Ubiquity of technology in education has impacted educational settings as learning environments including internet connectivity, interactive presentation systems, and learning software tools have become the norm rather than the exception. The problem was that urban, middle-school educators were not considering optimal best practices concerning technology integration from the perspective of increasing student engagement or global awareness. The purpose of the qualitative case study was to explore the experiences of technology integration for urban, middle school students in the Midwest United States regarding engagement and global empathy. Lack of an understanding as to how the use of technology and the impact on student engagement and their connection to the world was identified as a gap in the literature. Engagement theory and cognitivism served as theoretical frameworks for the study. Key questions provided insight to how students thought about technology and how it helped make connections to the world. A case study research design was used. The study consisted of 16 middle school participants, conveniently sampled following ethical protocols to protect participants. An online questionnaire and structured focus groups were the instruments for the data collection. Results may influence how educators, teacher training programs, administrators, curriculum developers, and school district leaders create educational experiences that allow students to leverage technology that fosters individual creativity. Recommendations comprise of further research with multiple site locations, specific technology treatments, and assessment of educators’ instructional technology competency that aligns with a district technology integration vision.

The gap in the literature lacks a comprehensive examination of how technology affects student engagement and global empathy, particularly from students’ own perspective. Studies indicate a consistent trend of educators to use technology for procedural, communicative, and presentational purposes and not delve deeply into a topic and engage in problem-solving activities (Carver, 2016; Tamerat, 2020). According to Ahn (2020), the misuse of technology, where teachers rely on enticing technology features, results in the widening of the achievement gap. Insights from students on how they perceive the use of technology and how learn about the world may provide new understandings for educators when designing lessons; this study is unique in that it provides important insight from the learner's perpective and agency to student voice in future curriculum deisgn and implementation.

Keywords: Cognitivism, digital technologies, empathy, engagement, engagement theory, global citizenship education, problem-based learning, technology integration.