ABC Community School

March 9, 2015

Microsoft Word
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Alisha Larsen
 Position Paper

In an ever expanding technology society, removing technology from the

students education would only be doing them a disservice. Our goals as educators is to
prepare our students for the world after they leave our classroom. Technology is now a
basic skill needed to be successful. Most of the careers at this time require at minimum a
basic working knowledge of many different technologies. According to a poll done for
the Clark County School Districts (Clark County School District, 2012) technology plan
for 2012-2017 A majority of constituents polled felt CCSD graduates are leaving school
unprepared for the 21st century. Hearing that most of those polled felt the students are
unprepared, can there be justification for taking technology out of the classroom?

Using technology in the classroom can the students access to a vast array of
information at the students fingertips. The teacher will become a facilitator of the
information. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, good teachers can
utilize new technology to accelerate learning and provide extended learning
opportunities for students" (Department of Education, 2009). Keeping computers in the
classroom will also keep the students interested in the lesson. The students have grown
up with technology, it has become a way of life. How do we expect to keep their
attention if all they look at is paper? Learning has become more collaborative and
interesting for the students, said Linda Sweeting, A library media technology specialist
(Libit, 1999).

The U.S. Department of Education released a summary of 46 studies comparing

online learning to learning in person. The meta analysis showed that "blended"
instruction - combining elements of online and face-to-face instruction - had a larger
advantage relative to purely face to face instruction or instruction conducted wholly
online (Department of Education, 2009). The U.S. Department of Education has
concluded that incorporating technology into face-to-face instruction is needed for an
effective education.
 References

Clark County School District. (2014, March 9). CCSD Technology Plan 2012-2017.
www.ccsd.net

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION STUDY FINDS THAT GOOD TEACHING CAN BE

ENHANCED WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY. (2009, Jul 20). US Fed News Service,
Including US State News Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.library.csn.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview
/471318311?accountid=27953

Libit, H. (1999, Dec 13). Computers connect with classes; progress: State Money Given
to Schools for High Technology is Paying Off in New Ways of Teaching. The Sun
Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.library.csn.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview
/406433254?accountid=27953
 Identification of Standards

The Nevada state standards are based off of the ISTE standards set for the nation.
The standards set in place by the nation and state of Nevada were set in place so that
technology could be incorporated into all subject areas with ease. The areas included in
the national and state standards are Creativity and innovation, Communication and
collaboration, Research and information fluency, Critical thinking, problem solving and
decision making, Digital citizenship, and lastly Technology operations and concepts.
These standards were left very broad so they could be incorporated into all subjects,
without having the focus be on the technological skills.

The State and National standards are set up very differently from the technology
standards for the Clark County School District. CCSDs technology standards are very
specific. The discuss how to use a computer and identifying the pieces of the computer,
how to do research on the computer, systems on the computer, and how the computer
affects society.

The State and National standards are more focused on learning skills while
doing work in other subjects. They are not focused on what specific skills will be used
to do the work but on the general skills and their application to a lesson. The Clark
County School District standards place the focus more on which specific skills to learn
and practice. Here is an example of how specific CCSD standards get in in the
Technology standards section for Third Grade. In the second section, titled Productivity
tools, there are 18 subpoints. The fifth subpoint (2.5) states: use a variety of media and
technology resources for directed and independent learning activities. I will be using
this technology standard in the lesson plan by having the students use both Microsoft
Word and PowerPoint to complete steps of the lesson.
(1) Name of lesson:
Our Classroom Nation.
(2) Grade Level:
Third Grade
(3) Suggested group size:
The students will break into groups of two to three.
(4) Subject:
Social Studies
(5) Technology Content Standard:
CCSD technology (3) 2.5 use a variety of media and technology resources for
directed and independent learning activities

(6) Standard:
Civics (3) 1.7 identify an individuals rights within the classroom [NS 5.3.4]

(7) Objective:
The students will recognize the rights they have in a classroom. The student will
create a Bill of Rights and National Flag for the new nation established in the classroom.
(8) Materials needed to facilitate the lesson:
Computer
Printer
PowerPoint
Word
Pencil
Paper

(9) Procedures:
Have the children imagine our classroom is a new nation. They are the leaders in
charge of coming up with a Bill of Rights for the class. The students will break into
small groups of two or three. Once they are broken into groups they will sit together
and discuss what rights the students should have in the classroom, coming up with a
total of 5-10. Once the group has agreed they will type up their Bill of Rights, using
Word. Feel free to make the page decorative. Next they will create a flag, using
PowerPoint, to represent the new nation. When completed they will present their Bill of
Rights and Flag to the class.
(10) Assessment:
The students will be assessed on their team work, research, model, and
presentation.
Team work: Did the group work well together and share
responsibilities?
Bill of Rights: Did they write serious rights they feel they should have?
Did they do anything extra?
Flag: Did they use different design elements?
Presentation: Was the presentation clear, and able to be heard by the
entire class?
 Student Sample

Above: Flag Below: Bill of Rights