Running Head: INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA RESOURCES 1

Integration of Technology and Media Resources

Kimberly Peltonen
Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2020.

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Introduction
According to the U.S. Department of Education (n.d.), technology can have many

benefits that support both teaching and learning by injecting classrooms with “digital learning

tools such as computers and handheld devices”, enriching learning and its related experiences,

increasing “student engagement and motivation; and accelerates learning”. (U.S. Department of

Education, n.d.) By strategically infusing technology and media in the traditional teaching

model, it can create a more engaging learning environment, provide effective differentiation of

instruction, and deepen student learning through practice opportunities. This paper reflects the

competency of integration of technology and media resources as demonstrated through a writing

assignment where technology was used for research and to increase student interest and through

the use of digital devices to provide practice of math concepts that support instruction and a

math computer program.

Rationale of Selected Artifacts

Use of Smartboard and On-line Videos for Fourth Grade Language Arts Writing Lesson

The first artifact I chose is a photograph of a Smartboard with an on-line, instructional

video displayed on it that demonstrates the integration of technology into a language-arts writing

lesson that supported Virginia Language Arts Writing SOL 4.9b. The writing objective required

students to “collect information from multiple sources including online, print, and media” to use

in an informative writing piece. (Virginia Department of Education, 2019, pg. 3) During this

lesson, students watched two on-line, instructional videos about traveling to Mars for research,

recorded their research using various note-taking strategies, then used their notes to write an

informative writing piece. The videos were played on the Smartboard during whole group
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instruction and then discussed prior to students recording important information garnered

through research on their graphic organizer.

Use of Redbird Math Program on Personal Digital Devices for Fourth Grade Math

The second artifact I chose is a photograph of a student on a Chromebook that

demonstrates how I integrated technology for student learning using a digital device and a

computer program for math called Redbird. The fourth-grade class I was with during a part of

my student teaching was in a school division that provided every student with a Chromebook and

access to the Redbird math computer program. Each day during one rotation of math centers I

required students to use their Chromebook to complete at least one level of instruction and

practice on Redbird. The program has a grading system that lets students immediately know how

well they knew the content covered during their practice, and I required students to achieve at

least eighty percent before they could move on to the games. Students were able to move through

the math material on the program at their own pace which helped with differentiation in a

classroom demographic that was made up of one-third of gifted students and one-third of

students who did not pass their SOL’s the previous year. I quickly began to understand and

appreciate the value of the Redbird program as many students would comment that they were

already familiar with a concept I had just begun to introduce during whole group instruction.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

The use of technology and media resources in education has become a necessity to

“prepare students to live and work in a highly technological world”. (Rutherford, 2008, pg. 8)

The elementary school classroom provides a natural environment that has endless applications

for technology that can benefit both the learner and the teacher. Technology and media resources
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provide active learning strategies that engage students to interact with information, materials, and

people around them. (Rutherford, 2008, pg. 6) It also provides tools for a teacher to enhance their

instructional material and many time saving measures for assessments, communication, and

academic learning tasks for reinforcement of content.

The use of the Smartboard and on-line instructional videos I chose as artifacts

demonstrates an engaging strategy to support a writing objective that required students to

conduct research on an assigned topic. The instructional videos used pictorial representations to

represent knowledge which provided a foundation that helped students “develop a deeper

understanding of the relevant knowledge”. (Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, & Stone, 2012, pg. 70)

Additionally, by presenting the information on the topic through short videos, the students stayed

interested and engaged which successfully increased their motivation to complete the writing

task.

The use of student Chromebooks demonstrates an effective integration of technology by

providing students the tools necessary to support learning. The supplemental use of the Redbird

math computer program provided opportunities for student learning that were engaging, and

practice that reinforced content already taught. It is during practice opportunities that “students

practice the skill on their own and experience significant amounts of success”. (Levin & Nolan,

2014, pg. 123) An additional benefit of using the Redbird program is the flexibility it offers since

it can be accessed anywhere at any time. According to Classroom Instruction that Works (2012),

the author asserts that “learning new content does not happen quickly; it requires practice

sessions that are spread out over time”. (Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, & Stone, 2012, pg. 111) It is

during opportunities in “which students practice the skill on their own and experience significant

amounts of success” no matter if they are at home or at school. (Levin & Nolan, 2014, pg. 123)
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References

Dean, C., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works.

Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Levin, J. & Nolan, J. (2014). Principles of classroom management. Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson.

Rutherford, P. (2008). Instruction for all students. Alexandria, VA: Just ASK Publications.

U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). Use of technology in teaching and learning. Retrieved

from https://www.ed.gov/oii-news/use-technology-teaching-and-learning

Virginia Department of Education. (2019). Standards of learning: Language Arts – Writing

Grade 4. Retrieved from

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/stds_english4.pdf
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Smartboard and On-line Videos

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Student on Personal Device

Gate, Matt. (2020). Hanson Elementary School second grader Skya White, front, and Jack Smith
work on their Chromebooks while Elementary School Principal Josh Oltmanns, top,
looks over the shoulder of Mason Dewald in Elizabeth Schroeder’s class on Thursday in
Alexandria. [Photograph]. Retrieved from
https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/news/education/4878561-Elementary-schools-
continue-embrace-of-evolving-technology