Technology Integration Plan

I see technology playing an increasingly important role in education in America. To be active as world citizens, and competitive in a global marketplace, students will continue to find technology used as a method of research, as a form of interactive communication and as a means of making our way of life more efficient and creative. It is my goal to make technology accessible, and an integrated part of the classroom routine and the educational experiences in my classroom. As we explore new technologies, I think that one of the most important roles of the teacher is to model appropriate Internet use practices. We all know that a lot of bad things can happen online, and I want my students to be equipped with the skills of how to use the Internet in a safe, non-destructive and appropriate manner.

My goal with this plan, is to create a Student Project Gallery, outline basic skills and technologies to address these skills along the way. One of the most exciting things about technology is that it can be used to connect with many types of learners, and can co-incide with the development of literacy skills, including read, writing, listening, viewing and speaking. All of these can be addressed, created and assessed through various technologies, along with research and communication skills for science and social studies, and math as well. I plan to create an outline of technologies to be taught, using both the METs and GLCEs for 4th grade as that is the grade that I will be teaching next year for my internship. For this project I will develop a few of the lessons, but the entire project will be fully developed by me this summer, and into next fall as I enter the classroom.

I have learned of the technologies available to me next year, and will be incorporating their use into the lessons. I understand that plans may change, and as I get to know my students certain skills may need to be addressed or developed. Also some students may know/ or learn these technologies at a different place, so some may be completed as a whole class, in small groups, individually in centers, and some even after school, or at home.

Many of these technologies will be used as a presentation medium for student research and inquiries, and also for reflections via blogs, and wikis. The expectations will be outlined for each lesson, however I would really encourage students to be creative and think outside of the box in terms of their use. The student gallery will act as the storage place for the project as they are developed, but I would eventually like the students to create their own web portfolio to house their work. This gallery can be accessed and shared at parent- teacher conferences, teacher evaluations, as well as future job interviews to demonstrate how I am integrating technology in my lessons, and how my students respond.

My plan is to scaffold the technologies as we go, building upon our skills as we go.

Student Contract: Terms of Use Policy
(this will be developed for the plan)

Scavenger Hunt
(Using Search Engines Pre-Assessment to be developed)

Wordle
(A form of word poetry. Students will complete a list of at least twenty words to describe their personalities, hobbies, and interest. They will create their Wordle, and then engage in a sharing with fellow classmates as a community building activity.)

Gmail Account
(Creating Professional and safe email addresses)

iGoogle-RSS Feed
(Create own home page, discuss RSS and locate feeds of interest for their iGoolge)

Classroom Blog
(Established as a class, to model and prepare them for building their own/ group blogs)


Student Blog
(Group or individual to be decided, as a place for forum, reflection and discussion)

Digital Photography and Photo Editing- Uploading a Photo
(The classroom just got a few new cameras, practice taking pictures, and using Picnik.com to edit, and then upload their image to student blogs)

Digital Stoy- Uploading an HTML
(Voicethread.com, group story of field trip, hike, project, plan, etc. upload the Voicethread to group/ student blogs/ or class Wiki for the project)

Creative Commons
(Learn the concept of Free Use, and how to properly cite others' work, as well as licensing their own.)

Book Club- Shelfari
(Learn to read and write book reviews, establish their own shelves

Student Portfolios
(One of the culminating technologies. To connect, and store students projects, a reflection of them as individuals)

Power Point

Wiki/ Google Docs

Scrapblog

Map Mashup
(Thinking Michigan History related)

Inquiry Project
This would be a student choice project to explore, try out one of these, and see what other students can do with it. They can choose from one that we have done, or find a new technology to share.)

My plan is to create my outline of technologies, incorporating the METs and GLCEs to build a introduction for the whole class and then allow time in the computer lab and during centers to complete the projects.