Use to trending or recent topics in classes

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

One thing I've been attempting to do in classes is work in recent important topics - see the video above taken of the Icelandic eruption. Even if it's as a starter activity, I'm aiming to challenge the pupils to search, learn and open their eyes to new topics that most of them seem to have heard of. It makes some of the work more relevant, more interesting it seems if it's in their recent memory. Is this a worthwhile endeavour or should I stick completely to official coursework? I think it's worth the extra effort and slight off-topic work sometimes but am I the only one?

One of the great challenges of following official coursework is ensuring that while they may be ticking all the 'boxes' for expected learning, will they actually remember it in the long run if it's not completely relevant to them? How to challenge them is a skill I'm aspiring to learn.....

Another recent one: Youtube's 5th birthday (used with A-levels to discuss changing developments in ICT and with Year 10's to discuss changes in their lifetimes).

Challenge of motivating learning with ubiquitous access to information

Note: some of the ideas here formed from a post I saw on the Huffington Post from the US President Barack Obama:

Moreover, Obama said, the era of iPads and Xboxes had turned information into a diversion that was imposing new strains on democracy.

"You're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank that high on the truth meter," he told the students. "And with iPods and iPads, and Xboxes and PlayStations -- none of which I know how to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation. So all of this is not only putting pressure on you; it's putting new pressure on our country and on our democracy."

I really feel like I'm joining the teaching profession at an amazing time of opportunity.
My 5 years in telecoms were fascinating even watching as it was even evident that they were struggling to come to terms with the new opportunities of mobile communications, and their use for data - not just voice. Right now there's a lot of of the older traditions that will always be valid, the skill of the teacher. And lots are evolving - behaviour management, special educational needs, etc. But there's some massive sea changes in HOW information can be supplied and found. The development of the Internet, couple with ubuituous access for many people of all financial means, has meant that there are some new challenges that are seriously affecting old methods. Not in any sense of the fact that pupils still have to learn to learn, improve their knowledge, and expand their ideas and creativity, but that this ease of access has also placed new challenges in other means - it's easy to just become a consumer of everything, not actually a creator. am I wrong on this attitude/idea? I don't feel that it's a fully formed thought myself yet, but that it's something that I'm trying to consider as I teach to my pupils. What method do you use to inspire people to learn when many believe that it's easier to just look it up on Google?