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Educational Technology

We currently live in an age where technology is widely disseminated, which means we

have access to a very powerful tool that we can utilize in the classroom. Students need to

become technology literate for their future careers which are likely to use more and more

technology. This ​website​, Read Across Alaska, that I created is a tool that was made to support

the Alaska Books for Alaska Kids website. Currently, it maps the approximate location for

books that are set in Alaska, as well as provide information about what Alaska Native groups are

represented in the stories. This resource can be used by anyone interested in seeing where books

in Alaska take place, those who are looking for books representing certain Alaska Native groups.

It is important when integrating technology into the classroom to think about what benefit

it will provide. As Mishra and Koehler (2006) argue,

“The basis of good teaching with technology...requires an understanding of the

representation of concepts using technologies; pedagogical techniques that use

technologies in constructive ways to teach content; knowledge of what makes concepts

difficult or easy to learn and how technology can help redress some of the problems that

students face; knowledge of students’ prior knowledge and theories of epistemology; and

knowledge of how technologies can be used to build on existing knowledge and to

develop new epistemologies or strengthen old ones.” (p. 1029)

Technology should not be added just as an addition, but should be integrated into the lesson in a

way that increases learning in one way or another. One of the things that technology does really

well is it allows people who are separated by great distances to come together. This provides

opportunities for students to have larger audiences to show their work. The website provides
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students a chance to share books from their state with others around the world. It also helps

provide information for those who want to read about Alaska and the people who live in it.

Technology also provides opportunities to support students with different learning styles

or different language abilities. As Frey (2015) states, “Part of the appeal of the software

programs is their reliance on visuals,” which can make learning easier for students. This website

is also a great way for students to visualize the places they have travelled through books. For

many students, books are the main way they get to see the world and experience new cultures.

Students can use this website to see the places they have experienced through reading about

them. Though this website focuses on Alaskan books, students could collaboratively make a

map for the books they read during a school year to see all the places their class has gone to

through reading.

Technology also provides opportunities for students to collaborate with each other.

Scalise argues that technology provide opportunities for “turn-taking, affirmative, constructive

critique, and etiquette,” all of which are skills students will need to “manage...in productive ways

in their later lives” (p. 56). Classrooms could create a website like Read Across Alaska and

work together to show the diversity of the books they are reading in class. Or they could make a

tool for their own state so others could learn more about the variety of stories that take place in

that state and also see the Native voices that are represented.

Technology is a powerful tool to utilize in the classroom. As Blair argues, ​“by allowing

students to be explorers and designers, educators show that they believe in their students’

abilities and validate each student’s contribution to class” (p. 10). Technology allows students to

explore new topics and share what they know, both with their class and with the larger
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community. Read Across Alaska is only one small sample of a way technology can be utilized

in the classroom.
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References

Blair, N. (2012, January/February). Technology integration for the new 21st century learner.

Principal​, 8-13. Retrieved from: ​https://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/Blair_JF12.pdf​.

Frey, S. (2015). Technology takes hold in the early grades. Retrieved from

https://edsource.org/2015/technology-takes-hold-in-the-early-grades/74465​.

Mishra, P. & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A

framework for teacher knowledge. ​Teacher College Record, 108(6), ​1017-1054.

Retrieved from ​http://one2oneheights.pbworks.com/f/MISHRA_PUNYA.pdf​.

Scalise, K. (2016). Student Collaboration and School Educational Technology: Technology

Integration Practices in the Classroom. ​Journal on School Educational Technology,

11(4),​ 53-63. Retrieved from ​https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1131875.pdf​.