Technology+Integration

I watched the video “ Learning World Affairs Through Digital Media”. You could tell that the students were very engaged in their projects and found the topics meaningful. It was clear that this engagement was due to the interactive way in which the material was presented. I actually remember when I was in an World Affairs class with one of my favorite teachers way back in 1991. It was when the WWW was still a relatively new concept to most. We participated in a chat room with students from all over the world. We all had to come to our schools at crazy times to meet up. We all played a foreign country and had debates etc. It was very rudimentary but to this day I remember it and all about my country Singapore.

In order to be successful in almost any given job or career, today's students and therefore educators, must be able to use technology. As an educator it is clear, as evidenced by the video and articles, that technology is an efficient and effective tool to motivate children to learn. If a variety of digital media is used, students are drawn to the material and are more likely to be engaged. It would be foolish to assume that archaic teaching methods are in step with today's fast paced, multi-media world. It is what students are used to and will need to know how to use in almost every aspect of their lives. I am going to be a secondary social studies teacher and the videos gave me inspiration for a variety of ways to incorporate technology, for example, virtual worlds, games like SIM city, chat rooms with students from around the world. The possibilities are truly limitless.