q: In what ways is the technology unhelpful?
“I am not sure. I mean, I guess if you are including phones
as technology, the teachers let us use that sometimes. I
think that's helpful, but then at the same time it’s not
because us kids just look at instagram or snapchat.”
Q: Is there a specific technological advice that you use
more than others in the classroom?
“Not really. We use mostly the whiteboard, we don’t have
anything fancy haha”.
Q: Does the technology help education?
“I think it can yeah. I think if we had more advanced
technology maybe it would help more.”
Q: Do you think through technology, education will ever
be replaced and taught by it solely?
“Maybe, I don’t know. That would be pretty sick.”
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Kounosuke Wilcox, 6th grade student,
Stanwood Middle school, Stanwood,
Washington
Q: What kind of technology is in your classroom?
“Uhhhhh well theres a computer and a projector… we have
a computer lab too but that’s not in the classroom.”
Q: In what ways is the technology helpful?
“We get to watch cool videos on the projector if we finish
everything in class. I think that’s helpful!”
Q: In what ways is the technology unhelpful?
“When we get computers in the classroom I always play
games when I am supposed to do something else...don’t tell
mom. That's probably unhelpful.”
Q: Is there a specific technological advice that you use
more than others in the classroom?
“Small computers I think.”
Q: Does the technology help education?
“I think so. I don’t know, I’m only a 6th grader!”
Q: Do you think through technology, education will
ever be replaced and taught by it solely?
“Nooooooo never.”
Lynell Murray, 6th grade teacher at
Mount Vernon Middle school in Mount
Vernon, Washington
Q: What kind of technology is in your classroom?
We are super lucky to have smart boards. I have also been
given a computer, which I can use to connect to the smart
boards. I try to use it a lot, but since I haven’t been teaching

that long, I am still getting used to using it effectively! It’s
such a cool tool.
Q: In what ways is the technology helpful?
“It is a super effective tool for the students, but especially
for me. I am able to use so many different tools and quickly
bring things up to help the lesson go a little sooner. Or if
something pops in my head, I can easily bring it up just by
using the smart board. It is extremely convenient.”
Q: In what ways is the technology unhelpful?
“I feel like because technology is so “in” right now as the
students say, that it really isn’t all that special. They tend to
get board easy, or are distracted by their own technology
devices. This is really unhelpful in my classroom
environment.”
Q: Is there a specific technological advice that you use
more than others in the classroom?
“I definitely use the smartboard more than anything else. It
works for anything and everything. It’s also the only
technological item we consistently have in the class. Our
school isn’t that well off, so these smart boards are
extremely special, and we can’t afford anything else.”
Q: Does the technology help education?
“I believe it does. I also think that it shapes education
differently and more effectively. I still like to stick to some
traditional education strategies, but technology really
makes a huge difference.”
Q: Do you think through technology, education will
ever be replaced and taught by it solely?
“I hope not! I love teaching! I don’t want to be replaced
haha! Although I do think that technology will become a
greater part of education, I do not believe that it will fully
100% replace it.”
Liz Pollock, 3rd grade teacher at
Cedarhome Elementary in Stanwood,
Washington
Q: What kind of technology is in your classroom?
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“We have a projector! Not the same one we used during
your 3rd grade year haha, but we have a new one! You
know our school doesn’t get much money, so that’s all we
have.”
Q: In what ways is the technology helpful?
“It's awesome! I can display things so easily and so
quickly, it's great. It has made teaching a ton easier.”
Q: In what ways is the technology unhelpful?
“Sometimes technology doesn’t always work! When it
doesn’t work during an important time and lesson, it gets
really stressful trying to fix it. If I can’t fix it, I have to wait
for someone to come, and it just becomes more of a hassle
and a burden I guess instead of a blessing.”
Q: Is there a specific technological advice that you use
more than others in the classroom?
“The projector I use all the times!”
Q: Does the technology help education?
“It definitely does! When I first started teaching, we didn’t
have any of this stuff. Although it took me a while to get
used to technology, it has made teaching so much easier.
Teaching is still difficult, challenging, and rewarding in its
own way, but computers and projectors sure help me get
the job done in a more efficient manner!”
Q: Do you think through technology, education will
ever be replaced and taught by it solely?
“I do not think that elementary education will be replaced,
but maybe for middle and high school? I don’t know! I
probably won’t be alive to see that happen!”
Jacki Taylor, Librarian at Hearst
Elementary in Pleasanton, California
Q: What kind of technology is in your classroom?
“Well I have my own projector, and I have little computers
and tablets the kids can use when they come to the library
to read books, or research books! These things usually stay
in my classroom, they don’t get passed around. I am so
lucky!”

Q: In what ways is the technology helpful?
“I think it is awesome because the kids I work with, their
future fully relies on technology! It is so important for them
to know how to use it! I try to rotate things once in a while
and have one day where the students can learn how to
research books online and find those books in the
classroom.”
Q: In what ways is the technology unhelpful?
“Super big distraction! I have to constantly monitor the
kids when they are using their computers or tablets in my
library t make sure they are not playing any games, or
doing other things.”
Q: Is there a specific technological advice that you use
more than others in the classroom?
“Being a librarian, I try to only really use books! I think it
is so important for kids to learn to love to read! But if I had
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to choose one, I would have to say the computers I have
here in the classroom.”
Q: Does the technology help education?
“I actually talked to my teacher friends the other day about
technology! There seems to be a lot of pros and cons with
technology in the classroom. It seems like more of my
friends lean towards loving it, and how much easier it
makes teaching, but some of my friends still like the old
fashioned way! Doing everything through paper and pen,
using white boards, sending out paper notes instead of
emails, things like that.”
Q: Do you think through technology, education will
ever be replaced and taught by it solely?
“No! Never! It can’t! Kids need actual human being
teachers!”
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Develop a passion for learning. If 

you do, you will never cease to 
grow.  
-Anthony J. D’Angelo