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Running head: INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA RESOURCES

Integration of Technology and Media Resources

Taylor Falkowski

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2017


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Introduction

This competency details the use of technology in the classroom and how I was able to

understand and utilize it in order to engage students in productive, technology centered active

learning. The Character Snapstory project was dynamic in its use of student centered learning

through a technology based medium. Throughout the lesson, the students used their smartphones

to access the Snapchat app, their chromebooks to access Google Drive, Google Classroom, and

other websites as necessary to provide images and graphics.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

For this competency, I chose my lesson plan and a student product as my artifacts. The

lesson plan was selected so as to provide a clear description of the lesson, how it was

implemented, and the expectations for the activity. This lesson plan also detailed the beginning

of a student project. For this project, the students were expected to use social media (Snapchat)

to make a characters Snap Story. Through this project, the students used technology to detail a

characters thoughts and experiences in the first four chapters of the novel Lord of the Flies. The

students were expected to follow directions and links provided through the lesson plan.

The second artifact is a student product, which was chosen because of how it shows

student learning and growth. The students embraced the project and had some very creative and

impressive results. The product I choose as an artifact received one of the highest grades in the

class for its creativity, accuracy, and overall quality. With my guidance as instructor and

facilitator, the students were able to use technology to the fullest extent to connect to the

literature and bring it to life. Both the lesson plan and the student product reveal how the students

used smartphones, chromebooks, social media, Google Drive, Google Classroom, and other
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websites (dotstorming.com) to make and share a final product.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

It is well established in each class that student-centered learning provides the best

possible outcome in terms of student involvement, engagement, and long term learning. The

Character Snapstory lesson and project was dynamic in its use of student-centered learning

through technology mediums.

One part of making a lesson or material engaging to the students is to put the ball in their

court. This means the teacher should provide the students with the information, gives them

instructions, and allow the students work towards a product which exemplifies their knowledge.

When technology is used in the classroom, it allows students to be treated as individuals

(Silberman, 2006, pg. 120). This held true in my lesson plan as the students were required to use

their own devices and choose their themes and graphics in their final product.

Additionally, a popular social media platform (Snapchat) was used to draw the students

into the project to perform their character analysis. By choosing a popular app, one that most of

the students already had on their smartphone, the activity fully engaged the students. Student

engagement is defined as active student involvement in learning tasks that are meaningful,

relevant, and motivating to the student (Burden and Byrd, 2016, pg. 191). Technology was used

to obtain the students attention, connect to the characters, and become involved in the novel.

As this was the first time I had ever completed the project, it was natural for there to be

some bumps in the road. Before I brought the technology into the classroom, I worked with one

of the schools Technical Instructional Specialists, Mrs. Howell. During my meetings with her,

we walked through the proper use of technology and developed a plan for implementing it in the
Running Head: Integration of Technology and Media Resources Falkowski 4

classroom. Having this introduction to the technology was great because throughout the duration

of the project, the technology would falter. Due to my diligence in learning how to use the

technology though, more often than not, I was able surmount these issues. However, Mrs.

Howell was almost always on standby should the need for more professional help arise (and it

did). Overall, this project was a success. The students were engaged with the technology, and in

turn, the core content material.


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References

Burden, P. R., & Byrd, D. M. (2016). Methods for effective teaching: meeting the needs of all

students (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Silberman, M. L. (2006). Teaching actively: eight steps and 32 strategies to spark learning in

any

classroom. Boston: Pearson/A & B.

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