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Technology in the Early Elementary Classroom Syllabus
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Offered by Adventist Virtual Learning Network

Credit Options:
3 quarter graduate credits from La Sierra University.
2 semester graduate credits from Andrews University.

Time Online:

  • For 2 semester graduate credits: 8 hours a week for 6 weeks; 30 contact hours, 20 outside hours (1 extra reading article required each week; additional response to See It required each week)
  • For 2 semester undergraduate credits: 8 hours a week for 6 weeks; 30 contact hours, 20 outside hours
  • For 1 38 clock-hour PAC: 6 hours a week for 6 weeks; plus 2 hours for final project

Audience: K-3 Teachers (4-6 teachers welcome too)

Instructor:
Janine Lim, Instructional Technology Consultant, Berrien County ISD; janine@janinelim.com; Vitae available at http://www.janinelim.com/vitae/vitae.htm.

Course Description:
This instructor-led online course focuses on the integration of technology in the early elementary classroom. Special attention is given to the needs of early elementary students and the unique learning environment of K-3 classrooms. The course will include reading assignments from current journal articles, integration ideas for the core curriculum areas, hands-on practice with KidPix and digital cameras, discussion with peers in the class, and completion of a final culminating project.

Learning Online with AVLN:
Online learning with AVLN is based on a participatory model where each individual is required to actively engage in conversation and the development of knowledge, skills, and beliefs. You can expect to interact with the concepts of the class, the instructor(s), the other participants, and your previous experiences. You will notice the integration of spiritual activities throughout the course. If you have special learning needs, please contact one of the instructors.

Course Objectives:
Participants will

  • Understand the educational research that supports integration technology in the core curriculum areas.
  • Understand the need for balance and careful thought in using technology with young children.
  • Share current best practices of technology integration from their classroom practice.
  • Create classroom activities for their curriculum that incorporate various technologies.
  • Understand how other teachers use technology in the early elementary classroom.
  • Be able to use management strategies for using technology in their classroom.
  • Evaluate software packages for use in the core curriculum areas.
  • Evaluate web sites for professional use and student learning.

Modes of instruction:
Teachers in this course will participate in online collaborative groups, do hands-on activities in learning and practicing the software, access web sites, and read and discuss required reading covering current research and instructional theory.

Detailed Agenda:
This course will be instructor-led and paced throughout an six week period. Each week will include the following components within the suggested schedule:

  • Sunday - Monday Read It (approx. 60 min.) Complete the reading assignments. Feel free to print the articles and read offline.
    Graduate credit requirement: Read three of the articles each week and include information from the three articles in your initial Talk It response. (approx. 2.5 hours)
    Undergraduate credit requirement: Read two of the articles each week and include information from the two articles in your initial Talk It response each week.
  • Tuesday-Friday Talk It (login in daily for half an hour, 2 hour total) This is the area for reflection and discussion on reading, experiences, and learning.
  • Tuesday See It (approx. 45 min.) Explore the integration ideas.
    Graduate credit requirement: Include in your Talk It response a description of how you'll use at least one See it idea each week (approx. 60 min.)
  • Wednesday-Thursday Do It (approx. 1 hour) Complete the activity or experience. Do It projects will be posted in the Communication, Do It Forum, for feedback and review. Give feedback to group members.
  • Thursday Manage It (approx. 15 min) View (and print if you'd like) the management tips for this week.
  • Friday Software Feature (approx. 30 min.) Read about the featured software for this week's topic.
  • Friday Web Share (approx. 30 min.) Explore the two exemplary web sites for this week’s topic.
  • Weekend Catch up on work if necessary.

Each week will include a different topic to focus on. Following are the topics for each week:

    1. Intro / Why Technology?
    2. Math
    3. Language Arts
    4. Social Studies and Bible
    5. Science
    6. Assessment and Present Final Project

Course Requirements:

Read It
Complete reading assignments and reading response questions.

Week One: Why Technology?

  • Confessions of a Former Technophobe Once this 2nd grade teacher feared tech. Now she wouldn't teach without it.
  • Technology in Schools: To Support the System or Render it Obsolete? Think of other big changes that came via technological breakthroughs. The Wright Brothers thought of making a flying machine because for generations and centuries people had nurtured this impossible dream. Or think of impossible political changes - the fall of the Berlin Wall or of apartheid....
  • Why Use Technology? If we removed all of the computers from schools tomorrow, would it make a big difference in the knowledge and skills students demonstrated upon graduation? Probably not. What if we removed all of the computers from businesses tomorrow? Most businesses would find it nearly impossible to continue....
  • How Young is Too Young? Read about the concerns of the Alliance for Childhood.
  • Using Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom An interview with Dr. Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., who is an internationally recognized authority on brain development and children in crisis.
  • The Truth about Television A synthesis of multitudes of studies on the effects of television on kids in many areas. A must read! Share with parents too!
  • Getting Smart about Smart Toys "Although Smart Toys are not appropriate for the classroom, it makes sense to stay informed about what's out there.
  • Using Computers Age by Age Software for babies? Several software companies are advertising new products for infants and toddlers. How young is too young? Written by a software reviewer.

Week Two: Math & Ethics

Week Three: Language Arts

Week Four: Social Studies and Bible

  • Involving Children in Worship Using mulitiple intelligences to get students involved in worship activities.
  • Rice, G. (1998-1999). Teaching God's Grace in Your Classroom, Journal of Adventist Education, December/January issue, p. 15-19.
  • Our Town Some California kids learn about their community -- and, incidentally, about the web. It's an extension of community learning that many Michigan 2nd and 3rd graders study. How could you adapt this lesson for your situation?
  • A Multimedia Odyssey: One Teacher's into Technology Integration This story talks about a teacher using KidPix and writing in social studies and science.
  • Explore ISTE's NETS Standards for Students Lesson Plans and Units for K-3. ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education, created the NETS: National Educational Technology Standards. You will find some useful lesson plans here! Look at the social studies ones this week! Especially note the Postcards lesson.
  • The World on Disc: Software reviews (1998)

Week Five: Science

  • Quickening the Imagination Through Scientific Inquiries How do you encourage scientific inquiry in your classroom? How can use technology to help you with investigations?
  • Lights Out! How to get the most out of a flashlight, an overhead projector, and a child's imagination. Computers aren't the only technology!
  • Explore ISTE's NETS Standards for Students Lesson Plans and Units for K-3. ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education, created the NETS: National Educational Technology Standards. You will find some useful lesson plans here! Look at the science ones this week! Note especially Brr, It's Alive, Classifying Animals, and Home Sweet Home.
  • Software reviews from 1999.

Week Six: Assessment and Wrap Up

Talk It
25 pts. weekly x 6 weeks = 150 pts
Each week there will be Talk It questions based on the reading and your experience. Since much of your learning will take place as a result of the level of dialogue we engender, the following should act as guidelines to your "posts": a) include accounts of your own experience, b) ask expansive questions - ones with no right or wrong answer - ones to stimulate thinking and lead to deeper understandings, c) build on previous "posts" by agreeing, disagreeing, giving examples, asking questions, defining issues/terms, d) suggest metaphors. It is expected that you will spend 2-3 hours per week on the web interacting with others. It is highly recommended that you login at least half an hour daily to keep up with the discussion.

  • Week 1: Why Technology?
    • Introduce yourself in the discussion area.
    • Based on what you've just read, please share one positive and one concern for using technology in the classroom. What is the place of technology in your classroom? What do you think it's place should be?
  • Week 2: Math
    • Describe one of your favorite math lessons. How can technology enhance your math lesson? Why is teaching math creatively important to you?
    • Early elementary kids need lots of manipulatives to understand math. Do you think that technology can help with this? Give examples.
    • Share how you enforce/follow copyright law in your school. How can we use biblical principles to teach our students computer ethics? What is appropriate to cover in the early elementary grades with your students?
  • Week 3: Language Arts (choose 2)
    • Describe how you use mind maps/word webs/graphic organizers etc. in your classroom. How can you use technology to enhance your language arts instruction?
    • If you read the Project Write article, share 2 ways you could extend these writing activities with technology
    • How do you currently use technology in teaching reading? Did the articles validate your current use? Why or why not? What new ideas did you get?
  • Week 4: Social Studies and Bible
    • What concepts do you currently teach in Social Studies and Bible? What have you learned from Read It and See It this week that you could apply to those lessons?
    • In what ways can you use Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory to cater to student's learning needs more effectively, and thereby honor students as whole creatures created by God?
  • Week 5: Science
    • Do you use inquiry and investigations in your science instruction? Give an example of one of your favorite lessons. How could or do you incorporate technology in this lesson?
    • How could students in your classroom use a camera (35mm, digital, and/or video) in science? In what ways could these lessons provide insights into the Creator's work?
  • Week 6: Assessment and Wrap Up
    • Describe at least one way that you currently assess your students (using technology if you do). Based on the reading and your classmates' responses, what new way would you like to try?
    • What technology skills do you think your students should have by the end of the school year? How well are they meeting those skills right now? How can you improve?
    • Where would you place yourself on the Teacher's Stages of Technology Use right now? How has this class helped you in your own integration of technology in your classroom? What do you see as the next step?

See It
Explore the integration ideas (40-60 curriculum ideas each week).
Graduate credit requirement: Include in your Talk It response a description of how you'll use at least one See It idea each week.

Do It
25 pts. Weekly x 6 weeks = 150 pts
Complete the Do It learning exercises assigned successfully. Each week you will create a small project example and post it in the Do It Forum for that week. You are expected to give feedback to your colleagues. Following are suggested starter words for your feedback:

  • I particularly liked . . .
  • You might want to look at these resources . . .
  • Did you think about . . .
  • I wondered about . . .
  • I’ve been successful with similar activities when . . .
  • Week 1: Why Technology?
    • For this project, you will create a simple KidPix drawing that illustrates something you're interested in. This first week the goal is to make sure you have the software, can use the line drawing tools and save, can export a file, and can upload it into the course discussion space.
  • Week 2: Math Submit an example project from one of the following options.
    • Camera: Record pattern block constructions with your digital camera.
    • Camera: Assign pairs of students to go on a walk through the school to find examples of geometric shapes (circles, triangles, parallel lines, obtuse angles, etc). Submit the picture.
    • KPS (KidPix Studio): Use the domino tool to make an assignment for your students.
    • KPS: Use the 6 in the wacky brush to make multiplication problems.
    • KPS: Create coins by drawing circles and putting the value inside.
    • KP3 (KidPix 3): Draw 5 small circles, then copy & paste till you have 100. Or draw larger circles, use the line tool to chop into pizza slices & color in fractional illustrations.
    • KP3: Put several rabbits (or fish or bugs) on your screen, then circle groups of 3, or 4, etc. Label the groups by stamping a number.
    • KP3: Sort bugs with the Grab Tool.
    • Challenge: Create a pattern chart. (Specific instructions in the course material.)
  • Week 3: Language Arts Choose one of the following options.
    • Camera: Write a poem based on a picture of your kids somewhere at school.
    • Camera: Insert a picture of your student in a project. (i.e. space walkers in a space unit)
    • Camera: Make a Venn Diagram with a picture of yourself (or a student) and list 3 ways you are different and 3 ways you are same as a character in a book.
    • KP: Add a photograph to your page. Describe it in 1-3 sentences using lots of descriptive words.
    • KP: Make an About the Author page.
    • KP: Practice your spelling words.
    • KP: Write your name in Kid Pix, then find several stamps of things you like or that begin with the same sound as your name or that match the sound of each letter in your name.
    • KP: Do a character study from a favorite book. Draw/illustrate the character and write several characteristics.
    • KP: Create a new cover for a favorite book.
    • KP: Create a template to fill in missing initial or ending sounds, or to add an ending to a list of words (-ing, -ed, -s, -es).
    • KP: Create a character study template for your students to fill in.
  • Week 4: Social Studies and Bible Choose one of the following options.
    • Camera: Create a "School Rules" or "Class Rules" or "Loving Others: Matt. 22:39" book complete with illustrations of acceptable behaviors (with your students posing "caught" in appropriate activities). Make one page (KidPix or Word) that illustrates good behavior and write the rule or principle below it.
    • Camera: Make a slideshow that illustrates ways families or kids produce and consume goods and services. Take pictures with your students showing producing or consuming goods and services. Post an example file describing how the activity went with your students.
    • Camera: Take a picture of a responsible and irresponsible use of the local environment. Post the two files and explain how you'd use/extend this activity in your classroom.
    • Camera: Use a digital picture of each student. Have them write a narrative about their personal or family histories. Post an example file.
    • KP: Create an example page that could be used in a Do's and Don'ts mini slide show. Example: Do sit up straight at the computer and Don't slouch
    • KP: Draw a map of the classroom and label. This helps students with orientation to the classroom in the fall.
    • KP: Draw a map of your neighborhood or how to get to your church.
    • KP: Use the clipart or backgrounds to illustrate this week's memory verse.
    • KP: Draw a picture illustrating the Bible story you're studying this week.
    • KP: Draw a picture showing the ways your family produces and consumes goods and services.
    • KP: Use the clipart or a map from the CD to identify a place (geography) or to illustrate a culture. Write a sentence to describe your illustration.
  • Week 5: Science Choose one of the following options.
    • Create a slideshow template for a science report.
    • Create a slideshow on the four seasons.
    • Using your digital camera, create a 'how to' slideshow.
    • Using your digital camera, record an experiment.
    • Create a slideshow to go with a favorite nature Bible passage; i.e. Psalm 19: The heavens declare the glory of God.
  • Week 6: Assessment and Wrap Up
    • Create a rubric for your final project, or for any project you've done so far in the class.
    • Post your final project and give feedback to others.

Manage It
View (and print if you'd like) the management tips for each week.

Software Feature
Read about the featured software for each week's topic.

Web Share
Explore the two exemplary web sites for each week’s topic.

Final Project Options
200 pts total
5 pts Intention Email
20 pts Feedback to Others
175 pts Project
There are five choices for the final project. Choose something that will be useful to you and you can apply immediately in your situation. Your final project will be shared with the class for feedback in Week 6, and it will be posted on the AVLN web site as well.

Note: The quality and length of your final project should be in proportion to the level of credit you are expecting for this class (i.e. if you choose a lesson plan, at the PAC level it may be 2 pages; at the undergrad level it may be 3 plus a rubric included; at the graduate level it may be 4-5 pages with detailed instructions and examples).

A. Lesson Plan
Write a lesson plan using ideas that you've gained in this course. Your lesson plan should include the following components.

  • Your Name:
  • School:
  • E-mail Address:
  • Title:
  • Subject(s):
  • Intended Grade Level(s):
  • Description:
  • Faith Integration: How do you integrate faith in teaching this lesson? Describe the faith basis for the instruction, instuctional strategies/methods, and/or content of this lesson.
  • Curriculum Benchmarks: Include at least one NETS standard that you are meeting. Click on Standards for Students. (NETS stands for: National Educational Technology Standard)
  • Materials/Hardware/Software: List all materials, hardware needed, software (including publishers information)
  • Teacher Preparation:
  • Student Preparation: What do students need to know how to do before this lesson? e.g. Students must know how to save their pictures to the H folder.
  • Activities/Procedures: Include classroom activities, student worksheets (include full worksheets that you've created for this project or list worksheets listed that you're using from classroom materials) etc.
  • Assessment/Evaluation: Include copies of rubrics, etc. used in assessment (ie include full assessments you've created for this project or list assessments you're using from classroom materials).
  • Follow-up Activities:

B. Implementation Schedule
Using the management schedule ideas from Manage It in week 4, create a classroom computer use schedule for your computer availability and your situation. Then create another schedule for 4-6 weeks with the ideas or activities that you will have students do for each rotation of students through your computer learning center. Include a variety of content areas. Depending on when you're taking this class, create the schedule for the closest 4-6 weeks that you can use the schedule. Include:

  • Management Schedule
  • Schedule of activities (include at least 3 content areas)
  • Curriculum Benchmarks: Include at least one NETS standard that you are meeting. Click on Standards for Students. (NETS stands for: National Educational Technology Standard)
  • Include an assessment plan
  • Faith Integration: How do you integrate faith in teaching these activities? Describe the faith basis for the instruction, instuctional strategies/methods, and/or content of this lesson.
  • List materials and setup needed

C. Workshop Outline and Resources
If you're a tech coordinator, you may want to create a workshop plan, outline, and collect resources and handouts for the workshop. Include:

  • Workshop outline
  • Time frame and agenda with time frames specified
  • Resources and handouts
  • Curriculum Benchmarks: Include at least one NETS Standard for Teachers that you are meeting.
  • Assessment plan

D. Team Teaching Plan
If you're a computer teacher, you may want to generate two activities that you can team teach with two other teachers in your building. How can you integrate what you're doing with what happens in the classroom? Include:

  • Activities
  • Include what the classroom teacher will do off the computer
  • What activities will be done on the computer
  • Materials and preparation needed
  • Curriculum Benchmarks: Include at least one NETS standard that you are meeting. Click on Standards for Students. (NETS stands for: National Educational Technology Standard)
  • Faith Integration: How do you integrate faith in teaching these activities? Describe the faith basis for the instruction, instuctional strategies/methods, and/or content of this lesson.
  • Assessment plan

E. Observation Rubric
If you're a principal, you may want to create a rubric for classroom observations. What will you look for as you observe teachers integrating technology into their curriculum?

  • Include at least 5 observable characteristics with 4 levels
  • Include a correlation to the NETS Standards for Teachers

Method(s) of Evaluation/Grading:
Talk It 25 pts. Weekly x 6 weeks = 150 pts
Do It Projects 25 pts. Weekly x 6 weeks = 150 pts
Final Project 200 pts

100‑90% A
89‑80% B
79‑70% C
69-60% D

Bibliography:
Ballweg, J. (2000). Kid Pix ABC—Art, Books, and Computers. Eugene, OR: ISTE.

Campbell, H. (1998). Managing Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom.
Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Materials.

Carroll, J. A., Kelly, M. G., & Witherspoon, T. (2003). NETS•S Curriculum Series—Multidisciplinary Units for Prekindergarten Through Grade 2. Eugene, OR: ISTE.

Casey, J. (1997). Early Literacy: The Empowerment of Technology. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Casey, J. (2000). Creating the Early Literacy Classroom: Activities for Using Technology to Empower Elementary Students. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Evans, M., Larson, J., & Norris, J. (1998). Early Math Activities on the Computer : Grades K-1. Monterey, CA: Evan-Moor Corp.

Haugland, S. & Wright, J. (1997). Young Children and Technology: A World of Discovery. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

ISTE. (2000). National Educational Technology Standards for Students—Connecting Curriculum and Technology. Eugene, OR: ISTE.

ISTE. (2002). National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers—Preparing Teachers to Use Technology. Eugene, OR: ISTE.

Jasmine, G., & Cain, J. (2000). Early Childhood Activities With Internet Connections. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Materials.

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