Chelsea Upshaw

ABC Community School

October 12, 2015

Position paper
Technology empowers students to do what they want to do. It lets them be
creative. It lets students be productive. It lets them learn things they didn't think
they could learn before, and so in a sense it is all about potential. As teachers it is
our responsibility to help our students reach that potential.
Technology surrounds our students. Within seconds of waking up the average
student comes into contact with some piece of technology and more than likely it
will be the last thing to leave their hands before they go to sleep. Think about how
often you as an adult check your Facebook or open a search engine; Im not even
sure you would be able to keep track of it. With this type of constant use it only
makes sense that we would reach out to our students using a platform that already
surrounds them.
Many will argue that the type of interaction students have with technology is
that of wasting time and is virtually useless in the eyes of society. I would have to
agree. I think that the majority of students think technology is limited to Facebook,
twitter, and Instagram. They see it as a way to connect with their friends and to
escape from reality. That is what makes it so important for us to teach them
otherwise. Technology has revolutionized the way humans interact and connect
with each other, and modern classrooms, homes, and offices are drastically different
from how they were just 20 or 30 years ago. Students today need to prepare for a
workplace more exposed than ever to social media, television, video games, and
other technological advancements. By bringing technology into the classroom,
teachers help prepare students to handle the professional world of the future. 1
As this excerpt from the website of Concordia Online Education suggests
technology is not going away. Our students today will have to be more creative and
innovative then any generation before them. With these kinds of changes taking
place all around us how can we even think it would be a good ideas to keep the
classroom environment of earlier years? If we want to raise students who will excel,
or even just keep up, we have to teach them how to use these recourses effectively.
We need to educate the rising generation on how to use social media to
collaborate and to present their ideas, (instead of just to share the latest trending
video). When we use sights like Google+ to collaborate with our students we teach
them how they might use technology for future business meetings. When we give
an assignment where students are required to post something educational or
inspirational on their Facebook page we teach them to engage in more meaningful
conversations. These are just a few examples, but the fact is that technology isn't
1 "7 Reasons to Use Technology in Education Lesson Plans." Concordia Portland
Online. N.p., 2015. Web. 09 Oct. 2015.

going away. If we want to change the way it is used and its effectiveness then we
have to start in the classroom.

Lesson Plan

Tittle: Vacation Budget

Grade Level Appropriateness: 9-12
Technology Content Standard Addressed: Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct
research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools
and resources. (ISTE Standard #4)
Other Content Standard Addressed:
Objective: The students will understand how to plan and organize a budget using Excel Spreadsheet.
The student will also use research to find the conversion rate between foreign currency and U.S. Dollars.
Materials needed to facilitate the lesson: Excel, Search engines, Projector (For presenting projects),
Suggested group size: Individual project (group of 1)
Procedures:
1. Hand out directions and rubric sheet
2. Introduce assignment: Explain to the students that they are each about to embark on an
adventure! They are able to go anywhere in the world and can take 3 people of their choice. (Well
they dont really get to go anywhere just get to do all the work of planning for it) However there are
a few catches.
a. Must be somewhere foreign, with a different currency than the U.S. Dollar
b. They have 2,000 U.S. Dollars to spend on their trip for 4.This includes ALL expenses
(food, hotel, excursions, etc)
c.

Explain that they will have to type out a budget using excel.

i. Students must find the exchange rate and put in parenthesis what the cost of
things will be in U.S. dollars as well as what it would be in the native currency.
For example: If I was going to Guatemala the exchange rate is 7.5. One U.S.
Dollar is equal to 7 Quetzals. So if a hotel is listed at 500Q then next to it in
parenthesis I would put ($67).
1. Show the students this example on the board
d. Give the students 30 minutes to research and decide where they want to go on their
vacation.
e. Each student must come and verify their destination with the teacher.
i. Teacher needs to verify that a foreign currency is used in that country.
3. The students will have one week to complete this assignment.
Assessment: (Tell how you will specifically grade student work or progress.) Review the assessment
material from our text, or from the textbook you used during your Intro courses at CSN so that you can
clearly define the method you will use for assessment.