Blog Post 5

 My early experiences with Twitter include scrolling through the education hashtag and commenting on posts. I haven’t used Twitter since the start of this class, so I’m not all that confident with the interface, but the more I use it the better I am! I have been communicating with new and past teachers and looking through some of their suggestions for different learning strategies. Communicating and connecting on Twitter is much easier than by the usual way, which is just by chance through the people that you know. I’ll be using Twitter in my career to connect with other teachers and create a supportive network where teachers can share information and news with each other.

The digital divide discusses the technology disparity between richer and poorer areas and the effects on students. With a lack of technology from a young age, students have less access to supportive networks that are able to aid in student learning, like YouTube or educational platforms like Khan Academy. A lack of technology can also cause students to be anxious about learning new technology in this growing world. An early access to technology can improve student confidence both in academic areas and computer literacy with future technology. Some causes of the digital divide are lower economic status and living in a rural location where cellular towers cannot reach. The divide are also caused by the lasting affects of segregation, since many people of color were forced into lower income areas and unable to leave because of red lining. As a teacher, I may come across the issue that some students may not have access to a computer at home to complete assignments. It may not be as eco friendly, but if a handful of kids do not have access, I may end up printing out the worksheets I assign and passing them out to the class as a whole so everyone feels equal. I will also incorporate technology use during classroom time and not outside so everyone can have the chance to learn about technology.

Academic software for students is important to expand computer literacy and build confidence when working with technology. One program that is extremely helpful to high school students is Khan Academy, which can improve reading comprehension for the SAT. My freshman teacher would have class time set aside every Wednesday for students to independently work on Khan Academy, and I believe it definitely improved my reading score on the PSAT. Another source I would invest in is IXL, which helped me keep up my math scores over breaks. Every summer, my mother would force me and my sisters to do summer math on IXL and, despite how much I hated it, IXL helped me stay ahead of my classmates and improved my understanding of the basics. It also had fun mini-games to aid in learning, which was honestly fun; I loved to compete with other people of my age when it came to knowledge. If I taught students of lower grade levels, I would choose to use IXL because it would (hopefully) keep my students engaged with the material they are learning.