Blog Journal #5

 I remember my first Twitter experience was in high school when my AP Psychology class required us to create a Twitter account and use the course hashtag to do our weekly discussions. I was only interacting with my classmates and my teacher and we even had a direct message group chat if we needed help with anything. I found this to be beneficial because we were all able to connect through a social media network and see how we can do more educational things through social media, instead of typical teenager thing like post pictures with our friends. I feel that Twitter can be helpful for my future career because it gives me a platform where I can be professional as well as allows me to connect with my colleagues or other teachers and get different perspectives on topics. 

The digital divide is defined as the separation between those who have access to technology and those who are limited. Within classrooms, the students who have access to more technology have better educational opportunities than those who do not or have limited access, which can then plummet those with more technology ahead of others. One cause of this divide is giving grants to schools with better test scores. By funding the schools who are already more technologically inclined, it then further creates a financial divide amongst the schools and the schools who already have technology get more and those who still need to catch up don't get any new resources. As a classroom teacher it is important that I am aware of the technological resources, or lack there of, within my classroom and make accommodations for them. This can be by giving all of the students paper homework instead of homework that requires Internet, as well as provide training to students who are not as familiar with the technology that we will use in our classroom. 

Software tools are very useful in allowing the same opportunities for each student. One tool I will implement in my classroom is Google software; such as Google Docs or Slides. With Google software, you can automatically save all of your work as well as easily share your work with others. This will be useful for group projects or any class discussions that we may encounter. The second software I would use in my classroom is Microsoft software; such as Word or Outlook. The Microsoft software is similar to the Google software but it is just a different layout and can be accessible through the students' school emails instead of having to create a Gmail like for the Google software. The Microsoft software also automatically saves your work and can also be easily shared with others. Both are very useful softwares, they just have different layouts and emails, so it will be up to preference.