Blog #4

The experiences I have had with Twitter thus far for this class have been interesting. I have never used twitter before this class so I am just getting used to how it works. It was very easy to get the hang of and I enjoy seeing the things my peers are tweeting. I have mostly been interacting with people who tweet about the assignments they are doing because I am usually doing the same one. It is interesting to see the reasons my classmates think the assignments are beneficial. Another thing I like about using the class twitter is for reading articles people are sharing. A lot of them are really interesting and give me a better understanding of this class. Twitter in general is a really good way to get your message out there. Many famous and important people use twitter daily as a source of communication. For example, our president Donald Trump tweets almost daily to keep his people updated on his thoughts, whether we like what he is saying or don't. I think twitter could be beneficial in my career to keep my students up to date with assignments and maybe even parents in the know about what is going on in the classroom.

The digital divide of students who have internet and technology access at home and those who don't affects the success at many schools. It is hard for students without access to communicate with their teachers outside of class or search basic things to help them study for a quiz or test. As a future teacher, it is very important for me to understand and embrace the digital divide. When assigning homework, if many students don't have internet access, I should not be assigning online homework for students to do. Instead, I can make the majority of the homework things that can be done without technology. When it comes to printing out essays or looking up information and such for class, I can make sure I have a computer and printer in my classroom they can use whenever necessary. Also, offering students time after school to stay in the classroom and work on assignments will be crucial to them completing assignments that need any type of internet. It can be really difficult in today's word to manage a digital divide, however it is crucial for no student to feel left behind or embarrassed by the fact they can't access technology at home.

The type of software I expect to use the most is the presentation software. When making my lessons and teaching students information, I will need to somehow present my information and what better way to do that then through presentation softwares. Because I want to teach in the elementary age groups, I will need to teach by showing. This is because younger students learn best by visuals rather than just hearing it. These presentation softwares will help me instill my lessons to the children. I also believe educational game software will be one I frequently use. Elementary school kids can get bored very easily, so having them learn information in a fun way will make it easy for me to get them to retain the information. I think I will use the simulation software the least because of the grade level I desire to teach. Children in elementary level grades won't really be at the point in their education careers to be manipulating models and simulations. I still believe this software is wonderful, however it will most likely be too advanced for the ages I will be teaching.