Technoogy

I have not been thinking about technology in regards to teaching too much lately. I have been preoccupied with a job fair I attended in Cambridge, MA, Wednesday through Sunday. At this job fair, I accepted an offer to work at the American International School of Monrovia in Liberia. This school is just starting back up after twelve years of civil war in the country which ended around 2003. This year was it's first year reopened. Enrollment is still very small as the country has not yet been reopened to State Department workers and their dependents, but will be very soon. Thinking about a small, reopened school makes me think about technology in my classroom. I get the feeling that the school is still gaining new materials as it increases in size. It does have a small computer lab which I am very excited about and wireless internet is available if I bring my laptop to class. As a school which is still acquiring materials and is overseas, I realize that technology will be very important. I have a feeling I will be using many resources from the internet in my teaching as they are easily required and often inexpensive. As the school is in Liberia, I want to integrate technology so that my students can communicate with students from other countries. I realize that Skype, Podcasts, digital audio and video, and other things may come in very handy and add an interesting and exciting element to my classroom. I once was only semi-concerned with technology in my classroom, mainly wanting to make sure I could access it to enhance my teaching and to be sure that my students could keep current with it. Now, I realize that it opens many doors and there are incredible possibilities when using it. Technology is now an essential and exciting element to my classroom.