Integrating Technology:

Upper Elementary Classrooms

Angela Brown, Shannon Hey, Kelsey Kennedy, Whitney Chapman,

Michelle Fife, Mindi-Anne Buggie-Hachey, Hannah Stephenson

Integrating Technology:
Upper Elementary Classrooms
The students we will be teaching in our future classrooms will have been immersed in a
technological culture since they were born. Our students are known as digital natives. Their
parents want their social lives and education to be fully enriched by teachers who can grasp
technological concepts, and use new digital approaches to enhance their classrooms. Technology
is increasingly becoming more popular throughout the years. In education, initiatives have been
made to help train teachers to integrate technology in subjects such as math, science, language
arts, and social studies.
Issues to overcome
Teachers in todays society tend to feel overwhelmed when having to use tools such as
Smart Board in the classroom. The teachers feel that they have not fully trained. The study by
Susan F. Martin conducted at the University of South Alabama states that teachers feel
inadequate when using new technology into the classroom. The teachers who were interviewed
indicated that they also felt pressured by the administration of the school to use technology tools
in their classrooms.
Applications to Integrate into the Classroom
VoiceThread
VoiceThread is a free online tool that allows for students and teachers to upload files and
view them on a single web page. Students then can edit these files and add their own voice overt
the slides.

Voki

Voki is a web-based program in which children can design Avatars, to talk, share their
thoughts with their classmates. This type of technology captures children's attention because of
of all the graphics.
Smart boards
Smart Boards are an effective technological devices that can be easily implemented into a
classroom. In the science class, the Smart Boards are specifically used as a minds on
approach. The Smart Board allows students the opportunity to experiment and explore so it is
considered to be an active discovery. They are great for introducing new lessons and topics to
students and finding out where a student stands academically based on their prior knowledge.
Digital Imagery
Digital imagery is a great way to integrate technology in the elementary classroom. This
includes both video and photography. This is used to help young students reflect and remember
learning experiences. They can take these memories and focus them in a much more detailed and
deeper way. They can be uploaded to the computer and students can then use these the write
stories.
Benefits
When it comes to integrating Technology into the classroom there are several benefits to
consider. Technology can help keep students focused for longer amounts of time. For example,
the use of technology allows for students to be more accessible to research and exploration
compared to books that would be more time consuming. Also, students believe that technology is
much more exciting, therefore teachers must bring this into account when teaching these
students. For example, students believe science is much more fun when technology is involved.
Another important point to consider is that technology allows for students to learn at their own

pace. Also, having technology integrated in the classroom prepares students for their future.
Today, learning is much more than memorizing facts. Technology allows for students to
collaborate and to learn from each other. Technology plays a vital role in learning and plays an
essential role in the attitude of students.
Research shows that the main benefit of technology in the classroom for students was
when they could support their own learning with use of technology, rather than in use as a
teaching tool for presentation content. This as a result encourages the use of more student centers
in the classroom, rather than constant teacher instruction.
Findings
Educational technology is here to stay. Over a decade of research has documented the
effect of appropriate use of technology in educational settings. These studies provide compelling
evidence that computer use can have a major, positive impact on childrens social, emotional,
language, and cognitive development (Shade 1996; Haugland 2000; Van Scoter, Ellis,
&Railsback 2001). Early on, the preponderance of evidence of the potential benefits of
technology-enriched curriculum led NAEYC to conclude that there is considerable research that
points to the positive effects oftechnology on childrens learning and development (NAEYC
1996, 1). The full potential of technologys tools is only realized, however, when they are used
effectively and in ways that connect meaningfully to the ongoing curriculum of the classroom
and support creativity and critical thinking (Bergen 2000). It is necessary, therefore, for teachers
of young children to be knowledgeable about the range of appropriate technology applications. It
is our responsibility as educators to help children understand how to use technology in safe and
enriching ways. We need to expose children to developmentally appropriate, challenging,
creative, and collaborative uses of technology such as those demonstrated in Rosies and Erins

classrooms. Children need to be taught how to use these stimulating and exciting tools in ways
that promote learning and social interaction so that they will become confident and skilled users
of technology as they progress in their schooling and throughout life.
- Murphy K. , Depasquale R., and McNamara E., Meaningful
Connections.
Conclusion
The integration of technology in the classroom is becoming a prominent focus for us as
teachers. The use of technologies in the classroom is utilized to better prepare students in
todays society. As teachers, it is our responsibility to educate our students on the available
technologies, which allow them to be successful. Smart board technology will be the main tool
used for integrating technology in the classroom as most teachers are using this device today. It
can be used in all subjects and due to its diversity we believe it has the highest ranking in terms
of popularity. VoiceThread would be a great tool for the classroom, and as some tools such as
these are not as well known it may not be used as often. It is important to teach teachers that their
are different technological tools that they can use, and to share them with each other. The mostly
likely way for technology to be integrated is through training, hands on learning, adaptation, and
encouraging teachers who are not digital natives. Being open to new technologies and new
approaches to teaching will help students and teachers become more technologically literate and
participate in an engaging classroom.

References
Michelle Fife:
Early Childhood Education Journal January 2014, Volume 42, Issue 1, pp 57-65
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10643-013-0582-9

Casey, J. M. (2000). Creating the early literacy classroom: Activities for using
technology to empower elementary students. Englewood, Colo: Libraries Unlimited.
Angela Brown:
Guzman, A., & Nussbaum, M. (October 01, 2009). Teaching competencies for technology
integration in the classroom. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 25, 5, 453-469
Sugar, W., Crawley, F., & Fine, B. (March 01, 2005). Critiquing Theory of Planned Behaviour as
a method to assess teachers technology integration attitudes. British Journal of
Educational Technology, 36, 2, 331-334.
Hannah Stephenson:
http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/44/art%253A10.1007%252Fs11528-014-0756-3.pdf?
auth66=1414697454_a66edc5112e1a4fc6bd2d054f784aef1&ext=.pdf - Using Smart Boards and
Manipulatives in the Elementary Science Classroom
By Susan F. Martin, Edward L. Shaw, Jr., and Lynda Daughenbaugh,
University of South Alabama
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131513002911 - Enacting a technologybased science curriculum across a grade level: The journey of teachers' appropriationChee-Kit
Looi, , Daner Sun, Peter Seow, Gean Chia
Mindi-Anne Buggie-Hachey:
http://www.education.com/reference/article/why-use-technology-science-classroom/ By R.
Martin|C. Sexton|T. Franklin|J. Gerlovich|D. McElroy Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
http://www.nms.org/Blog/TabId/58/PostId/188/technology-in-the-classroom-the-benefits-ofblended-learning.aspx by National Math and Science Initiative

Kelsey Kennedy:
Integrating Technology, Art, and Writing to Create Comic Books
Edwin S. Vega and Heidi L. Schnackenberg
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23024484
Sharing Shakespeare: Integrating Literature, Technology and American Sign Language
By: Theresa Cambridge and Susan Abdulezer

http://bul.sagepub.com/content/82/594/19.full.pdf+html

Whitney Chapman:
http://www.janinelim.com/jae/02summ.htm
Bruce Sheppard Jean Brown , (2014),"Leadership for a new vision of public school classrooms",
Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 52 Iss 1 pp. 84 - 96
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2012-0027

Shannon Hey:
http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200311/TechInPrimaryClassrooms.pdf
Meaningful Connections: Using technology in Primary Classrooms
Karen L. Murphy, Roseanne Depasquale, and Erin McNamara
http://www.iste.org/docs/excerpts/ITSELE-excerpt.pdf
ITs Elementary! Integrating Technology in the Primary Grades
Boni Hamilton