Monica Findley

ESOL Teacher, Prince William County School

March 2, 2015
INTRODUCTION
My coursework at Boise State University has been intense and rewarding. Over the past two and
one half years, I have put forth many hours, sweat and tears into a large majority of my projects.
This Rationale Paper showcases many of my Educational Technology course artifacts, for which
I have created, during my enrollment at Boise State University. For each Association of
Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Standard, there is an artifact(s) that is
briefly described and categorized within a specific AECT Standard Indicator.

INDICATOR: CREATING
EdTech 541 - Internet Based Lesson Plan on Plants This is an introductory lesson on plant parts
and their primary functions for the plants survival. This lesson incorporates 2.0 web tools &
Internet websites.
EdTech 533 Interactive Video I created this interactive video to be used as an anticipatory set,
for the purpose of activating the students prior knowledge of community helpers.
EdTech 541 Classifying Animals through Language Arts This lesson was created to help
students demonstrate their understanding of physical and behavioral characteristics for various
animals.

EdTech 502 Weather Jigsaw I designed this activity, for my 2nd grade students, in order to
facilitate the learning about the various types of severe weather.
EdTech 532 Rhyme Time Game Idea This video game idea was designed for kindergarten &
first grade students, in order to help with the successful acquisition of identifying rhyming
words.
Content Knowledge: Candidates demonstrate the ability to create instructional materials and
learning environments using a variety of systems approaches.
In the Internet based lesson on plants, the students are divided into pairs and use an iPad to scan
QR codes around the room. Each student works with their partner to gather and record
information on plant parts and their functions. They also utilize the Bubble.Us website to
organize their information and create a think map. Finally, the students can create a plant
magazine on the Themeefy.com website. The online enhancements of Bubble.Us and
Themeefy.com created an excitement for learning and a motivation to learn about plants. The
most popular approach to using web-based learning activities is through what Doering, Hughes,
and Scharber called lesson enhancements. Lesson enhancements are when teachers identify an
online enhancement that augments their curricular goals and use it to extend and deepen their
students understanding (Roblyer & Doering, 2012, p. 238). I was able to facilitate this lesson
with my second grade ESOL students. In addition to learning about plant parts and their
functions, my students were able to engage in listening and participation in peer-to-peer
conversations, read and locate important information, as well as write sentences to record the
pertinent information. Each student was provided with opportunities to access academic content
while developing the 4 language domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

The Community Helpers interactive video was created to activate the prior knowledge of
kindergarten and first grade students on the concept of community helpers. This video is
comprised of several video segments that are linked together in an adventure branching and a
deep link return structure. YouTube Annotations were applied to create an easy navigation
between the videos. Based on the Multimedia Principle, people are more likely to understand
material when they engage in active learning --that is, when they engage in relevant cognitive
processing such as attending to the relevant material in lesson, mentally organizing the material
into a coherent cognitive representation, and mentally integrating the material with their existing
knowledge (Clark & Mayer, 2008, p. 71). The concept of community helpers was not a new
concept for my students. Although their community helper knowledge was limited, most of my
kindergarten students were able to recognize some community helpers, especially the doctor,
police officer and firefighter. I was pleased to see that through the use of multimedia, extended
conversations unfolded, from sharing personal experiences, about a variety of community
helpers and their contributions to society.
Content Pedagogy: Candidates apply content pedagogy to create appropriate applications of
processes and technologies to improve learning and performance outcomes.
Classifying Animals through Language Arts lesson plan was designed for my first grade ESOL
students. This cross curriculum lesson provided the students the opportunity to investigate the
fact that animals, including humans, have basic needs and distinct characteristics. By utilizing
technology, the students were able to research animals, construct an online Venn diagram, and to
create a fictional or non-fictional eBook synthesizing their information in a creative manner.

Learning Environments: Candidates create instructional design products based on learning

principles and research-based best practices.
The Weather Jigsaw activity is a cooperative learning activity that provides the students an
opportunity to learn from their peers. In this activity, the students were divided into 4 groups and
each of the students becomes an expert on one out of four severe weather storms. Then they, in
turn, share their newly acquired knowledge with their peers. I had the opportunity to facilitate
this lesson to my second grade ESOL students and it was a success. This activity fostered
teamwork, active participation, peer coaching, higher self-esteem and confidence for my
students. It also provided the much needed listening and speaking practice.
Since technology has become an integral part of our everyday lives, students of today are very
computer-savvy so bringing electronic games into the classroom makes perfect sense. Games are
at times challenging, fun and very rewarding. They help teach life skills such as, leadership, peer
collaboration or teamwork, strategy, risk taking and problem solving. According to Aldrich
(2005), Good Educational Games and/or Simulations cover four stages or slates. They are:
background, introduction, engagement, and practice (Aldrich, 2005, p. 241). The Rhyme Time
Game idea has 3 out of the 4 essential game stages and was developed with several purposes in
mind. The Rhyme Time Game idea is an educational simulation; where the students acquire the
skill of rhyming, through an animated character, in a familiar interactive play experience. This
game idea facilitates learning through music, interactive play and several levels of play, along
with numerous rhyming word practices. Although this is still a game idea, my overall hope is
that a game similar to this one will be created and implemented within a kindergarten or first
grade classroom. Since Gamification can be used as an academic scaffolding tool, I believe that

this game idea could benefit all students, especially my low level ESOL students who are
acquiring the English language.
INDICATOR: USING
EdTech 502 Virtual Field Trip -This virtual field trip is a tour of five monumental landmarks in
Washington, DC. They are the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial,
the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and the Supreme Court.
EdTech 513 Inventions from Ancient China PowerPoint Presentation -The following is a
PowerPoint Presentation that demonstrates the Multimedia and Contiguity Principles.

EdTech 501 Tech Trends Lesson Plan I designed this lesson plan to help my third grade ESOL
students become familiar with academic vocabulary associated with the food chain.
EdTech 541 Relative Advantage Chart This chart is a collection of technological resources,
geared towards providing comprehensible input for academic concepts, for elementary ESOL
students.
Content Knowledge: Candidates demonstrate the ability to select and use technological
resources and processes to support student learning and to enhance their pedagogy.
The students study Famous Americans in the third grade so I created this Monumental
Landmarks Virtual Field Trip. Each one of the featured landmarks is a national symbol and
represents the contributions of five famous Americans. This virtual tour of Washington, DC
creates an interactive experience for the students. By navigating to the different pages, watching
the videos, and answering the questions, the students will comprehend a better understanding of
these five famous Americans and their contributions to the United States. As an ESOL teacher, I
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often collaborate with classroom teachers from several grade levels. This lesson was shared with
a third grade classroom teacher and suggested as a supplemental instructional material to give the
students a visual representation for the famous Americans being studied. Roblyer and Doering
(2012) state, virtual field trips can provide students the opportunity to construct knowledge
actively through interacting with historic places, experts, and artifacts (Roblyer & Doering,
2012 p. 339). As a result of implementing this virtual field trip, the third grade teachers
students learning was extended. The students were able to visualize a connection between a
famous American and an architectural national symbol, in Washington, DC. This allowed the
students to make a deeper connection to the famous American and how their accomplishments
upheld constitutional amendments and ultimately improved the lives of many people.
Content Pedagogy: Candidates implement appropriate educational technologies and processes
based on appropriate content pedagogy.
I created this PowerPoint Presentation to be used as a supplement to a lesson that focuses
specifically on the inventions of ancient China and how these particular inventions have
contributed to our society today. This PowerPoint Presentation discusses four major inventions
of ancient China: the compass, silk, the kite and gunpowder. It follows the rules of the
Contiguity Principle and the Multimedia Principle. The Contiguity Principle is basically the act
of integrating on-screen text with on-screen graphics, within close proximity of each other. The
Multimedia Principle states that learning is enhanced when text is presented with graphics, rather
than with only online text. Research by Clark and Mayer (2008) supports the fact that when
words and pictures are integrated, people can hold them together in their working memories and
therefore make meaningful connections between them. This act of mentally connecting
corresponding words and pictures is an important part of the sense-making process that leads to

meaningful learning (Clark & Mayer, 2008, p. 105). Due to the fact that each screen has the
online text displayed with its corresponding graphic, the students will be able to comprehend this
concept without utilizing extraneous cognitive processing. Using graphics to support text is a
strategy that is second nature to me. I include visuals in my daily instruction because visual
support is essential in helping to make academic content comprehensible to second language
learners. Prior to taking Edtech 513, there were a few times that I created PowerPoint
Presentations and inserted only on-screen graphics and I thought it would promote learning of a
specific concept. In actuality, those on-screen graphics only provided clarification of the
academic concept topic, rather than promoting active learning. Making the Inventions from
Ancient China PowerPoint Presentation has shown me how important the appropriate on-screen
graphic and corresponding on-screen text needs to displayed together, in order to promote
learning.

The NMC Horizon Report: 2012 Higher Education Edition featured tech trends that would
greatly impact the instructional process and student learning. The Food Chain Lesson Plan was
designed, with this information in mind. In order to making the food chain vocabulary more
comprehensible, the students participated in differentiated tasks involving academic inquiry,
cooperative learning, peer-to-peer conversational exchanges and higher order thinking.
According to Roblyer and Doering (2012), Multimedia software and interactive (electronic)
storybooksThese technologies, designed to support language acquisition and vocabulary
development, have several strengths. First, they allow teachers to individualize instruction for
students differing language levels. Second, they give students an opportunity to interact in
English authentically in a less stressful environment as compared to a face-to-face environment.

(Roblyer & Doering, 2012, p. 294). As an English Speakers of Other Languages teacher (ESOL
Teacher), I am always looking for ways to close the achievement gap and to provide effective
instruction and through the incorporation of technological tools, such as the SMARTBoard,
Senteo Clickers, iPads/Tablets and the Pic Collage App, the students were provided with the
much needed support and rigor. As a result of this, they transformed themselves into active
learners. This lesson helped my students, of various English language proficiencies; construct
knowledge about the food chain vocabulary in a variety of ways.
Learning Environments: Candidates make professionally sound decisions in selecting
appropriate processes and resources to provide optimal conditions for learning based on
principles, theories, and effective practices.
Each year I have the opportunity to instruct students from various countries where English is not
their first language. Acquiring basic conversational and academic language, in English, is a
challenge for them. According to Roblyer and Doering (2012), some concepts are so abstract or
foreign to students that they struggle to understand them; some students find some topics so
boring, tedious, or irrelevant that they have trouble attending to them (Roblyer & Doering,
2012, p. 55). Technology can help students achieve their academic goals, however, it is
important to understand which technological tools and which methods of implementation are
appropriate to solve specific learning problems. This Relative Advantage Chart was created as a
reference for specific academic areas, for which ESOL students usually have the most difficulty.
This chart identifies areas of learning problems, technologies that can be used for the given
problems, the relative advantage of using the specified technology and the expected outcomes.
This chart helped me organize ways to incorporate technology into my instruction, with the
purpose of meeting the needs of students with several learning modalities. I use it often and it

also helps me gather additional data to check the students understanding of content area
concepts.
INDICATOR: ASSESSING / EVALUATING
EdTech 541 Instructional Software & Relative Advantage PowerPoint Presentation This
presentation defines and highlights the five types of instructional software and the many relative
advantages for integrating them into the classroom.
EdTech 502 WebQuest This WebQuest was created to help students solve a math story
problem by following the U.P.S.C. Plan.
EdTech 503 Instructional Design Project - This is a synthesis reflection paper, for which I
designed a Language Arts lesson on Plural Nouns. The lesson was designed for my level 1 third
grade ESOL students.
EdTech 503 ID Table of Blooms Taxonomy & Assessment This is a table of learning
objectives and tasks, as well as its corresponding Blooms Taxonomy classification for my
Instruction Design project.
EdTech 505 Google Apps Collaboration Survey - This is the survey that I distributed to my
colleagues, in order to assess their technological skill, motivation to use Google Apps and the
level of collaboration that existed within the grade level teams
Content Knowledge: Candidates demonstrate the ability to assess and evaluate the effective
integration of appropriate technologies and instructional materials.
Instructional software is simply, a computer program that is used to assist in students learning of
new academic content. These programs provide a venue for students to practice and improve

upon newly acquired knowledge, in order to reach mastery. There are 5 types of instructional
software: Drill and Practice, Tutorials, Simulations, Instructional Games, and Problem Solving
Software. The Instructional Software and Relative Advantage PowerPoint Presentation define
and highlight many academic benefits of integrating the different types of instructional software
into the classroom. Technology is an effective and engaging tool that can be used to enhance
student learning. Educational software is valuable to all ages of students for many reasons
including making learning more fun, motivating students, helping with long-term memory of the
material, and providing a thorough educational experience. (Eutopia Team 2008) I believe if
instructional software is effectively integrated into daily instruction, the students learning of
academic concepts will be enhanced.
Content Pedagogy: Candidates demonstrate an inquiry process that assesses the adequacy of
learning and evaluates the instruction and implementation of educational technologies and
processes grounded in reflective practice.
A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that
learners work with comes from the web. This WebQuest was designed to have students work
with a partner to work through several tasks, practice using the U.P.S.C. strategy to solve story
problems, and ultimately to create their own math story problem page on a class calendar, which
is created in www.mixbook.com. Solving math word problems is a complicated task. It requires
the students to systematically follow a variety of steps to solve the problem. The U.P.S.C.
strategy helps to guide the students thinking process. I created this WebQuest to challenge,
engage and motivate the students to continue working through the problem solving process and
achieve success. MacGregor and Lou (2004) state, The tasks in WebQuests present a
challenging situation and a higher order of thinking that can motivate the student to achieve the

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learning goals. (MacGregor & Lou, 2004, p. 161). I had the opportunity to collaboratively
teach a lesson on solving math story problems, with the second and third grade ESOL students.
This WebQuest utilized a combination of procedural and strategic scaffolds and was appropriate
for both grade levels. It challenged the students to focus on discerning the relevant information,
from the math story problems, and to organize using the U.P.S.C. strategy. It also promoted
critical thinking and allowed them in developing a deeper understanding of the problem solving
process. This WebQuest served as a technological vehicle, for which students analyzed and
synthesized information, for the purpose of actively constructing meaning.
Learning Environments: Candidates use multiple assessment strategies to collect data for
informing decisions to improve instructional practice, learner outcomes, and the learning
environment.
My Instructional Design Project focused on using the ADDIE model to create a Plural Noun
Lesson. The ADDIE model stands for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and
Evaluation. All of these components are essential in the instructional design process. The
primary objective, after two and a half hours of instruction, is the students will be able to identify
and write the basic plural form of singular nouns by adding s or es. They will also be able to
use them correctly in complete sentences. The students will demonstrate their learning through
the iPad Pic Collage App. I carefully designed this lesson to include motivational instructional
strategies appropriate for a variety of learners, with different learning modalities. The specified
goals and objectives were measured by the formative and summative evaluations. According to
Smith and Ragan (2005), design is distinguished from other forms of instructional planning by
the level of precision, care, and expertise that is employed in the planning, development, and
evaluation process (Smith & Ragan, 2005, p. 6). The design of this lesson was based on the

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constructivism theory; where as the students knowledge of plural nouns was constructed in an
active and engaging manner, through the utilization of inquiry and technology. The targeted
learners combined this new knowledge with their prior knowledge, in order to thoroughly
understand plural nouns and the appropriate context, in which to apply the plural form of nouns.
Professional Knowledge and Skills:
Setting lesson objectives and designing appropriate tasks to demonstrate mastery of the
objective(s) is extremely critical in the instructional design process. Some learning tasks are
substantially different from others in terms of the amount and kind of cognitive effort required in
learning, in the kinds of learning conditions that support their learning, and in the ways to test for
their achievement. (Smith & Ragan, 2005, p. 78) This Instructional Design (ID) Table of
Blooms Taxonomy and Assessment states the learning objectives, Blooms Taxonomy
classification, the format and description of assessments, as well as sample items of expected
outcomes. Four out of the six of the Blooms Taxonomy hierarchy of thinking skills will be
assessed, through this plural noun lesson. This Table of Blooms Taxonomy and Assessment
chart was used as an assessment tool to evaluate and gauge the students learning, in addition to
guiding my design focus and communicating the expectations to students.
Research:
During the time I was enrolled in EdTech 505, my School District was adopting Google Apps for
Education to be implemented into instruction for all students in 6th-12th grades, as well as all of
the County employees. As a result of this county-wide product adoption, there were to be
several trainings conducted to train teachers on how to best utilize Google Drive, in order to
create collaborative documents, spreadsheets and presentations, with colleagues and students, for

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the overall purpose of increasing student achievement. A variety of ideas and best practices for
streamlining academic tasks were also addressed.
Prior to conducting this Google Apps evaluation, instructional collaboration among grade level
teachers and instructional specialists was a difficult process. In order for the grade level teachers
to share instructional activities, they had to meet face-to-face, communicate through email, or
use the photocopier. In addition to sharing instructional materials or activities, planning with the
ESOL teachers & resource specialists was practically impossible, due to scheduling conflicts.
Since the specialists, at my school, provide services to several grade level students daily, very
few of them have a common planning time with the grade levels that they work with.
I decided to conduct an evaluation on the implementation of Google Drive as a collaboration
tool, within my school. Evaluations are carried out to decide on the expansion or curtailment of
programs, products, or activities (Boulmetis & Dutwin, 2011 p.38). The goal of this evaluation
was to access how effectively Google Drive was utilized as an online communication and
collaboration tool, within grade level teams and their supporting resource teachers. In the initial
stage of this evaluation process, I conducted this Google Apps Collaboration Survey. It served
as a needs analysis to determine the technological skill set of my colleagues and to access their
overall use of Google Drive, with regards to collaboration and colleague communication.
INDICATOR: MANAGING
EdTech 505 Far West Labs Proposal This is a hypothetical evaluation proposal that was
written in response to a request for proposal for evaluation of a companys training program.

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EdTech 542 Salad Anyone? Calendar - This is the calendar for this Project Based Learning
lesson.
EdTech 541 Social Networking & Community Building Lesson - This lesson activity was
designed to facilitate the collaborative learning of the different types of Severe Weather.
EdTech 513 Worked Example Screencast This is an on screen demonstration on how to create
an online Think Map.
Content Knowledge: Candidates demonstrate the ability to effectively manage people,
processes, physical infrastructures, and financial resources to achieve predetermined goals.
The Far West Labs Proposal project required me to be the CEO of a consulting firm and to
prepare a proposal, in response to a request for proposal for evaluation of the Far West Labs
training program. As the CEO, it was my responsibility to analyze the Far West Labs company
and determine the evaluation purposes, design the appropriate evaluation method using the
appropriate evaluation model, create and provide a task schedule, manage the project personnel,
and provide a projected budget for the evaluation.
The Salad Anyone Project Based Learning project calendar is the project timeline, for the
duration of the entire project. It is stated that the Project-based learning calendar is a reframe,
ensuring that all teaching strategies and tools are aligned to an authentic project (Miller, 2015)
The dates for several things are included in this calendar, such as the Entry Event, group checkins, daily teaching and student tasks, assessments, presentations, and the completion date. This
Project Based lesson was designed to take three weeks to complete. This calendar is a resource
that the students and teacher can use to stay on target, with the project timeline. While in the
design stage of this Project Based Lesson, my colleague and I realized that it was essential that

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all teaching and learning tasks need to be strategically planned and noted on the project timeline.
In order to do this as accurately as possible, we needed to concentrate on the driving question,
the VA Standards of Learning objectives for the Diversity Unit. By beginning with the end in
mind and designing backwards, my colleague and I were able to schedule all of the essential
teaching and learning tasks, within the three-week period.
Content Pedagogy: Candidates manage appropriate technological processes and resources to
provide supportive learning communities, create flexible and diverse learning environments,
and develop and demonstrate appropriate content pedagogy.
The Social Networking and Community Building lesson provides the students with the
opportunity to collaboratively work together in small groups, in order to brainstorm the
characteristics of different types of severe weather. The students will record their characteristics
on the Padlet website and then they will create a VoiceThread. This lesson enabled my students
the opportunity to access the academic concept of weather, as well as develop their English
language proficiency, within the four language domains of speaking, listening, reading, and
writing. This lesson put a different twist on brainstorming for them because I usually facilitated
brainstorming verbally, with my students. My students took a special interest in recording their
prior knowledge on the specific temperature, climate, and weather conditions, characteristic of
severe weather. Collaboratively, as a class, the students verbally shared and elaborated on their
previous experiences with severe weather. From this brainstorming activity, the students were
able to search the Internet for pictorial representations and to collectively construct sentences,
within their groups, to thoroughly describe their type of severe weather. The best part of this
lesson was observing the amount of student engagement involved with recording their voices and
creating their VoiceThread.

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Unfortunately, I was not able to create a class on the Edmodo website because it is a blocked site
within our school District. However, I have heard that my School District will be approving
certain social networking websites next year and Edmodo is one of them. Hopefully, I will be
able to fully implement this lesson next year.
Learning Environments: Candidates establish mechanisms for maintaining the technology
infrastructure to improve learning and performance.
A worked example is an example problem that is worked out step-by-step. They work well in
areas with well-defined tasks and problems. My worked example screencast was a demonstration
for my second grade ESOL students on how to create a Think Map, on the Bubble.Us website. I
created a Matter Think Map, using Camtasia, for the demonstration. After the demonstration, in
the video, the students were required to create a Resources Think Map. I utilized this worked
example as a quick check for understanding activity, after covering the Resources Unit in
Social Studies. This worked example provided a step-by-step model for creating a Think Map on
Resources and most of my students were successful. Technology was an effective tool to use and
helped to engage my students in showing me what they learned. This activity also helped me to
identify the students that were still struggling with the concept of Resources. This activity
required my students to recall, reflect, and record the information learned about Resources.
INDICATOR: ETHICS & DIVERSITY
EdTech 502 Netiquette -This webpage provides appropriate Netiquette rules for public
employees with sending emails in the workplace.
EdTech 542 Salad Anyone? PBL project This is a Project Based Learning lesson on diversity
and how diversity influences the people of the United States.

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EdTech 502 Copyright Scavenger Hunt - This webpage was created for educators. It is intended
for teachers to familiarize themselves with the basics regarding copyright & fair use, particulary
as it pertains to instructional purposes.
EdTech 541 Adaptive Assistive Technologies - This PowerPoint Presentation was created to give
Educators assistive technology options for students with special needs. These are the at-risk,
gifted & talented students and students with physical, cognitive, sensory disabilities.
EdTech 541: Acceptable Use Policies - This document contains a detailed definition of an
Acceptable Use Policy and four examples.
EdTech 501: School Summary - This is a summary of the level of technology integration within
a school, in the fall of 2012.
Content Knowledge: Candidates demonstrate the contemporary professional ethics of the field
as defined and developed by the Association for Educational Communications and
Technology.
This Netiquette webpage was designed for Educators and all Public Employees. I created it to
address the appropriate email etiquette in the workplace. There is a definition of Netiquette, four
basic rules and a call-out box with information on the Freedom of Information Act (FIOA).
Besides instructing students, composing, sending, and checking emails fill our workdays. I
shared this Netiquette page with the faculty at my school. As a result of this, many of my
colleagues have become more cognizant of how impactful an email can be and have composed
more professional, as well as less emotional messages in their emails.

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Content Pedagogy: Candidates design and select media, technology, and processes that
emphasize the diversity of our society as a multicultural community.
According to Hallermann and Larmer (2011), Project Based Learning is defined as a systematic
teaching method that engages students in learning important knowledge and 21st century skills
through an extended, student-influenced inquiry process structured around complex, authentic
questions and carefully designed products and learning tasks (Hallermann & Larmer, 2011, p.
5). This Project Based Learning lesson is the result of a collaborative effort with a colleague.
This Social Studies lesson on diversity was created for second grade students. In this lesson, the
students will collaboratively work, in small groups, as Cultural Researchers. They will have to
research diverse cultures, customs and traditions, in order to answer the driving question: how
does diversity influence what it means to be an American? Throughout the course of three
weeks, the students will keep a journal, work collaboratively on research, complete a daily
check-in form, and ultimately create a multimedia presentation. Researchers, such as Hallermann
and Larmer (2011) have found that well-designed and well-implemented Project Based
Learning can be more effective that traditional instruction and improving the performance of
lower achieving students, improve students mastery of 21st century skills, and improve students
retention of knowledge over time. (Hallermann & Larmer, 2011, p. 13) I have never designed a
Project Based Learning lesson. During this process, my partner and I quickly realized that
Project Based Learning allows teachers to work more closely with active engaged students doing
high-quality, meaningful work, and in many cases to rediscover the joy of learning alongside
their students. It focuses on a problem or an issue or topic that is relevant to students lives. The
topic of diversity is very relevant in the lives of our students. Approximately 80% of both of our
schools are filled with a diverse population of students with different ethnicities and cultural

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backgrounds. This lesson was designed to elicit the students to use the 21st Century skills of
communication, collaboration and critical thinking. The lessons ultimate goal is for the students
to develop an authentic presentation on how diversity influences being an American. I
thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with a fellow colleague to design this lesson. Unfortunately, I
was not able to implement this lesson. With there being so many State Standards that need to be
taught, throughout the school year, I am struggling with is envisioning how Project Based
Learning projects fit into a "jam-packed" instructional pacing calendar, already set by the grade
level curriculum. This will be something that I will work on figuring out, during the next school
year.
Learning Environments: Candidates foster a learning community that empowers learners with
diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.
I created a Copyright Scavenger Hunt and introduction video for educators. The purpose of this
scavenger hunt is to dispel the myth that all materials, graphics, information, videos, etc., from
the Internet, can be downloaded and used without permission, from the author. It was also
created to familiarize educators on the basics of copyright & fair use, particularly for
instructional purposes. There are links to helpful and informative websites with corresponding
questions, a worksheet document and an answer key. I offered this webpage to the New Teacher
Mentor, at my school. I thought it would be a good activity for new teachers to work through, in
order to familiarize themselves with the established laws against using protected or copyrighted
works without the authors permission. I also created a short video clip on copyright and fair
use, to give some comical relief to a serious matter.

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Diversity of Learners: Candidates fosters a learning community that empowers learners with
diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.
The Adaptive/Assistive Technologies PowerPoint Presentation gives a clearly defined
description of specific students, with special needs and provides several technological tools to
help Educators meet their academic needs. These technological tools will help break down the
crippling barriers and allow the teacher to assess what the students CAN do and provide the
necessary scaffolds for academic progress. In my teaching career, I have worked with high-risk
students and occasionally with gifted students. I often use Kidspiration and readwritethink.org
websites to help the students organize new knowledge and to expand their academic vocabulary.
In working with gifted students, I often use storybird.com, storyjumper.com and themeefy.com
websites to help enrich the students narrative, expository, persuasive, descriptive and creative
writing skills.
Professional Knowledge and Skills:
An Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is a document that is agreed upon by all parties within a
network community. This document states the acceptable use and the consequences for noncompliance of the agreement. This assignment required that I find and record a few examples of
an AUP. There are four examples. In my search I found out that Acceptable Use Policies are
written for different types of organizations.
Research:
The School Summary Evaluation examined technology integration in a school on several levels.
It addressed the following five filters. The Administrative Filter focused on the technology
policy, planning, and school budget. The Curricular Filter focused on the electronic information,

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the way technology was integrated into the curriculum, the level of student and teacher use, and
if technology was used as an assessment tool. The Support Filter focused on the technical
infrastructure, the level of Administrative and Technological support, along with the level of
stakeholders support. The Connectivity Filter focused on the type of connectivity within the
school: LAN, WAN and Internet access capabilities. The Innovation Filter focused on the
motivation for acquiring new technologies and comprehensive technologies. After evaluating all
of these filters, I was able to determine the areas in which this school could improve technology
integration.
INDICATOR: COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE
EdTech 501: Digital Inequality Project - This PowerPoint Presentation evaluated issues that
cause a Digital Inequality/Digital Divide in todays society and how those factors affected the
school.
Candidates collaborate with their peers and subject matter experts to analyze learners, develop
and design instruction, and evaluate its impact on learners.
The Digital Inequality Project was a collaborative effort with 3 other classmates. In this
hypothetical situation, my group formed a fictitious Digital Inequality Task Force. We were
provided with seven options to read, evaluate and rank, in order of importance, listing
advantages and disadvantages. My group also came up with one alternative option. I created a
video on http://www.xtranormal.com to introduce digital inequality and digital divide. While
working on this assignment, I couldn't help but think about my students. Digital inequality and
digital divide is a reality for them. I work in a Title I school where 80% of our students receive
free and reduced lunch. Since there were many families without a household computer, our

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school partnered up with a nearby high school to provide some of our second language learner
parents with refurbished, desktop computers. They were given training on how to use it and
some academic websites, which would provide curriculum content practice, for the
students. Technology is important to student learning. The impact of the World Wide Web on
education and in every aspect of our community is profound. As the students move through the
educational system and into the workforce that increasingly relies upon the use of technology, it
seems likely that limited opportunities to utilize computers and technology for educational
purposes could represent a serious disadvantage for some children in terms of achieving
educational and professional success. (Block, n.d.) Recently, a BYOD (Bring Your Own
Device) policy has been implemented. Unfortunately, there has been a very small amount of
students to participate because most of our students don't own their own mobile technological
devices. On the bright side, we have SMARTBoards in every classroom; we have three laptop
carts, as well as iPad carts available for instructional use. Due to the fact that technology can
connect people to a wide range of learning opportunities when access is equitably distributed, I
am a firm believer that accessibility will lead to an increase in knowledge.
INDICATOR: LEADERSHIP
EdTech 541 Using YouTube in the classroom video - I created this video to show how
YouTube videos are being used in several types of classrooms, at my school.
EdTech 533 Interactive Video - I created this interactive video to be used as an anticipatory set,
for the purpose of activating the students prior knowledge of community helpers.

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Professional Knowledge and Skills: Candidates lead their peers in designing and
implementing technology-supported learning.
The Using YouTube in the Classroom video and the Community Helpers Interactive video have
both been used to help my colleagues with using technology in facilitating instruction. The Using
YouTube in the Classroom video showed different educators, within a variety of instructional
settings, discussing how they utilized YouTube videos, effectively, to support their instruction.
This video was shared among the staff and it helped generate a conversation, filled with a
multitude of ideas on how valuable YouTube videos can be.
The Community Helpers video was created to activate the prior knowledge of my level 1
kindergarten and first grade ESOL students. The students demonstrated limited knowledge of
community helpers. Activating their prior knowledge expanded their thinking and helped them
make meaningful connections. Hill and Flynn (2006) support the research that states,
Activating prior knowledge is important for everyone, but ELLs need special attention
connecting prior knowledge to content presented in a new language (Hill & Flynn, 2006, p. 44).
In creating this interactive video, I used hand puppets to role play a few scenarios, in order to
illustrate the roles of community helpers. The Community Helpers interactive video is
entertaining and includes a high level of relatablity for kindergarten and first grade students. This
video was also shared with several of my colleagues. It demonstrates another way technology
can be used to activate prior knowledge and initiate vocabulary rich brainstorming for extensive
comprehension of an academic concept.

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INDICATOR: REFLECTION ON PRACTICE

EdTech 504 Constructivism Theory Paper - This paper was written to demonstrate the success of
incorporating student-centered activities in the classroom, based on the Constructivism Theory.
Research: Candidates analyze and interpret data and artifacts and reflect on the effectiveness
of the design, development and implementation of technology-supported instruction and
learning to enhance their professional growth.
In EdTech 504, I was introduced to different learning theories. I was required to choose a
learning theory and write a paper. I chose the Constructivism Theory. Learning Theories state,
Constructivism is defined as an educational philosophy, which holds that learners ultimately
construct their own knowledge that then resides within them, so that each person's knowledge is
as unique as they are. (Learning Theories and Transfer of Learning, n.d.) Basically,
Constructivism is the belief that students construct their own learning through their authentic,
real-world experiences. The teacher is automatically placed into a role of an instructional
facilitator and the students become active participants in applying their existing knowledge and
real-life experiences, with the purpose of acquiring new academic knowledge. A studentcentered learning environment allows students to construct meaning, from the supportive
activities that simulate real-world experiences. Environments enriched with technology tools,
resources, and scaffolding facilitate student or self-directed learning by enabling students to
productively engage complex open-ended problems that are aligned authentically with the
practices, culture, or processes of a domain(Jonassen & Land, 2012, p. 3). My Constructivism
Theory paper explored how an I-Play center, in a kindergarten classroom, supports the
Constructivism theory and demonstrated how the students were actively engaged in their
learning, developed the ability to work collaboratively with their peers, and in addition to
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expanding their basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS), the students were able to
conduct more vocabulary rich conversations with their peers and expand their cognitive
academic language proficiency skills (CALPS), in English.
INDICATOR: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS
EdTech 504 Integrating Constructivism and Emerging Technologies in the Classroom This paper explores the power of an effective incorporation of modern technology into a
constructivist teaching practice and on student learning, all within a classroom setting.
EdTech 503 Instructional Design Reading Quiz - This is a visual presentation of a variety of
the overall concept of Instructional Design.
Research: Candidates demonstrate foundational knowledge of the contribution of research to
the past and current theory of educational communications and technology.
The Instructional Design Reading Quiz was an EDTECH 503 assignment. This activity required
me to delve into the concept of instructional design. As a result of creating this presentation, I
was able to research, record, and visually represent Instructional Design in an overall manner. I
explored the history, the definition, conceptual model and the learning theories associated with
Instructional Design. I was also able to explain my understanding of how Instructional Design
relates to Educational Technology.
The premise behind writing this Integrating Constructivism and Emerging Technologies in the
Classroom paper begins with how classroom instruction has changed over the years and
technology constantly evolves, inspires and makes learning relevant to real life. Technology
opens the whole world to students beyond the classroom and it helps the students interact with
the world, via technological devices: iPhones, iPads, laptops, face time, videos, ebooks,

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blogging, Internet, etc. Technology provides students with numerous opportunities for
demonstrating their understanding through images, sound, and text. For these reasons, it is
critical that technology is an integral part of instruction and that instruction should be based upon
the Constructivism Theory, in a student-centered classroom setting.
INDICATOR: METHOD
EdTech 504 Annotated Bibliography - This is a collection of research that supported my belief
that integrating constructivism theory practices, along with technology can enhance classroom
instruction.
Research: Candidates apply research methodologies to solve problems and enhance practice.
According to Bisignani & Brizee (2013), writing an annotated bibliography can assist with the
preparation necessary for a research project, formulate a thesis and gain a good idea about the
various perspectives of a topic (Bisignani & Brizee, 2013). This annotated bibliography contains
a collection of peer-reviewed resources that discusses constructivism and how web 2.0 tools are
utilized in a constructivist manner, within the classroom. It is structured in the appropriate APA
format. The focus of my research was on how the theory of constructivism and emerging
technologies are utilized, as well as practiced, in the classroom. This annotated bibliography
helped me to organize my thoughts and support my position throughout my research paper.

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CONCLUSION
The artifacts described in this paper represent a wide variety of knowledge, skills, and resources
that attributes to my experiences in the Master of Educational Technology program, at Boise
State.
Professionally, I am constantly in search of ways to develop my craft. After participating in the
Boise State University M.E.T. program, my approach to teaching has changed and I have
become more technologically skillful and mindful of how to integrate technology, in order to
meet the needs of students who have different levels of English language proficiencies and
learning modalities. Technology is no longer an after thought; rather it has become an important
component. My lesson planning process involves implementing technology in the most
appropriate ways, on a daily basis. I incorporate technology effectively; in order to help all of my
ESOL students develop their knowledge of academic language, in the content areas and utilize it
as a motivational tool to encourage the development of the basic interpersonal communication
skills. I have steered away from paper/pencil assessments and have implemented more
technology project-based assignments, where the students are required to create or develop
something, in order to demonstrate their learning. I am excited and motivated to continue
utilizing my acquired technological knowledge to facilitate academic progress for my students.

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References
Aldrich, C. (2005). Learning by doing: A comprehensive guide to simulations,
computer games, and pedagogy in e-learning and other educational experiences.
San Francisco, California: Pfeiffer Publishing.
Block, J. Distance education and the digital divide: An academic perspective.
Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring131/block131.html
Boulmetis, J., & Dutwin, P. (2011). The ABCs of evaluation. San Francisco,
California: Jossey-Bass Publishing.
Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2008). E-learning and the science of instruction.
San Francisco, California: Pfeiffer Publishing.
Eutopia, Team. (2008, March 16). Why integrate technology into the curriculum?
Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction
Hallermann, S., & Larmer, J. (2011). Pbl in the elementary grades. Novato, California:
Buck Institute for Education.
Hill, J. D., & Flynn, K.M. (2006). Classroom instruction that works with english
language learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum and
Development.

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Learning Theories and Transfer of Learning. (n.d.) Retrieved from

http://otec.uoregon.edu/learning_theory.htm
MacGregor, S.K., & Lou, Y. (2004). Web-based learning: How task scaffolding and web
site design support knowledge acquisition. Journal of Research on Technology in
Education, Research Library Core database. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ690967.pdf
Miller, Alan. (2015, April 1). How to Build a Calendar for Project Based Learning.
Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-to-build-calendar-pbl-summer-pd)
Bisignani, D. & Brizee, A. (2013, May 10). Annotated bibliographies. Retrieved from
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/

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