Grupo San Luis Gonzaga. Lima, Peru. • Page - MCFARLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Technology had been considered “the way of the future” but in McFarland, California, it is now “the way of our present.” On Wednesday, December 14, 2011 Kern Avenue 4^th grade students had the opportunity to reach out to students in the country of Peru via video conferencing.

Local students participated in a cultural exchange of information. Peruvian students taught us and presented us with an interesting discourse on Peru’s natural regions that are the coastal region, mountain region, and jungle region. They prepared traditional dishes for us to see first hand and also shared a traditional dance. Our students pointed out our countries similarities and shared that California is broken up into natural regions as well.

Our students shared information and facts about our coastal region, desert, mountain, and central valley region.

It is extremely important and empowering to provide our students with a gateway into other countries, classrooms, cultures, and traditions in real time with the use of technology. Technology removes the boundaries of distance, and in minutes, we were live, communicating with students over 4,000 miles away! This exposure and experience is immeasurable.

The impact this experience had on my students is incredible. It broadened their knowledge base, their perspective, and gave them an intrigue that has driven them to conduct further research. One of our goals in my classroom is to create lifelong learners. Experiences such as these, promotes that to the fullest extent. Perhaps obviously, they now have a deepened admiration toward the power of technology and how through modern technological advances, they can now participate in live video conferencing that can connect them from their classrooms in McFarland, California to Peru virtually at a click of a button!

So click on the "Forum" and "San Luis Gonzaga Visitors" links to see and read more about this exiting international collaboration project.