Technology integration in education is a great way to engage students in the classroom while providing interactive opportunities. It allows for maximum differentiation of learning levels and allows educators to cater to each student's needs. Digital resources and applications can also help facilitate collaborative projects, by encouraging students to work together. Because technology is such an important topic in education today, due to its multiple platforms and resources, I believe that technology integration in the classroom daily will prepare students for a digitally-driven world while fostering problem-solving skills, promoting creativity, and showcasing mastery of content. 

This article will highlight and discuss the advantages of including technology in the daily curriculum and how building confidence in students can help them take ownership of their learning. 

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Title: Integrating Technology in the Sixth Grade Language Arts Classroom through Choice 

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Where do you plan to submit:

1. EduTopia.org

2. edtechmagizine.com

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What is the connection to your innovation plan or initiative?

My initiative is all about blended learning and integrating technology into the daily 6th-grade Reading Language Arts classroom. Writing a publication about integrating technology through choice to display students' mastery of content will help to explain the connection between classroom technology usage and the why. 

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How can this information help others?

This information can help others by exemplifying how to use technology throughout their content with purpose. The usage of technology can be meaningful, engaging, and fun if properly used. It will provide real-life examples of applications students have engaged with and used to demonstrate their mastery of learning. 

 

Lessons learned or hoped to learn?

My goal is to teach students how to take ownership of their learning by using technology applications and choice, while also promoting technology integration in the classroom daily for educators. Sixth grade is the start of secondary school for students and serves as a milestone for independence. If teachers are able to proficiently learn how to utilize the technology, they can better model the usage for students to encourage them to be self-motivated learners. 

 

What digital resources will be included in your article? Briefly describe.

 

• Canva is a graphic design platform that allows features for creativity, and presentations. This multimedia presentation resources can be used to create a nonfiction Feature Article for the end of the unit assessment through choice (Novak & Pettit, 2024). 

• Google Workplace is a cloud-based collection of applications that holds information and projects created by students and teachers. It allows seamless collaboration with whoever the data is shared with. This can be used during the book club unit when students need to collaborate and create a unified end of the unit assessment over the book they are simultaneously reading.

• Padlet is a free online platform that allows communication through posts, comments and group collaboration. This platform would be great for the non fiction unit to have a space to hold a host of nonfiction pieces or for a book club unit to hold information they find about their book. 

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Think of your audience, digital presence, and the message you hope to communicate. 

I hope my audience, which includes teachers, students, and administration, understands my message of creating a community of self-motivated learners who demonstrate content mastery through creative technology-based applications. Technology integration is a topic that always has to be practiced and can be improved. Finding the time to teach and model how to utilize technology in the classroom can be difficult when the focus is on teaching the state-mandated standard. Something that we as educators must keep in mind is how we are developing the student overall to be a successful citizen in society. Society today consists heavily of technology integration in everyday use. 

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Integrating technology in the Language Arts classroom boosts student engagement by creating interactive and collaborative opportunities to meet the needs of all students and their learning levels. Blended learning uses technology to enhance and customize the learning experience, making it more interactive and personalized (Johnson, 2024). This approach allows educators to differentiate instruction and use of digital resources daily to help foster creativity and problem-solving skills. By emphasizing choice and technology integration, teachers can empower students to take ownership of their learning and demonstrate mastery through innovative applications.

 

References

Clarkecoschools. (n.d.). Innovative Digital Learning Environments. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2QUP2IpPvE

George Lucas Educational Foundation. (n.d.). Home. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/

Harapnuik, D. (2018, July 14). COVA. Harapnuik.org. https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6991

Harapnuik, D. (2020, April 30). Feedforward Vs. Feedback. Harapnuik.org. https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8273

Johnson, B. (2024b, May 20). Blended learning: Is it the future of Education?. eLearning Industry. 

Novak, K., & Pettit, M. E. (2024, September). Using Edtech Tools to differentiate learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-udl-aligned-edtech-tools