Digital Media in The Classroom Case Study: Voices on the Gulf

As a teacher learning about media technology, it is easy to question to use of technology in younger classrooms.  How are elementary school teachers expected to incorporate technology into their classroom?  Even more then that, how are elementary school teachers expected to give students the power of technology where they have complete control over what they are using.  Does it come down to a trust issue, or maybe a maturity issue, or maybe a classroom dynamic issue?  After researching digital media in the younger classrooms, I came across a very interesting article that got the gears turning in my head.  The article talks about how many teachers along the Gulf Coast longed to connect after the biggest oil spill in our country.  Unsure of ways to connect, they came across Voices of the Coast, a website that encourages conversation about the oil spill.  The problem was, they wanted the actual act of connecting to others through their social media experience so they decided to take it a step further.  Through Funny Monkey, a web developing company, students were finally able to talk about their experiences along the coast.  It wasn't an easy process though, teachers and students together had to figure out how to actually maintain such a website.  Once they figured it out though, they had a forum for writing poems and posting their stories.  This story should show elementary teachers all around the world that it is in fact possible to connect the classroom to the world in a safe and meaningful way.  Students greatly enjoyed their experience and actually felt that they were impacting the world around them.  I would suggest to any teacher to create a forum for educational conversation.  Together as a world, we can help students to learn and understand.

  

Karp, J. Digital media in the classroom case study: Voices on the gulf. Spotlight On. Retrieved from http://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/digital-media-in-the-classroom-case-study-voices-on-the-gulf/