Assignment #1 Technology Literacy

My current technology knowledge and use consists of: electronic kitchen gadgets, cell phone, phone, computer, car, ipod, internet, and probably other stuff I can't think of. I would really like to improve my internet/computer skills. I think they will come in handy in the future and I just think it is really interesting to learn about that stuff. I don't understand how or why it works and it's fascinating. Even though I'm not going to be a traditional teacher I still see value in what the "iste" site has to offer as suggestions/requirements for teachers. I believe that the intentions, and most action, can be translated into a third-world setting.

As a missionary I believe that internet/computer technology will be beneficial to me. I will be able to quickly and cheaply keep my family, friends, church, and supporters around the world updated on my activities. It would also be a good learning tool with the people I'll work with. It would be great to teach them about computers and give them that skill. This semester I would like to work on perfecting my blogging, webpage making skills and learn how to engage children/my peers in education without the newness of a technology overwhelming them.

I believe technology should be in the "behind the scenes" life of a missionary. They can use the internet for what I already noted, keeping people updated, but it can also be used for research. New technology can be useful in education on the mission field. People maybe have different learning styles but have never been given the opportunity to maximize on those different styles. The missionary would need to be careful about what technology they would use; they don't want to overwhelm the people or have the technology be so fascinating that people forget about what they're learning, or worse, try to steal it.


As a missionary I see myself working with kids, and maybe sometimes my peers. But I just have a passion for children. I could do a lesson on hygiene using a felt board type thing that has a picture of the human body on it, with cutouts indicating dirt, bacteria, water, soap, etc. Then i can tell the kids that Charlie wa playing in the dirt and now he wants to eat lunch. What steps does he need to through before he can healthily, and sanitarily, eat? Then the kids can split in to two groups and then together come up with different steps. The team that wins can get a treat or something. Another idea would be if I wanted to teach the kids a Bible story, I could use a white board, or a felt board again, and use words to fill in blanks, and then do key idea questions afterwards. I'm not too sure about that one, I need tweak it a bit. But I would like to do something like that. Besides the Bible and hygiene, I would like to teach about ehtics, or world religions, or something like that; just to make my students more aware of their world. We could go to an internet cafe and have them work in groups of three or four and research a specific religion for a few hours, and then have them present that religion to the class. All of these ideas require money, so I'll have to trust in God to provide, but I believe they will provide a great learning experience for the kids.