Integrate Current Events into Your Curriculum, 9-12

http://www.studenteducationalexchange.org/
We know today’s students are already using the Internet for social networking. In fact, 96% of teens use social networking websites. The Student Exchange Network (SEE) is working to be a part of the social networking world of teens, giving them a safe place to be productive and develop their intellect. SEE provides a current events learning tool for educators and students. It is designed to support integration of current events into secondary curriculum and encourage civic engagement and diversity as well as work in with today's digital media and learning environment.

SEE makes it easy for teachers to increase current events discussion in their curriculum. Students read articles on the site and respond to discussion prompts on the forum, along with all other SEE student users. Teachers sign up for an instructor account and then receive a teacher code for their students when they register, making it easy to track students’ posts. Teachers follow the prompts to create an assignment that students will see when they login to the site. After that, SEE administrators choose the articles from diverse, worldwide news sources and post them to the site. They also provide background links and discussion prompts for each article and categorize the articles by subject area to help teachers align current events with their specific curriculum. SEE is constantly updated with articles from around the world. Educators can reduce preparation work, and students are exposed to a broad range of topics and opinions about events that are not easy to find in a textbook.

Essentially, SEE is an online community of educators and students discussing today’s global headlines. Students engage in dynamic discussions of current events with students from around the world. Educators integrate a tool into the classroom that incorporates technology, current events, and debate. The site includes the popular forums of general social studies, government and civics, U.S. history, world civilization: 20th and 21st centuries, business, international relations, and environment. Some of the current top articles on SEE include "Poll Finds Energy Tax Support", "Continent-size Toxic Stew of Plastic Trash", and "Gore on Global Warming."