Current K-12 teachers face many new challenges and opportunities with incorporating technology in the classroom. There are many resources available for students and teachers such as virtual environments. One virtual environment that provides educational resources for children is Secret Builders. Secret Builders ties in academic learning for students because they are able to visit with historical and literary figures (Secret Builders, 2009). It is very interactive for young students becuase rather than only reading about historical figures they are able to "interact" with them. Although there are many only resources for students, teachers and administrators need to protect students from innappropriate websites on the internet. Fortunately, The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which was adopted in 2000 prevents both children under 17 and adults in from accessing “certain objectionable visual materials on the Internet” (Conn, 2002). Technology changes all of the time and there are more and more resources available to teachers. Educators should continue to investigate new ways to incorporate technology into the classroom.

References

Conn, K. (2002). Internet and Law: What Educators Need to Know. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Alexandria, VA.
Secret Builders (2009). Retrieved from http://secretbuilders.com/teachers_learn.html