KENNICKER MASTER PORTFOLIO: TECHNOLOGY

Master’s Portfolio Project: Technology

7/10/2020
Brenna Kennicker
University of Alaska Southeast
Beth Hartley
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Abstract

A teacher uses technology effectively, creatively and wisely. The Candidate demonstrates

their understanding of engaging learners in evaluation and selection of media and technology

resources and their use of technology appropriately to engage learners and enhance instruction

Technology Statement

I want to start this statement with a bit of a story. When I first began working in schools in

2010, the district I worked for had been able to get all elementary classrooms Promethean

smartboards through a grant. These boards were great, but no one really knew how to use them

and when I finally left the district in late 2014, many were still using them at only a fraction of

their capacity. I then went to teach in rural Japan, where my technology use consisted of

flashcards and a chalkboard. The big technological breakthrough in my town happened in late

2017, when the middle school finally got whiteboards. I came back to Alaska and walked into

student teaching with a very tech savvy host teacher, feeling like Rip Van Winkle.

Within what seemed like the blink of an eye, Chromebooks and iPads were in every

classroom, the number of apps and computer programs had exploded, and every textbook

curriculum had its own tech component to master. I felt like a failure before I even started, and

struggled to catch up. Even within my time in the MAT program at UAS, the expectations on

tech use drastically shifted. The educational technology class I took in 2013 had nothing about

designing lessons using tech, or teaching students digital literacy. It was primarily a class

teaching us how to use the Microsoft suite of programs.

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Even with its ever-increasing incorporation into classrooms the use of technology in them is

deeply debated. While some argue that educational programs can help in the personalization of

curriculum (America, 2019), others argue that the use of tech in classrooms only furthers the

inequity gap between students of means, and those who lack utilities like internet at home

(Lynch, 2016). The internet connectivity issue is a large one here in Alaska, even in more

metropolitan areas like Fairbanks. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools, a survey

of 5th grade families at my school determined that 1/3 of the overall 5th grade student body lacked

either internet access or technology at home to complete work.

However, I’ve seen the benefits of technology use, both in my traditional classroom, and in

the digital one developed for the fourth quarter of the 2019-20 school year. Using academic

programs like Redbird (2017) allowed me to personalize student’s independent math tasks to

help them focus on the “blind spots” in their mathematics understanding. A similar program,

Spelling City™ helped students practice spelling conventions both in and outside the classroom.

I noticed these programs really helped my students, and their growth was shown on assessments.

I also saw the benefit of using programs like Microsoft Powerpoint to develop slideshows that

assisted not only in teaching, but in classroom management as well.

I had also utilized Google Classroom as a means to allow students to go through the

writing process in a fully digital manner. The ability to make notes and corrections to an

assignment as students were working meant I could give feedback quicker, and they could view

their corrections as they wrote new drafts. As COVID-19 spread through the state and schools

went to a crisis response mode, my Google Classroom became our class space where students

could access work, find resources, communicate with me, and share their experiences with peers.
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Without the various programs that are part of the Google Suite, and the supplemental programing

we were using in the classroom prior to closure, I don’t think we could have continued class.

Going into the upcoming school year it looks as though technology will be even more important

for the smooth transitions between online and in person learning that may occur as COVID-19

continues to float through our communities. With this is mind, I think of how I can better

integrate technology into my classroom, in a way that is both meaningful and engaging. I focus

on the meaningfulness of technology in part because studies show that while students view

technology as important, they may not have positive attitudes towards it, specifically in an

academic setting (Incantalupo et al., 2013). For example, while low income students will often

use technology for entertainment purposes, they struggle with its use in the classroom, mainly

due to literacy issues which contributes to this negative attitude (Tierney et al., 2018).

I think this attitude can be improved by doing two things. First, the technology must be

used frequently enough for the novelty factor to wear off and for students to become comfortable

with the process of accessing it. Secondly, students need to see and understand the purpose for

using it. I noticed that with using Redbird, it took about two months before the entire class could

go through the process of finding the link and logging in seamlessly, without my help. It

probably took an additional month, and several discussions both class-wide and one-on-one with

students so they could see the meaning behind using the program, and how it was benefitting

them. I know this is doable, it just takes time. Something else I can also do to help expedite this

understanding is changing how I develop my technology objectives.

It can be easy to assume that students have a prior understanding of technology, given the

pervasive use of smartphones, but for many students they are unfamiliar with computers or
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online programs. Computers, and the internet are also inherently distracting (how often do we as

adults pause to “check our email” and look up ten minutes later wondering what happened?). By

setting learning objectives that are specific, I can help students focus on what they should be

working on, rather than falling down the proverbial rabbit hole of off task temptations as well as

limit anxiety about activity expectations (Pitler et al., 2012).

As I look forward both to my immediate future in teaching, and more long-term I know

technology is a key component in the success of my classroom. My goal, which before was

simply to “catch up” is now to become a sort of “technology connoisseur” and develop my taste

for the different types of technology out there and determine which ones best suite my teaching

style, and the learning styles of my students.

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References

America, J.-P. A. L. (2019, February). What 126 studies say about education technology.
http://news.mit.edu/2019/mit-jpal-what-126-studies-tell-us-about-education-technology-
impact-0226.

Incantalupo, L., Treagust, D., & Koul, R. (2014). Measuring student attitude and knowledge in
technology-rich biology Classrooms. Journal of Science Education and
Technology, 23(1), 98-107. Retrieved July 20, 2020, from
www.jstor.org/stable/24019830

Lynch, M. (2016, October). The dark side of educational technology [web log].
https://www.theedadvocate.org/dark-side-educational-technology/.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that
works. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Redbird Mathematics: Overview. McGraw Hill. (2017, August 11).

https://www.mheducation.com/prek-12/explore/redbird/redbird-mathematics.html.

Tierney, W. G., Corwin Zoë B., & Ochsner, A. (2018). Diversifying digital learning: Online
literacy and educational opportunity. Johns Hopkins University Press.