EME 2040-Blog #4

            I can’t believe we are already well into February and the semester is flying by. I have been using Twitter this semester, which is a new technology for me. It has been pretty easy to figure out how to use, and I have been interacting primarily with educational accounts. Since this is an account I have made for school, I decided to keep it just for this purpose and to see what I can learn about being an educator. I have read some cool tweets and interesting articles from various educator accounts. I can see this being beneficial for teachers to learn from others, get new ideas and to share what they have learned and are doing in their classrooms. This creates a community of educators learning and collaborating to grow themselves and benefit their students. 

            The digital divide is a term that explains the discrepancy of technology use and how not all individuals have computer access at home. This can greatly impact kids in school who are unable to complete online homework, and this puts them at a disadvantage in the classroom as well. The kids with online access at home can play learning games, do homework and learn how to use a computer, all things that give them a leg up on kids without this access. The digital divide is caused by different SES and backgrounds of people that result in some not having the same resources as others. There isn’t much that can be done about this because there will always be the upper class, middle class and lower class. As an educator, I will make sure that, while in class, I teach everyone to use technology and that I do not assign online homework, so that those without internet access at home will not be penalized. This will slightly alter my teaching strategies, so that time in class is focused on technology and every student will have the opportunity to learn. By doing these things, I will be doing my job to lessen the digital divide. 

            When I begin teaching, academic technology will be something that I definitely use in my classroom. I want to teach kindergarten, so I will be using more basic technology. One thing that I observed a teacher using in her classroom with Kindergarteners last semester was Kahoot. Each student had their own device and they would input their answers. On the board was the question, and each student would get rewarded for the quickness and accuracy of their answer. This was used with simple addition math problems, but it could also be used with other subjects. I think this is a cool way to test the kid’s knowledge and have them interact with technology at the same time. Another academic software I would use is Lexia. I have seen Lexia used with all elementary levels, and I think it is extremely helpful for kindergarten. Lexia is an interactive learning tool that helps reinforce topics taught in class and give the students more practice. This tool is used primarily for reading and math. The kids get Stars and can move from level to level the more they play and the better they do. I think there are a lot of great education tools out there. These two are some that I know well and plan to start with, but as I teach more and more, I will learn about new technologies and resources that will help me as an educator and will help my students to grow and learn.