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Integrating Technology in Lesson Plans: A Practical Guide

Explore how teachers can effectively incorporate technology into their lesson plans to create engaging and interactive learning experiences for students.

Enhance Your Teaching with Technology

In today's digital age, educators are constantly seeking innovative ways to enrich their teaching methods. Integrating technology into lesson plans has become a cornerstone of modern education, offering endless possibilities for enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes.

One key benefit of integrating technology in lesson plans is the ability to cater to diverse learning styles. By incorporating multimedia elements such as videos, interactive presentations, and educational apps, teachers can provide a more personalized learning experience that resonates with students of varying abilities.

Furthermore, technology enables teachers to create dynamic and interactive lessons that foster collaboration and critical thinking skills. Platforms like Planit Teachers, with its AI Teaching Assistant features, empower educators to streamline lesson planning processes and focus more on delivering impactful teaching content.

Integrating technology also opens doors to global learning opportunities, allowing students to connect with peers and resources from around the world. Virtual field trips, online simulations, and digital research tools can broaden students' perspectives and cultivate a deeper appreciation for cultural diversity and global issues.

In conclusion, embracing technology in lesson planning is not just about keeping up with the times; it's about equipping students with the skills they need to thrive in a technology-driven society. By leveraging the tools and resources available on platforms like Planit Teachers, educators can create dynamic, engaging, and future-ready learning experiences that inspire a lifelong love for learning.

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6 Steps For Integrating Technology into Your Lesson Plan

Laura is a contributor to  edtechmagazine.com/k12/ .

If the idea of squeezing even one more thing into an already jam-packed curriculum — and teaching day — seems daunting, the prospect of having to integrate technology into lesson plans is enough to put some teachers over the edge.

But the need to make new technology as easy and familiar to students as pencils and calculators will only grow stronger. It’s an important task that all educators must not merely accept, but embrace.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the International Society for Technology in Education recommends that integrating technology be made a focal point of preservice teacher preparation. According to ISTE’s National Educational Technology Standards, “…candidates must continually observe and participate textcafe join-from 3 in the effective modeling of technology use for both their own learning and the teaching of their students.”

By investing the time in creating that model, not only will educators infuse their lesson plans with technology, but they’ll be creating a tool that they will use again and again.

As with any investment, you need to invest sweat equity. If you’ve never used technology in the classroom, it makes sense to take a workshop to familiarize yourself with IT tools and their use in education. Even without additional training, you can divide your project into manageable steps and develop the model for your new lesson plan before you know it. The process of creating models of

technology can be broken into six steps.

STEP 1: ANALYZE THE BENEFITS

You may be able to infuse one of your long-standing lessons with technology, but you must first determine whether doing so will benefit students’ overall achievement. Schools have high standards that their technology curricula must meet, so familiarize yourself with those standards to ensure that your lesson plans meet them.

If, in your selected lesson plan, students will learn curricular objectives and achieve a new skill while meeting those objectives, you have a win-win situation, and you should go to the next step.

If you have difficulty determining whether this will be the outcome, sit down with a technology expert, who could be another teacher excited about using technology, a technology instructor or coordinator, a media specialist or even a highly skilled, technology-savvy student looking for a new challenge. The tech expert can help match a technology to your project needs and goals.

STEP 2: START BRAINSTORMING

Ideally, you won’t be on your own in developing your project. A team approach (with teachers working either on individual lesson plans or on an integrated, multidiscipline lesson plan) can add megawatts to your collective brainpower, especially if some of those colleagues are experienced technology users.

Webbing is a useful tool at this stage: Beginning with a central topic, then brainstorm to build out subtopics and related ideas to create a visual map. Concept webbing software, such as Inspiration from Inspiration Software, can help get ideas flowing. A visual map of ideas lets you select lesson elements, such as related ideas or suggested activities, and ensure their integration in the lesson plan.

Check out resources available online, such as quality educator resource materials and software. Why reinvent the wheel? Useful materials, including software recommendations, may already be available.

STEP 3: MAP THE PROJECT

You and your team have selected the ideas, concepts and activities that you want to include in your lesson plan or plans, and you have the information needed to select the hardware, software and skills that will be used to complete the plan’s tasks and produce the end product.

Next, create a rough sketch or a storyboard of how the project will flow. If your project entails making a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation or shooting a video, use a simple template that lets you lay out what you would like on each page.

The storyboarding process is equally important for your students to do when they’re producing their projects. By plotting out the project step by step, you ensure the students have the content to do the project and don’t get hung up on using the extraneous features of multimedia.

STEP 4: CREATE THE TEACHING TEMPLATE

One of the most difficult tasks in planning a new technology project is to accurately predict how much time it will take. The best way to do that is to create a sample project. This crucial point in the modeling process is not the time to skimp on your investment. In fact, it’s probably the most important step toward ensuring the success of a new technology project.

You can select a basic project — for instance, how to prepare a five-minute speech. It’s a wonderful way to introduce students to public speaking, as well as to teach them how to use informative writing skills to develop a process model for doing a particular task, such as baking chocolate chip cookies.

If you or your students are new to the technology, a good subject for your sample project is a step-by-step presentation on how to do the project — say, a PowerPoint presentation on how to do a PowerPoint presentation or a digital video on how to create a digital video.

By making a model project yourself, you gain the needed background knowledge for instructing your students and fine-tuning the project’s parameters. You’ll also gain a clear sense of the time, materials, preparation and personnel needed to make the project a success.

An instructor who is uncomfortable using the technology may be tempted to bypass this step. One word of caution: Don’t! Asking students to create their projects without proper direction or modeling will cause frustration and outweigh any potentially positive results.

In the “see one, do one, teach one” model, you’re at the do-one stage. So just do it!

STEP 5: DEVELOP ASSESSMENT TOOLS

With the process still fresh in your mind, it’s time to reflect on the skills and information the students will be responsible for demonstrating in their project. Create a rubric to construct a means for performance-based assessment of the students’ work. Identify how much weight you’ll give to grammar, spelling, content, specific technology skills, layout and presentation.

By giving the rubric to the students before the project begins, you clearly lay out your expectations. Many resources are available online to help you create an ideal rubric.

STEP 6: EVALUATION MODE

Having finished your sample project, it’s time to evaluate what worked and what didn’t. What resources or technology were missing or unnecessary? What did you learn along the way that you would have liked to have known when you started? Is there any way to streamline the process of using the technology to achieve the lesson’s goals or make the project more effective?

By reflecting on the process, answering these questions and incorporating their answers into the model for your new lesson plan, you’ll find that you have the experience to work confidently with your students and cope with future glitches.

With each additional class, your experience will deepen, and your horizons will broaden. Think of it as a sort of unofficial Step 7, in which you and your future students get to collect the dividends of your investment.

Laura Stockslager is the technology coordinator of Old Trail School in Bath, Ohio.

ONLINE RESOURCES

For more information on integrating technology into the classroom, visit:

Blue Web’n www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn

Discovery Education http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide

Education World www.education-world.com

The Educator’s Reference Desk www.eduref.org

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ChatGPT for Teachers

Trauma-informed practices in schools, teacher well-being, cultivating diversity, equity, & inclusion, integrating technology in the classroom, social-emotional development, covid-19 resources, invest in resilience: summer toolkit, civics & resilience, all toolkits, degree programs, trauma-informed professional development, teacher licensure & certification, how to become - career information, classroom management, instructional design, lifestyle & self-care, online higher ed teaching, current events, 7 reasons to use technology in education lesson plans.

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. Here are seven ways teachers can leverage the Internet and other technologies to enhance classroom learning.

1. The amount of information available

When using the Internet, teachers and their students have the opportunity to access seemingly limitless information. School projects are no longer confined to the reach of textbooks within their local libraries. Students can use Google to learn more about topics in far less time. Teachers can use the information students have at their fingertips to challenge them and encourage them to delve deeper into subjects and master the information.

2. The modern languages opportunities

Modern language skills are extremely valuable in the professional world. Allowing students to communicate with native speakers of that language is just one of the uses of technology in education. Students are able to hear the language, practice speaking skills, and enhance their overall understanding.

3. The chance to learn geography, history, and culture

With a world that is increasingly defined by global trade and intercommunication, the opportunity to meet and speak with students in other countries is a valuable experience in itself. Geography, international history, languages, and cultures take on a much greater meaning when students can interact with people from that country rather than just learn about them in a textbook. Students can interview other children about their local customs and cultures to get first hand experiences.

4. Access to new norms of education

Large classrooms with disproportionate student-to-teacher ratios make it challenging for a teacher to give individualized attention to each student. While the Internet is not a substitute for personal interaction, it does offer a wide range of resources for teachers to use to help some students gain understanding of the material. There are study guides, interactive diagrams, explanations, and videos all available on the Internet.

The Internet can be extremely helpful for students who have different learning styles. There may be some who will learn a subject the best when they can read the material, taking time to digest it. Others may learn better through videos or interactive instruction. These methods can all be taught simultaneously through the Internet.

5. Individualized lessons

With the Internet, not only will students have the opportunity to study using their preferred means of learning, they will also be able to better set the pace. In every classroom there are some students who grasp material quickly and become bored with subsequent repetition. On the other hand, there are students struggling to keep up. Technology can help teachers create lessons that will allow the quickly moving students to delve deeper into the subject or explore related topics while allowing the slower students more time to understand the material.

6. Adding new meaning to student projects

Students enjoy finding meaning to their work. While in the past they could create reports and projects that would be viewed only by their teacher and fellow students, their work can now be easily displayed online. They can create materials to be used by other students and get feedback on their ideas from students in other schools all over the world. This will help students take pride in their work and find meaning in their assignments.

7. Student collaboration opportunities

Along the same lines, students can collaborate on projects with students from around the world. They can work with students from the school across the street or across the country. There is a full range of technology, such as the recent popularity in cloud technology, which will allow the students to speak and work together with ease without ever meeting in person.

Technology presents teachers the opportunity to open doors for their students. They have access to limitless information and students are better prepared to enter the workforce because integrating technology into their educational lives better prepares them for the global world.

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Educational Technology Resources

Use our educational technology resources to enhance your lessons and engage your students. Introduce topics and ignite conversation with these fifteen minute mini-lesson PowerPoint Slides. To incorporate technology into your classroom, browse these listings for the best videos, digital books, websites, and online games to combine both the subject matter and a lesson on computer skills! You will also find tips and tricks regarding internet safety and the best plan to help your students avoid cyberbullying, cheating, and online dangers.

Smartboard Mini-Lessons

Need an interactive lesson that will keep your students engaged and strengthen their knowledge of subject material? Look no further! With just a few clicks of your SMARTBOARD, you can incorporate one of these lessons as a compliment to your own teaching style and as a asset to your students learning.

• Sense Organs: Skin, Nose, Tongue Mini-Lesson
• The Amazing Rain Forest Mini-Lesson
• Ocean Zones Mini-Lesson
• Introducing Inventions Mini-Lesson
• Seed Dispersal Mini-Lesson
• Introducing Dinosaurs Mini-Lesson
• Life in Medieval Times Mini-Lesson
• More Whiteboard Mini-Lessons

Digital Books

Use these digital books to supplement various topics to your students. Whether you want to have students flip through the digital books themselves, or display them on the whiteboard to accompany your lessons, these resources will keep your students so interested, they won't want to close them.

• FREE Sample Book
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Best of the Web

Need the best of the best? There's no time to waste then! Use these resources with your students to give them the best that education has to offer. There are additional resources that can be used solely to strengthen your professional development needs as well.

• 5 Best Free Educational Game Sites for Kids
• Top 10 Educational Technology Resources
• Top 10 Education Apps for the Classroom
• Top 10 Interactive Whiteboard Websites & Resources
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• Top 5 Free Coding Tools for Teens

Videos are a terrific way to help students learn more about a topic or concept in a simple and visual way. Use these alone as a focal point of your lesson, as a supplement to your lesson or activity, or as a review for your students.

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Internet Safety

One of the most important lessons for your students to learn is how to use the internet and safely. Included in this section are different resources, discussion guides, activities, and helpful tips to assist students with reviewing Internet websites with a critical eye and sound judgment.

• Discussion Guide to Bystander
• Dealing with Technology in the Classroom
• Sample Acceptable Use Policy
• Netiquette -- Internet Etiquette
• Cyberbullying: The Downside of New Media Technology
• How Does Safety Technology Change Momentum?
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PowerPoint Resources

PowerPoints are a great visual resource to use with your students. Whether you are having students review a lesson or create their own projects, students have various resources that they can use to make sure their projects are the best thing you've ever seen.

• PowerPoint Library
• PowerPoint Tips and Tricks
• PowerPoint Postcards Presentation
• Top 10 PowerPoint Projects Slideshow (Grades 4-8)
• PowerPoint Projects
• Family Tree Organization Chart with PowerPoint
• Assessing a PowerPoint Presentation

Word Processing Resources

As technology continues to evolve, students learning word processing skills is as important ever! Review with your students typing essentials with various literature activities, create mathematical shapes with autoshape and word art functions, and much more!

• Word Processing Projects Slideshow, Grades 4-8
• Reviewing Spelling Rules
• Math Using AutoShapes
• Newsletters Made Easy!
• Internet Scavenger Hunts
• Creating Templates
• Word Art Creations

Internet Resources

Want to build up your resources library with fun activities for your students? Well, this section has a lot of different activities that will keep your students engaged and provide you with some great options! Be sure to check out "Parts of an Email Message" and "History of Communication" to help your students learn about how the Internet and some of its greatest inventions began.

• A Family Tree
• Parts of an Email Message
• History of Communication
• Wonders of the World Questions
• Self-Portrait Simile Poems
• Life on the Prairie
• World War I: People, Places, and Events
• Integrating Technology

Some of the best ways to help students learn is to implement technology within lessons or activities. Use some of the resources listed in this section to learn how to integrate technology within your students especially for those who are struggling or need an extra challenge.

• Technology Tools to Integrate In Your Classroom Today
• Communicating with Groups Online
• Learning to Read on the Web
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Online Games

Use these online games to engage your students in learning key brain strengthening activities. These games are so much fun your students won't realize that they are learning!

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More Technology Resources

Want to build up your library of resources? This section will provide you different printables, discussion guides, activities, and references for learning more about technology and incorporating them within your classroom.

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Lesson Plan: Integrating Technology in the Classroom

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In this lesson, students will analyze and describe technology applications teachers use in the classroom.

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Effective Uses of Technology in Elementary School

Minimizing screen time and maximizing student interactions are worthwhile, but there are still good uses of technology in the elementary grades.

Following months of virtual schooling and tuning in to a device for synchronous and asynchronous learning, many teachers and students have been happy this year to move away from digital experiences and return to analog learning activities.

Many elementary school activities engage children in hands-on, dynamic activities that do not require the use of technology, limiting how much time students spend in front of a screen. However, there are ways that technology can develop and sustain unique learning opportunities in schools.

As an educational technologist, I collaborate with teachers to implement technologies that improve student learning. I’ll talk about and share examples of how teachers can use technology in the classroom to provide instructional guidance and support, encourage students’ self-reflection, and spark creativity.

Using Technology as an Instructional Tool

Teachers can create short audio or video clips to supplement and extend classroom instruction. Many teachers have discovered how simple it is to create a short video that students can use to review a concept or reread a set of instructions while participating in remote learning.

You can create detailed instructions or give information to guide students through a series of exercises for a lesson or project. Plan a class activity in which students, for example, rotate among different stations (individually or in small groups) to complete a series of independent tasks.

Each station could have its own device, such as an iPad or a Chromebook, where students can review prerecorded instructions or rewatch brief presentations while doing activities at that station. You might create a screencast  as a tutorial or explain the steps to completing a math review worksheet .

Students Using Technology to Self-Reflect on Their Learning and Progress

Students can use technology to keep track of their progress. They can use images or a short video to document special classroom moments, activities, projects, or presentations, and then create a presentation that highlights their learning from these snapshots.

For example, a third-grade student learning about the composition of a cell could create a presentation that included a photo of a cell diagram, descriptions of why certain parts of a cell were included, explanations of what materials were used to create the cell model, and a written reflection of what they learned about the parts of a cell. For a framework of how to write a self-reflection, you can provide students with protocols such as Project Zero’s thinking routine “ I Used to Think… Now I Think .” John Spencer’s blog post about digital portfolios is another resource you can use to prompt students’ self-reflection.

To help students develop their metacognitive skills, you can combine learning snapshots with opportunities for their self-reflection. During a large or small group presentation, students can present a slide show with voice-overs or explain what they were doing and what they learned at the moment. They can respond to questions such as “Did this learning experience make you feel successful?” and “What would you do differently next time?” Students can revisit these reflections later in the year to assess and celebrate their progress.

In one upper elementary classroom I visited, for example, students were trying out different study strategies to see which ones worked best for them. After they completed a formative assessment activity, the teacher asked them to reflect on whether they had felt successful throughout the assessment activity because of using study strategies.

The teacher asked students to identify which strategies they used and whether they thought the strategies were effective in helping them explore new content and ideas. One student described how using flash cards and rereading a chapter helped her prepare for and pass a science quiz.

You can allow students to reflect with fewer specific prompts as they become accustomed to considering their work and feel comfortable exploring how they think throughout a learning experience.

Using Technology to Provide Choice and Spark Students’ Creativity

You can design projects that allow students to choose how they want to use technology. Students can create digital art by using various websites and tools. They can create original artwork or learning resources such as math manipulatives using classroom art supplies and then record a brief video explaining or displaying their work.

Comic strips, slide shows, green screen images, infographics, timelines, digital posters, videos, podcasts, mini-portfolios, and video book talks are other forms of digital student creation. When students combine these various modalities, they have even more opportunities for creativity and self-expression.

With the help of technology, sharing digital creations like these is simple. Google’s share settings can publish Google Slideshows or documents. Google Sites is also an excellent tool for students to keep track of their assignments. Students can include video, images, Google Drive files, PDF files, and much more on a Google Site. Microsoft Office 365 tools, Flipgrid, and Padlet are some of the other platforms for creating, curating, and sharing student work.

When using technology in the elementary classroom, be judicious and intentional. Before implementing it, consider your goals for using it and whether it provides a functional improvement to a learning task. Documenting student learning, providing extra student support via audio or video, and enhancing student creation capabilities are all excellent ways for technology to improve the teaching and learning process.

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Technology integration practices (tip) guide, a process to design lessons that integrate technology in ways that support students to engage in content, connect and collaborate, and learn new skills in supported and equitable ways..

In this moment, we must ensure we are taking care of each other as human beings first. Before engaging in this, or any guide, we encourage you to assess your head and your heart.  In order to be of optimal service to students, we must first reflect on where we are and what we need from ourselves and our community. We want to remind you that learning can’t happen when students don’t feel safe.  In order to establish a safe space, we need to prioritize building and re-building community with students, their families, and our colleagues. We must remember to center what’s important, not just what’s urgent in order to be of service to all learners.  This is not a linear process and your feelings and experiences, and those of your students, will fluctuate. We ask you to keep this actively in mind as you use this guide.

Introduction

As technology shapes our public discourse, and students engage with technology on a daily basis, it becomes imperative for classrooms to serve as spaces to teach about the responsible and ethical uses of technology while meeting the diverse needs of students and the various ways they access technology. There is an additional level of urgency as our classrooms have swiftly moved to remote learning with little, if any, preparation of teachers or acknowledgment of the equity issues access may present for families, students, and the learning community.  We need to remember that our teaching should not focus on the tools, but rather the students’ needs as human beings, interests as learners, community building, and the content. Our collective work is to be ready and prepared to seize the unexpected opportunities this disruption gives us to actually create a more equitable educational system for all learners.

The Technology Integration Practices (TIP) Guide supports school districts, schools, teachers, and instructional coaches to infuse technologies and research-based pedagogy to ensure that instructional practices are anchored in the learning needs and interests of all students.

To build equitable learning communities, school districts must meet a set of basic requirements to make certain all students can engage remotely as well as ensure teachers are prepared to support equitable remote learning. 

The first step in planning is for the teacher to consider instructional goals and student interests in order to design a lesson or lesson sequence that reflects these goals. The following is a set of planning questions to complete to help ground technology integration goals and ensure the use of technology supports planned student learning objectives.

Click here for a writable PDF of the worksheet below.

Once the learning objectives are set and technology integration goals established, the teacher can begin planning lessons. When creating experiences for students to engage in remotely, the following conditions can support the creation of an equitable space in which students learn with one another and engage with content in a collaborative and collective way.

Build Equitable Learning Communities

Types of tasks, assess learning.

Committing to a reflection practice is one of the best ways to authentically learn and strengthen your teaching practice.  Documenting your experience and reflecting on the glows and grows helps develop your ideas in real time. The following is a set of reflection questions for you to consider after teaching a remote learning experience.

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5 reasons to incorporate technology into your classroom

September 28, 2023

Reading Time: 2–3 minutes

Think that integrating technology into the classroom will distract students and marginalize educators?

Think again. Since students are already interested and engaged in technology, teachers can harness that attention for educational purposes – there are even education programs designed to help teachers promote innovation in the classroom.

Incorporating the internet, laptops, tablets and other technology into the curriculum has many benefits for teachers and students alike.

1. Engages students and creates active learners.

Using computers, tablets or other devices can encourage self-directed learning and inspire active participation in the learning process, rather than allowing students to remain passive in a lecture environment. Interactive lesson plans can help turn complex, conceptual subjects like math and science into fun, engaging educational activities for students.

2. Encourages individual learning and growth.

No one learns in the same way or at the same pace, but technology can level-set the classroom. For example, technology can provide accommodations for students who are struggling or who have disabilities, and virtual lesson plans provide individualized instruction for all. Students can learn at their own speed, reviewing difficult concepts or skipping ahead as needed. Additionally, access to the internet gives students access to a broad range of resources to conduct research.

3. Facilitates peer collaboration.

Distance learning paved the way for technology solutions in education. Digital tools like shared documents, online games and even podcasts promote peer collaboration and interaction, and asynchronous schedules help students work at their own pace. Teachers can also deliver a more tailored, dynamic experience to meet students where they are and help strengthen learning outcomes.

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4. Prepares students for the real world.

Technology is an integral part of how we work and live, every day. Teaching students how to use technology to learn, research, collaborate and solve problems from an early age may help prepare them for their careers.

It can also help reduce the fear of new technology in the future by familiarizing them with the discovery process for each new tool.

5. Creates more engaged and successful teachers.

Using technologies like virtual lesson plans and internet resources can help free up time – both in developing and delivering the curriculum . This may allow teachers to spend more time with the students who require more one-on-one help, ensuring the whole class is better prepared for tests and advancement.

As an educator, integrating technology into the curriculum is key. In other words, don’t add technology to a lesson plan simply because you can. Make sure you understand:

• How to use the technology
• How to train students on using the technology
• How the technology supports your curriculum
• What benefits the technology brings to your lesson

An easy way to introduce technology is to start small. Try using smartboards, tablets, laptops or other devices that can help improve your lesson plan.

The point is not to let technology take over your classroom, but to integrate it. Traditional teaching processes like lectures, writing papers and analog testing should not be abandoned.

When combined effectively with the methods you know, technology can help you and your students.

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Integrating Technology In The Classroom For Physical Education

• Doug Curtin
• July 25, 2023

As technology advances, it is becoming increasingly important for physical education teachers to integrate technology into their classrooms. Technology can provide various benefits to physical education classes, including improved engagement, increased access to resources, and better assessment of student progress.

  In this article, we will explore the different ways physical education teachers can go about integrating technology in the classroom. In addition, we will look at some specific examples of how technology can be used in physical education classes.

Benefits of Integrating Technology In The Classroom For Physical Education

Integrating technology in the classroom can bring numerous benefits for students and teachers in physical education. The  benefits of technology in the classroom  include:

1) Personalized Learning Experience –  With educational technology, physical education teachers can tailor and deliver PE lesson plans that address individual student needs, interests, and abilities. Integrating technology in the classroom can help students find meaningful ways to pursue lifetime fitness, health, and wellness.

2) Access To More Information –  With the right technology in physical education , teachers can unlock a treasure trove of lesson plans, curriculum, and other resources. In addition, students also have access to a variety of digital tools that can support student engagement and deepen the learning process.

3) Increased Teacher Efficiency –  Technology integration streamlines cumbersome administrative tasks like lesson planning, assessments , and grading. In turn, teachers have more time to focus their attention on the students in the classroom.

4) Real-Time Feedback –  With technology, students can access real-time feedback on fitness metrics or assessments. As a result, students can understand and see progress and results that can increase motivation and engagement. Teachers can also utilize all of this data to provide feedback and insights.

5) Real-World Applications –  Integrating technology in the classroom allows students to explore appropriate and effective technology practices. As we continue to live in a digital age, students need new ways to develop digital literacy.

Bonus Content – Take an inside look at technology for physical education in action! 

Challenges and Concerns Around Integrating Technology in The Classroom

Despite all of the benefits of integrating technology in the classroom, physical education teachers are still concerned about bringing new technologies to the PE classroom.

First, some school districts have growing worries about integrating technology in school settings during the age of social media. Will technology use actually improve student engagement or pose an additional layer of distraction?

Next, student learning in physical education centers around movement and activity. How can students be physically active in class if they are glued to digital technologies during class time?

Finally, some teachers worry about what technology integration will do to their jobs. Will technology replace teachers ? (We will answer all the concerns listed in this section later in this article, but we want to address this concern right away – NO! Technology will not replace teachers.)

While we can all empathize with teachers’ and school districts’ concerns about integrating technology in the physical education classroom, the benefits can far outweigh any challenges or concerns with the right educational technology and implementation.

Explore the Nation’s #1 Phys Ed Software

Curious why more than 1,000 PE departments are using PLT4M’s PE Software and Curriculum? 

Types of Technology in PE 

When integrating technology in the classroom, physical education teachers might immediately go to wearables or other new technologies. But with high-quality online resources, you can use the types of technology your school settings already have access to.

For the purposes of this article, we will break up the types of technology into two main categories:

Full Class/Large Group Technology  – TV’s, Projectors, Interactive Whiteboards/Smartboards, Etc

Personal/Small Group Technology –  Smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc

Combining any readily available digital tools with online resources, schools can then consider the next steps in integrating physical education technology. With PLT4M, schools can successfully go about integrating technology in the classroom in a variety of ways.

Lesson Plan Delivery

Lesson plan delivery is a great place to start for physical education teachers considering integrating technology in the classroom.

There is typically only one teacher for a large group of upwards of 50 students in a PE class. If a teacher is stuck at the front of the classroom leading any fitness skill or activity, they cannot provide one-to-one feedback and instruction. 

Full Class/Large Group Technology –  Tapping into a video display can be the easiest way for a teacher to go from lecturer to facilitator. By displaying a follow-along video, now the teacher can move about the classroom and provide hands-on guidance to students. 

Personal/Small Group Technology –  This can allow students to do different assignments and physical activities all in one class. These lessons can also be personalized through learning management systems like PLT4M. In addition, through an interactive app or system, students can log and track progress throughout class. This provides an added bonus for teacher insights. 

Bonus Tip – Sharing Personal Devices 

And if social media and distractions are a concern with personal/small group technology, there are different ways to still personalize physical education without going completely 1-to-1. For example, with PLT4M, up to 5 students can share a “personal device” with a feature called rackview. This allows teachers to pair and group students using the instructional technology without having every student on a “personal device.”

Example Integrating Technology at Canton – Modeling Tech Use

Integrating technology in the classroom doesn’t have to become a free-for-all all. Many schools take a progressional approach to student technology use.

For example, at Canton, the PE teachers take a 3 step approach to technology modeling in physical education.

In the first few lessons, the teacher leads with PLT4M on a monitor or projector. Students don’t use technology yet.

After a few lessons, students follow along on individual devices while teacher leads and models on a projector or device.

Finally, students work independently or in groups on devices without teacher leading lesson on projector.

In just a few weeks of the semester, students learn the educational process of using technology appropriately and effectively. After setting a foundation and clear expectations, technology in physical education becomes a tool for lessons and workouts rather than the dreaded distraction people fear.

Bonus Content – Take an inside look at Canton High School!

Assessments & Data Collection

With new tools like PLT4M, physical education departments can also enhance their assessments and data collection process when integrating technology in the classroom. Physical education teachers can ditch the pen/paper and collect data via digital tools.

Personal/Small Group Technology –  Embedded within PLT4M lesson plans are different assessments, finishers, and worksets. All of these different data metrics can be logged directly by students. As a result, teachers can save time with data entry and engage students, giving them insights and access to their progress.

Full Class/Large Group Technology –  While we strongly suggest letting students take ownership (to help PE teachers save time!), there are still options for PE teachers to log data themselves. This data can also be displayed on projectors and other class devices via leaderboards to highlight top performers and engage students with some friendly competition.

Example of Integrating Technology In The Classroom – Student Engagement

Today’s students want to know the why behind what they are doing. But, understanding the why can be challenging when the teacher controls all the information. Annie Hinkhouse says that this used to be the case at Reedsburg High School in Wisconsin, 

“Before incorporating  technology in PE , the teacher held all the information. As a result, students had no idea what their data or progress looked like because they couldn’t easily access it.” 

But now, Reedsburg High School uses PLT4M so that every single student can have ownership in the learning process. Annie says that this has been one of the most significant driving factors for increased student engagement, 

“With PLT4M, students can look back and see everything that has ever been tracked or measured. Because of this, students are more engaged and involved when they come to class. It moves PE from just being a class they show up for to a part of the day they are most excited about.” 

Check out the full Reedsburg Story Here

Learn More on Integrating Technology in The Classroom With PLT4M

This article highlighted the power of integrating technology in the classroom for lesson plan delivery and assessments/data collection.

There are countless other opportunities to utilize technology tools like PLT4M to improve student learning in physical education.

For brevity, we won’t unpack each and every technology integration benefit. If you want to learn more, contact PLT4M for a free consultation on how schools integrate technology in the classroom with PLT4M.

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Key takeaways on integrating technology in the classroom.

Technology integration in physical education offers unlimited potential for teachers and students. And as digital tools continue to evolve, PLT4M will further evolve the possibilities.

For now, the key takeaways on integrating technology in the classroom include:

Physical education shouldn’t avoid technology integration. PE can benefit from digital tools just like any other subject within school.

With technology, physical education can offer a vast array of content and materials they otherwise might not consider including.

Assessments, data collection, and reporting can all be streamlined with technology integration. In addition, students can gain new levels of insight and engagement with new access to information.

Integrating technology in the classroom doesn’t mean students must be glued to their devices and not physically active. Instructional technology can improve and increase the quality physical activity time.

Technology use gives more flexibility, not less. As a result, PE teachers can customize technology integration to fit their goals, grade levels, and school settings.

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Detailed Lesson Plan in Educational Technology: Technology in Teaching and Learning

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Headmaster as leader of the school also plays a role as a technology leader. This applies to the high performance schools (HPS) headmaster as well. The HPS excel in all aspects of education. In this study, researcher is interested in examining the role of the headmaster as a technology leader through interviews with three headmasters of high performance schools. Various topics related to technology leadership among headmaster have been discussed based on National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A) 2009 recommended by International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). From the conversation, the headmaster of HPS have played their leadership role of technology in schools by meeting the various components of NETS-A. In terms of challenges, the online internet is a major obstacle to promoting the use of ICT in the school. The hard work and effort by the headmaster of HPS in the field of ICT has shown a good result and outcome. The headmaster of other schools should have to emulate the great efforts HPS headmasters to create a generation of young literates.

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This study presents the design of a Computer Education Li-censure (CEL) program based on a situated learning theory framework. The study captures instructors' design considerations while designing the courses in the CEL program based on this theoretical framework. The study also captures pre-service teachers and alumni perceptions regarding the value of courses that were informed by this framework. Additionally , the study presents longitudinal data from four preservice teachers who pursued their license from the CEL program, and later moved into teaching positions. Longitudinal interview data began capturing perceptions and experiences during participants' student teaching year in the CEL program and continued into their first and second years of inservice teaching. Based on the analysis of data from these sources, we conclude that situated learning characteristics were present in all courses of the CEL program. The use of three specific situated learning characteristics (authentic contexts, authentic activities, and reflection) were emphasized by all instructors as being major considerations in course design. Despite this, teachers only emphasized the value of having authentic contexts and authentic activities. Suggestions for similar computer science licensure programs are recommended based on these findings. 376

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Although there is a growing body of literature about the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) into K-12 schools and the ways how individually school principals can lead and support these initiatives, little is known about to what extent principals' technology leadership (TL) practices are predictable by school's organization culture and present ICT infrastructure. Hence, in this exploratory study, we set out to classify Turkish principals by their TL practices into discrete TL profiles, taking individual, cultural and infrastructural factors into consideration. The five standards of International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE-2009) were taken as the measures of TL practices. Some main components of the learning organization (LO) culture such as team learning, shared vision and systems thinking disciplines were regarded as the measures of school culture. Principal's age and gender demographics, computer and internet usage frequency, school's F@tih project status and teachers' perception of LO culture were used as predictor variables. The current study surveyed 1105 teachers and 58 principals from 69 K-12 public schools located in Istanbul city. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to assign principals to distinct TL profiles. Afterwards, logistic regression analysis was undertaken to determine significant predictors of the outcome TL profiles. The results revealed that Turkish principals assume two different profile of TL practices, leveled as high and low profiles. Almost 55% of the principals were delineated in the high-profile structure due to their strong interest to perform ISTE standards, whereas 45% of the principals were classified in the low-profile structure because of their relatively poor interest in the standards. The most striking result to emerge from this research is that Turkish principals are most likely to perform high-profile TL practices when having: a) run a F@tih project school; b) used internet technology more frequently, c) managed a school in which teachers perceive a higher level of team learning LO culture, changing odds ratios from 4 up to 26 times higher.

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Close your textbook and go outside: How ’place-based learning’ connects lessons to real life

Future science and social studies teachers visited a north portland neighborhood to create a lesson plan on highway development.

On an overpass in North Portland overlooking Interstate 5, Kathryn Nock and Jordan Stokes are taking stock of the neighborhood, including nearby Harriet Tubman Middle School.

What do they observe? What does the area smell like? What does it sound like?

“It’s kind of hard to hear, huh?” Nock says over the sounds of cars and trucks rumbling under their feet. It smells like exhaust.

Nock scribbles notes on a clipboard, observations of both the natural and human environment around them.

Nearby, two other pairs of college students discuss their surroundings.

They’re all future teachers, graduate students in Lewis & Clark College’s Masters of Teaching program, exploring North Portland with their professors Liza Finkel and Cari Zall.

Aidan Hanley, left, and Cooper Bulens, right, take notes of their observations on an overpass over Interstate 5 during a place-based lesson March 13, 2024. Hanley and Bulens are teaching candidates in the Lewis & Clark graduate school.

Elizabeth Miller / OPB

This is their classroom today, examining the human and nonhuman impacts of the upcoming I-5 expansion project on Tubman and the North Portland neighborhood surrounding it. The goal is to give these graduate students a real-life way to incorporate what’s called “ place-based education ” into their teaching by participating in a lesson themselves.

Stokes, a future social studies teacher, says place-based lessons show students that what they’re learning is relevant to their environment and their community.

“When you have local, real examples of how these different things interplay and affect people’s lives, I think that’s really powerful,” Stokes said. “I think that connects and makes them [students] want to learn more.”

Place-based learning connects what students learn in the classroom or in a textbook with real-world events. For teachers, leaving their classroom provides opportunities and challenges, from creating memorable and relevant ways for students to become more involved in their communities to navigating the logistics of planning a field trip. The Lewis & Clark trip, led by Finkel and Zall, gives teaching candidates at the school a chance to learn about creating a place-based lesson before they get into their own classroom.

Finkel directs the secondary Master of Arts teaching program at Lewis & Clark and advises science and math teaching candidates. Zall is a Lewis & Clark faculty member who advises social studies teaching candidates.

Finkel and Zall agree — you can’t teach science and social studies just by showing a sample under a microscope or reading from a history textbook. Getting out of the classroom can be a way to better engage students.

Finkel’s group of science teachers has been talking all year about how to incorporate local issues into teaching science. Her class has discussed the Klamath River dam removal — how they’d teach it, what’s the science in the story, and what the social dimension of the story is.

Their field trip to North Portland provided an opportunity to get out and explore those answers through another topic: the I-5 expansion project’s effect on a community.

“[It] seemed like a really really good example to get them out and be in a place where they could not just read about a problem but actually physically experience what it’s like to be in this place where people’s lives and wellbeing, and the lives of the plants and everything around it are being affected by decisions that people are making around changing the environment,” Finkel said.

Finding social studies and science in the widening of a freeway

Standing across the street from Harriet Tubman Middle School, Madi Pastores points out a freeway sign she can see in the distance.

“I’m from Oregon but honestly, I’m not very knowledgeable of the Portland area, and so actually seeing what the space looks like and feels like is so different from what I can imagine it to be when I’m reading it,” she said.

Pastores is studying to be a social studies teacher. As she walks down North Flint Avenue with future science teacher Max Marckel, the sound of the I-5 freeway beneath them becomes even louder.

Madi Pastores, left, and Max Marckel, right, are graduate students at Lewis & Clark. The future teachers are exploring how human development impacts a community as part of a place-based lesson in a North Portland neighborhood.

Tubman reopened in 2018 after Portland Public Schools spent millions of dollars in air quality system improvements to the school. Discussion of a possible I-5 expansion impacting the school has swirled for almost as long as the school has been open, prompting years of student-led protests and a back-and-forth between PPS and state officials.

Now in 2024, the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project is moving forward and Tubman will have to move. District leaders haven’t announced where the school’s 300 students will go.

The I-5 project is part of a long legacy of decisions that have harmed Black residents in Portland living in the Albina neighborhood. Efforts are also underway to reclaim and redevelop the area by covering I-5 and purchasing the nearby PPS headquarters building.

To prepare for the Lewis & Clark field trip, Finkel and Zall sent the graduate students some reading on the neighborhood, the freeway expansion, and how nature is impacted by development .

Those readings and an essential question lead the conversation.

“Our essential question is, how can we teach about how human development impacts a community or a neighborhood — both the human part of the neighborhood and the more than human part of the neighborhood?” Zall asked the students.

The graduate students — three in the social studies teaching program and three in the science teaching program — shared some initial ideas for how they might approach a place-based lesson in the area.

“What value do we place in infrastructure development? What value do we place in education and the students that live in and are part of a community compared to more space for cars?”

“What primary sources [do] we have to actually see what changes have happened over the course of development?”

“Who benefits, and what is the cost, and who is bearing the cost of the widening?”

FILE: The I-5 freeway is seen through the fencing at the back of Harriet Tubman Middle School in North Portland, April 9, 2021.

Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB

“The idea is to have them really apply this experience that they’ve had today with some readings beforehand, the observations, the questions we’ve asked to actually create something they could at least begin to think about using with their students,” Finkel said.

After spending time observing the environment, the future teachers got together and talked about what their lessons might look like. They drafted lesson plans and talked about all of the different topics and ideas that could connect to a place-based lesson in North Portland.

Development, modernization, capitalism, the changes in wildlife all came up as ideas. The graduate students also noted how other sources like air quality data or old photos could add to a lesson about the neighborhood.

All of the students are currently student-teaching in high schools across the Portland metro area. Some are miles away from North Portland and suspect it might be difficult for their students to understand how complicated and problematic a freeway expansion could be.

“Most of them won’t have the context of that continual displacement, centuries of displacement in the community,” said Jordan Stokes, who wants to teach social studies.

These future teachers are also thinking about and framing their lessons with a social justice lens. It’s part of their Lewis & Clark teacher training.

“Even when it gets down to the nitty gritty of science and social studies content, they’re still up there thinking, ‘what are the social justice questions, the equity issues, the access issues, what are those?’” Finkel said.

Building informed citizens through learning locally

A 2023 review of research on place-based education found expected outcomes of this practice include environmental awareness, positive attitude to a specific place or environment, critical thinking skills, and understanding of social justice principles.

Nock wants her future students to be able to critique the world around them.

“My goal for students is to make them start thinking about things in a more complicated way, even if it’s uncomfortable,” Nock said.

Part of that means teaching how connected science is to everything.

“If you study biology or life science, it’s not only happening in Antarctica or in an old growth forest, biology is happening right here on the sidewalk next to this cement, or right here where these invasive species are crawling in,” she said.

She said it’s also about teaching students how science is affected by power, control and people’s decisions.

Lewis & Clark graduate students Jordan Stokes, left, and Kathryn Nock, right, give feedback on classmates’ lesson plans. Stokes and Nock were part of a group of future social studies and science teachers wrapping up a lesson on place-based learning.

Place-based learning is not a new concept, especially in Oregon. The statewide Outdoor School program is one example, a long-running program that gets middle school students out of the classroom and into forests, watersheds, and other natural areas to learn about science. Portland’s Cottonwood School of Civics and Science, a small public charter school, puts place-based learning at the center of its curriculum .

For social studies teachers, it can also be a way to keep lessons local, and root potentially controversial concepts in concrete examples. At a time when feeling safe as a teacher can depend on where you live , professors suggest the local focus may help avoid criticism that what students are learning might be too political.

“The more that teachers are prepared to be as local as possible… the more teachers know how to do that… the less the fear is around having pushback from outside, making claims about what you’re teaching or the content of what you’re teaching,” Zall said.

Zall and Finkel hope their place-based experience can also teach their graduate students that lessons can be anywhere and connect to just about anything.

Finkel mentions a recent story she heard about cherry farmers in Oregon . She imagines a science teacher in an affected community could use that example instead of something in a textbook.

Lewis & Clark College social studies teaching candidate Madi Pastores looks at a lesson plan her classmate put together on how development impacts a neighborhood. Pastores was one of six graduate students on a field trip to a North Portland neighborhood last month.

“We can teach all the same concepts if we teach about cherries as if I give you the very boring, you know, plant biology lecture that I was gonna give you tomorrow,” Finkel said.

Field trips can be a memorable learning experience for students. But they can also be challenging to plan and find financial support for, especially as school districts struggle to balance their budgets .

The trip to Tubman is just one example of a place-based lesson. Finkel and Zall hope it’s something the future teachers can adapt to their own communities.

Finkel and Zall also hope the interactions between science and social studies on the Tubman trip will continue, and lead them to collaborate across subject areas once they enter the workforce.

“The more that novice teachers and young teachers come out of teacher education with these ideas, they can bring them into their teaching spaces and really connect with the veteran teachers who are already there and offer some of these ideas about collaboration,” Zall said.

Finkel said there should be more collaboration in schools — something that teachers have to prioritize but that also requires support from administrators.

“Without bringing everyone together, we don’t tell the whole story,” Finkel said.

“We also don’t get kids engaged, and we teach kids that science isn’t connected to anything other than the vocabulary we learn in biology, or that history isn’t connected to anything other than memorizing the Constitution.”

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