Blog #4

Twitter

So I first created a Twitter account when I was a sophomore in high school. I was a little late to jump on the bandwagon because I was still crazy about Facebook until everyone and their mother (and THEIR mothers too) created an account. Just like that, Facebook was "old" and all the cool kids had twitters instead. Nowadays, I'm much older and wiser and don't waste my time on social media (well..mostly). The only people on my Twitter that I follow are people I used to know and frankly, I don't really care what they're up to anymore. I followed all those people back in high school when I wanted spy on my peers and see what was going on in their lives. It was a platform to see and post homecoming/prom pictures and keep up with the school drama that was always displayed in savage tweets. I think I also followed a few 5 Seconds of Summer fan accounts lol. I don't really find it to be beneficial at all anymore and if you have some good reasons why you think it's worth downloading again then feel free to try to change my mind. Good luck. I consider it to be a waste of time. I could see... maybe... how it could be beneficial in the future as a professional - it could be used as a platform to exchange ideas and inspire other teachers, but if I'm being honest, that's not what I would use it for if I created an account again. I guess I'm just not that mature yet. Maybe in another 5 years when I am "older and wiser". But honestly, the oldest and wisest people I know don't use social media. You could argue that it's not what they grew up with and that they aren't "digital natives" like us and our kids after us, but I think they were still able to do it right without an internet presence. They interact in real life. What I'm trying to tell you is that the way we, as a generation, use and abuse social media distracts us from real life. I would strongly recommend taking a social media cleanse. Look up, look around. There's people to see and friends to meet! As far as the use of twitter in a professional career goes, talk to people! Gain real-life experience! Twitter can still be helpful, but don't let that be your main resource. Real life people are much better.

Digital Divide

To put it simply, the digital divide refers to the haves and the have nots in an educational setting. A lot of teachers wrongly assume that all of their students have access to technology outside the classroom. The sad reality is, not everyone does and assigning work that requires the use of technology leaves some students behind. Even if they DO have access to these tools, there could be other problems like extremely slow internet connection. To compensate as teachers, we may even have work overtime to provide that equipment to our kids before or after school hours like a lot of teachers already do!

Academic Software for Students

As a teacher, I would implement Microsoft Word in my classroom. It's so prevalent nowadays and it would be important for them to know how to use it. It opens up opportunities for not only writing, but design and other fun things without distracting them with "digital junk", so to speak. It doesn't get much more straightforward than word. I'd also like to implement photoshop in my classroom. There's so many cool things you can do with it! I think the kids would have a lot of fun. Not only that, but as a photographer, I value capturing moments in real life. If I could incorporate that with my lessons and teach kids how to manipulate images, who knows what kind of creativity might spark?