Kelsey, Petah

EDUG 510
PRQ #5
March 5, 2015
Lets hear it for technology!

I remember sitting in my fourth grade classroom watching the minutes slowly tick
by as my teacher, Mr. Osing, was discussing what led to the Boston Massacre. This
should have been an important topic to be learning, but instead I was wondering when
recess started. I was not engaged at all; Mr. Osing was lecturing from the book, and all I
could hear was, blah, blah, blah. I needed to be involved; I needed to be interactive
within the topic. Technology has greatly improved the way in which teachers teach. There
are so many ways one can capture the learners attention, and I want to be a teacher who
motivates the students to learn through technology. Through technology I can effectively
support my curriculum development and teaching by: using applications to enhance
involvement with the students; SMART Boards to enrich a lesson; and videos to bring
lessons to life.
Chirp, QR codes, Haiku Deck and Tellagami are a few applications that I hope to
include in my repertoire. By involving the different applications and the students in the
learning process, the students learn the material better with deeper understanding. Haiku
Deck is presentation software, similar to Power Point, which enables the students to be
creative, concise and have fun while learning and teaching others. TPE 4.12 states,
Candidates encourage student creativity and imagination, and through this application
is one way in which the students will be able to do so. The ability to have each student

connect with me on a different level other than pen and paper will be insightful. Another
way in order to have active learners in the classroom besides applications is through a
Smart board.
Unveiling an answer, sorting words into different categories, and interacting with
slides are a few ways that a Smart board is a key tool in the classroom. It is almost like
having another teacher team teach with you. For instance, you can allow the students to
come up to the board and manipulate a group of words into noun and verb categories.
They can interact with the lesson in a new and exciting way, thus fulfilling Gardners
(1991) multiple intelligence theory for the bodily kinesthetic. Gardners theory includes
the seven different intelligences: visual-spatial, bodily kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal,
intrapersonal, linguistic, and logical-mathematical (p. 2). Tapping into multiple senses
adds to the overall learning experience for the student. Through indirect instructional
approaches, the students become the center of the lesson and direct their own learning.
Burden and Byrd (2013) adds, instructional strategies are used that actively involve
students through cooperative and interactive approaches such as projects, cooperative
learning, problem-based learning, and inquiry approaches (p.124). By being
knowledgeable about the technology out in the world, I will be able to present lessons in
a new, fresh way and make learning more streamlined by using a Smart board. Smart
boards can have links embedded into the slideshows that will allow teachers to view
videos on the topic just taught.
Clicking the hyperlink through the SMART Board can launch my students and I
into a new world; you can see the pages of the books come to life through an educational
video. I can add captions in Spanish so that my English Language Learners can have

Universal Access (2011) to the context and this ensures that all students have access to
high-quality instruction for diverse students in which differences are respected and
supported in safe environments (p. 3). Even though the subject matter I may be teaching
may be tedious, by showing a video of the topic recently taught, it guarantees the students
a deeper understanding of that topic. Instead of an abstract idea, it becomes a reality
through the video. I will do anything in my power to make the connections needed for
learning.
Whichever technology I am using, be it, applications, a SMART Board or
showing videos, I know by using technology not only will I be more effective in
supporting my curriculum I will also be improving my teaching strategies through doing
so. To describe this further Piaget (1964) writes, To know an object is to act on it (p.
S8). If my students are cognitive about the knowledge they will be able to act upon the
structure (schema) by making connections and through technology this will be achieved.
I want to know that my students will be active learners in their education instead of
hearing me drone on about a topic that they cannot relate to.

References
Burden, P.R., & Byrd, D.M. (2013). Methods for effective teaching (6th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2013). California teaching performance

expectations. Retrieved from http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/TPA-files/TPEsFull-Version.pdf

Gardner, H. (1991). Intelligence in seven steps. Retrieved from

http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/future/creating_the_future/crfut_gardner.cf
m
Piaget, J. (2003). Development and Learning. Journal of research in science teaching, 40,
S8-S18.

Universal Access