Final Exam Project

Christina Alas
ABC Community School
March 7, 2020
 Teaching and Learning with Technology
To whom it may concern,
It has been made abundantly clear that technology is not going anywhere anytime soon. In fact,
according to Dara Ramalingam, “At the end of 2016, about 3.5 billion individuals—nearly one-
half of the world’s population—were using the internet, a threefold increase in 10 years.” This
data just goes to show that the progression of technology is not slowing down, which is why it is
imperative that today’s students are taught to learn and embrace what comes next. If technology
is taken away from students here at ABC Community School then they will be deprived of
essential learning and will grow up with a severe disadvantage in today and tomorrow’s society.
Firstly, the technology that we have at ABC Community School is necessary for
productivity. As a teacher, we are better able to outline what is expected of our students.
Syllabus’, assignments, notes, and grades can now all be found in one place. It is convenient
when a student is absent and has the ability to go online and look up what they missed
beforehand. Students can no longer lose—or “lose” assignments or syllabus’ and neither can
teachers. So, this makes it easier on both parties involved. For English or literature classrooms, it
is very helpful that essays can now be submitted online. Teachers no longer have to play
detective and decipher students handwriting and all essays can be filtered through anti-plagiarism
software. Students no longer have to worry about counting words in a essay because the program
does it for them. If this technology is taken away from the district, then it is severely hindering
teacher and student effectiveness.
Secondly, here at ABC Community School, I always make sure to incorporate relevant
technologies into most lesson plans. Microsoft word, PowerPoint, and Spreadsheets are the most
popular programs that the students are to be familiarized with. Considering, that most
careers/jobs require proficiency in those three tools, it is very important that the students know
how to use them efficiently. “The use of digital tools has increased in 517 of 545 occupations
since 2002, with a striking uptick in many lower-skilled occupations, according to a study”
(CNBC). If one were to do the math on those numbers, it would reveal that approximately 90%
of jobs require an increasing knowledge of technology. So, while it can be time consuming for
myself to learn the in’s and out’s of new or updated technologies, with data such as this, I know
that it is a must in order for my students to prosper. If the technology at ABC Community School
is taken from our students, then we are not able to do our jobs—which is preparing students with
the tools they need in order to succeed beyond our school.
I would implore that the School Board reconsiders their decision to discontinue the use of
technology in a classroom. Every student deserves equal opportunities in a classroom and the
knowledge that—as educators we are trying to set them up for success and not set them up for
failure. It is a fact that technology is a necessity in today’s world. If we are knowingly sending
graduated students into a world they are not prepared for, then how can we be called a school
district?
 References
(n.d.). “Technology Is Dramatically Invading Nearly All US Jobs, Even Lower-Skilled
Occupations.” CNBC, CNBC, 15 Nov. Retrieved March 7, 2020,
Ramalingam, D. (n.d.). “Using Data and Technology to Enhance Classroom Teaching.”
Brookings, Brookings, 9 Feb. Retrieved March 7, 2020,
 Identification of Standards
Within these two documents, they obviously present a great deal of similarities and
differences. I will begin with addressing their similarities first. In their introductions, both
CompTech and ISTE make it known that they are aware of our technologically advanced
societies. So, of course they both also confirm that their standards are going to keep today’s
students up to date with the advancements. Along with this, both also implicate that students
should be able to go beyond the basics and think critically—ISTE uses the words “student-
driven” to emphasize this. CompTech has “Creativity and Innovation” while ISTE has
“Innovative Designer”. Both of these standards emphasize the creation of innovative projects
through the use of technology. Communication is another standard that these documents have in
common. Making sure that students know how to interact with each other electronically.
CompTech uses “Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making” while ISTE uses
both “Empowered Learner” and “Knowledge Constructor” in order to make sure students are
learning how to use resources competently and expand ideas. “Digital Citizenship” (CompTech)
and “Global Collaborator” (ISTE) are similar in terms of tackling cultural learning. One of the
last resemblances that CompTech and ISTE share is CompTech’s “Technology Operations and
Concepts” and ISTE’s “Computational Thinker”. Both of these standards require the students to
extend their knowledge of technology through the physical aspects of what technology is made
of.
Perhaps, the most obvious difference between CompTech and ISTE, is how many
standards are required— CompTech has six while ISTE has seven. In CompTech’s “Research
and Information Fluency” standard, it is defined as “Students apply digital tools to gather,
evaluate, and use information.” However, ISTE does not have a specific standard on teaching
students how to research. I believe it is important for students to know what effective research is
and how to do it, in order to minimalize misinformation and false news. Although, CompTech’s
“Technology Operations and Concepts” and ISTE’s “Computational Thinker” are similar, they
do go about it in different ways. ISTE seems to be more in depth on understanding the tools that
students are learning, while CompTech just scratches the surface. One last big difference in these
two documents is that ISTE is a lot more simplified and easy to use/reference. Considering that
both are a lot more alike than dissimilar, ISTE seems like the better choice.
So, for my lesson plan I will be sticking to the ISTE side. I will be specifically using
Standards number three and six. For standard number three, it will be the subcategory, 3c:
“Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create
collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.” For standard
number six, it will be the subcategory, 6b: “Students create original works or responsibly
repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.” Both of these work well in creative
writing projects and allows room for students to interpret their own ideas into ideas that already
exist. Imagination is key in order for students to engage with material and if one can accompany
that with something for the students to go off of then interesting and amusing situations can
occur.
 Lesson Plan
 Name of Lesson: Poetry Pals
 Grade Level Appropriateness: 9th-12th grade
 Technology Content Standard Addressed: ISTE National Educational Technology
Standards for STUDENTS (NETS) •S Addressed:
Standard #3 3c: Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of
tools and methods to create a collection of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful
connections or conclusions.
Standard #6 6b: Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix
digital resources into new creations.
 Other Content Standard Addressed: Common Core State Standards Initiative: The
Common Core asks students to read stories and literature, as well as more complex
texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas such as science and social
studies. Students will be challenged and asked questions that push them to refer back
to what they’ve read. This stresses critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical
skills that are required for success in college, career, and life.
 Objective: The student will be able to further their knowledge of poetry and rhyme
schemes. The student will also be able to use writing software and drawing software.
 Materials Needed to Facilitate the Lesson: Computer, Drawing program of their
choice (GIMP, MS Paint, etc.), MS Word.
 Suggested group size: 2 students per group
 Procedures:
Step 1: Students will find 1 partner to group up with. If uneven amount of students:
the remaining will create their own group.
Step 2: Students will create 2 poems each using MS Word. The first poem (poem A)
will consist of a AAAA… rhyme scheme. The second poem (poem B) will consist of
a AABBCCDD… rhyme scheme. Students will agree on the theme they want to write
about for poem A and poem B. For example: both students agree to write about
family for poem A and for poem B they chose to write about their pets. Each poem
should be a readable font in 12pt, have a title, be centered, double spaced, proper
heading (name and date) and be a minimum of 1 page. For groups consisting of more
than 2, it is still required that each student creates 2 poems.
Step 3: After the poems are done, students will use their drawing program of choice
(MS Paint, GIMP, PowerPoint, etc.) to create their poetry book cover. The cover can
be in any shape or form that you imagine the book to be. Each student must use an
appropriate photo of themself somewhere on the book cover. Make sure to include the
title of the book and the authors.
Step 4: Turn the poems in as a pdf file and turn the book cover in as jpeg.
 Assessment: This project will be graded based upon how creative students are and
how well they follow directions. Each student is to be graded separately on their 2
poems, but the book cover will be graded jointly. Points will be taken off if
grammatical errors make reading the poems difficult.