College of Southern Nevada

Amber Garrett
December 5, 2015

Amber Garrett
Education 214
December 5, 2015
The Importance of Technology in Curriculum
Today, most every aspect of modern life is made possible or depends on some form of
technology. In fact, in the United States, one would be hard pressed to find any industry that does not
depend on electronic technology to manufacture their goods, offer their services, or operate their business.
Now that we have the first generation of digital natives who are using technology at home as young as
two and three years old, to leave technology out of their education and educational experience does a
disservice to the student and the teacher.
According to the Department of Education in a report, The Effects of Technology on Classrooms
and Students, technology as a tool in the classroom to deliver curriculum has had positive effects on
student, teacher, and classroom experience. When students are using technology as a tool or a support
for communicating with others, they are in an active role rather than the passive role of recipient of
information transmitted by a teacher, textbook, or broadcast. The student is actively making choices
about how to generate, obtain, manipulate, or display information. Technology use allows many more
students to be actively thinking about information, making choices, and executing skills than is typical in
teacher-led lessons. Moreover, when technology is used as a tool to support students in performing
authentic tasks, the students are in the position of defining their goals, making design decisions, and
evaluating their progress. When students become active participants in their educational experience,
they are fully engaged which makes for better academic outcomes. Teachers are also able to transition
into a new role from dispenser of information and focus of class, to a facilitator. They establish guidelines
and take a more supportive role now able to provide more attention to each students success, by helping
them develop their own ideas. The report goes on to state that teachers also commented universally that
students displayed more motivation to work on assignments, increased self-esteem because it took the
focus off of verbal knowledge and multiple choice answering and provided new avenues for students to
demonstrate their knowledge on a more level playing field.
In my opinion, technology is one of the most important tools available to deliver curriculum to
students in an innovative way. Students of this generation are a living part of the technological age. A
U.S. Census on computer and internet usage said in 2013 that 83.8% of all American households had at
least one computer in the house. Additionally kids ages 8 18 are spending seven plus hours a day using
some form of technology. Educators have the proof they need that technology is a clear motivator of
school age children. The ability to use technology in the school setting allows teachers to harness that
power to motivate students while providing educational, practical, and productive curriculum.
When considering the cost effectiveness of technology in the classroom we must consider the
outcomes we, as educators are trying to achieve. Technology should not replace real people or text-books,
but it should work in conjunction with them as a meaningful tool to deliver curriculum. As younger
students get older, technology plays a greater and greater role in their lives and the education they receive
should prepare them to make use of the technology they will be expected to utilize as adults.

Department of Education. Effects of Technology on Classroom and Students. (2013).Web. Retrieved from:
http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html

State History Project 5th Grade

Technology Standards:
Nevada Computer and Technology Standards: 1.B.5.1 Create an original digital work as a form of group
or personal expression with minimal teacher support. 2.A.5.1 Collaborate to create and publish digital
products to share beyond the classroom. 2.D.5.1 Contribute to a group production of an original work.
2.D.5.2 Describe a variety of ways to interact and contribute to a digital product.
Nevada Social Studies Standards: G6 5.2 Identify U.S regions in which historical events occurred. G6 5.5
Label a map of the United States and their Capitols.
ISTE NETS-T 1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. 3. Model digital age work and
learning. 4. Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility.
ISTE NETS-S 3. Research and information fluency, 2. Communication and collaboration, 6. Technology
operations and concepts
Objective: For students to demonstrate knowledge and ability to work collaboratively to create a linear
slideshow presentation based on one of the states. They must implement the skills they have learned using
technology to meet the requirements of the project. They must be able to identify a region in the U.S and
recognize important historical events and places within the state.
Materials:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Computer
Internet - Google
PowerPoint
Excel
Directions (sheet)

Group project (3) students per group. Each group member will be responsible for a section of the
presentation.
Procedure: Project should be completed over (4) days.
Day 1. Break class down into groups of (3) students. Teacher to choose how to breakdown
groups. Each group needs to choose 1 of the 50 states as the groups research project. No
duplicate states. Each group member will be independently responsible for (1) of the following
sections of the presentation and they may assign themselves to the section they want.
Section 1: Using the website http://www.50states.com/ you will collect the below data on your chosen
state. You will also perform an images search on www.google.com to locate a picture of each of these
items.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

State Capitol. Where is it?

State Flower. What is the name of the flower?
State Bird. What is the name of the bird?
State Flag. What does the state flag look like?
Current Governor. Who is the current Governor?

Section 2: One group member will research to find a picture of the state and save it. Then they will find
out the population of the state and the 3 largest populated cities using http://www.census.gov/popclock/,
http://www.togetherweteach.com/TWTIC/uscityinfo/05ca/05ca5.htm . They will take this population data
and transfer it into Excel to create a graph. Bar graph or pie chart is ok.
Section 3: One group member will research 3 interesting historical places and 3 interesting facts about
the state that will be included in your presentation using http://www.history.com/topics/us-states. This can
include any facts you want but must be a part of the states history.
Day 2 & 3. Using PowerPoint student groups will create a slide presentation of all the data
collected on their states.
Directions: This presentation must have a total of ten slides as follows. Each group member is
responsible for their own slides, but all the slides must have the same background theme so this must be
decided as a group.
1. Title page. Group completes this together. Should include state name and picture, your names,
teacher, date
2. State Capitol. Should include picture of capitol building and name of city
3. State flower. Should include picture of flower and name of flower
4. State Bird. Should include picture of bird and name of bird
5. State Flag. Should include picture of flag
6. Current State Governor. Should include picture and name
7. Population of State and three largest cities in the form of a graph (bar graph, pie chart, etc.) and
picture of the state
8. 3 historical places. Must include brief description of why each place is important in the states
history.
9. 3 interesting facts. Any 3 facts about the state the student finds interesting as long as they pertain
to the states history.
10. Conclusion. Group completes this together. Must be 3 sentences in length.
Day 4. Presentations. Each group will present their group project. Each member will present the
slides they were responsible for. Each group will decide which member will read the conclusion.
Assessment:
Assessment Category
Title Page w/names,date,teacher/state

Points
/5

Section 1 w/images
Capitol

/1

Flower

/1

Bird

/1

Flag

/1

Governor

/1

Section 2 w/graph
State population total

/1

City 1 - 3 population

/2

Graph or Pie Chart

/2

Section 3
3 historical places w/ description

/3

3 historical facts

/2

Conclusion
3 sentences

/3

Presentation
Organization

/4

Clarity

/3

Collaboration

/3

Creativity with technology

/4

Fluency with Internet skills in research

/3

TOTAL

/40