Technology Integration and Lesson Plans

Technology is an ever-evolving resource and the education system should take advantage of this. Integration of technology in the classroom can be universally helpful for learners of all types. In the past, technology integration was focused more for students with exceptionalities who needed extra assistance. Today, technology integration can be tailored to enhance learning for students of any ability. In my teaching, I plan on making my students comfortable with many different technologies, such as Blogging, Google Earth, and Wikispaces; these and other technologies will help my students succeed in many different aspects of education.

lesson plan 1

I researched the online digital storytelling program, Capzels, a program that allows you to easily create time lines while embedding your own pictures, music, videos, and other documents. This program is very versatile and would work great for any age and any subject. It's free to join and is easily shared.

For this lesson, I plan on having students create a presentation with Capzels. The specific subject area that I have created this lesson plan for is social studies. I will assign each student a state that they have to research. For younger students, I would have them just put together a photo set about this state and for older students I would expect them to include important information that highlights this state and photos.

Here is an example of the state of Georgia.

lesson plan 2

In my experience, both as a student as well as a future teacher, children enjoy writing and telling stories. Publishing their stories is the next step. This can be a burden to the school who has to buy the materials and bind the pages. Tikatok has found a solution to this problem. This program allows children to “write your story, add pictures, and order your book.” This is a great resource for educators because the site allows teachers to register their class for free.

For my lesson, I will have students go through the writing process and make their own book. First, I will have students come up with an idea for a story through prewriting. Next, I will have them record their story in the writing phase. After that, they will revise and then edit. I will also have each student create illustrations on paper and then I will scan each picture onto the computer and upload them to add to their story. Last, I will have them publish this story on Tikatok. If they so choose, parents can purchase their child’s book and have it shipped to them.

Here is an example story, “The Perfect Christmas Tree”.