Blog #5

     I did not have twitter until I was required to get it for this class and my early experiences with it were fine. The user interface and functionality of the website are both good, the platform is just not my preferred way to digest or interact with content. I have been interacting with the educational accounts we were required to follow and the content has been interesting to look through, especially from the U.S department of education. Twitter may be helpful in my future career in order to quickly get information from many different sources about a topic I am interested in. It is also easy to interact with content and share my own content which can help me to build connections.

    The digital divide can affect students in schools by  making it more difficult to complete online homework at home, or homework that requires internet access for searches or additional learning resources. Students without major access to technology or internet will also be less familiar with these tools and even if access is provided at school, they face disadvantages in using them as compared to their peers who do have easy access at home. Socioeconomic statuses are a major cause for the digital divide, as lower income households will be less likely to have up to date technology, high speed internet, or access to these materials at all. As an educator, these facts will influence how I teach and assign work, specifically homework. I will make sure I teach material in a way that explains how to use basic computer skills if needed, so students without access at home are not placed at a disadvantage based on the assumption that they know certain technologically based skills. I will also make sure homework that is reliant on technology is assigned, and that additional learning resources are provided for students who are affected by the digital divide, so they can further their learning at home just as someone could with access to educational videos or online resources.

    In my future classroom I would like to implement the use of academic software like PowerPoint and google classroom. PowerPoint is a very helpful academic tool because it provides students with a great way to organize information in presentation formats. This is helpful in education because presentation format is how a lot of information is given in real world situations and jobs, so it is important to build presentation making skills in early education. I think google classroom is also a very helpful tool for classroom management as it easily organizes assignments, announcements, and grades, similarly to canvas.

"student ipad 014" by flickingerbrad is licensed under CC BY 2.0.