Blog 4

            During my Twitter experience in EME 2040, I have been interacting with my professor, my fellow classmates and different educational accounts. By interacting with my professor and classmates I have been able to see the benefits of getting information out quickly and getting to the point with what I want to say. The benefit of following educated related accounts is that I am up to date with all the changes going on surrounding education right now. In my future classroom, I could set up a twitter account for all the parents to follow. This would allow me to send out information quickly to everyone without having to add in the fluff of an email and ensure I included everyone’s email address.

            The digital divide is when some students have greater access to technology than others. This could create a disadvantage for students without access to technology especially when there is a need to use active learning software.  Desktop publishing is the ability to create worksheets, posters, flyers and other media. If a student is assigned a project or needs to download something the teacher uploaded to their website, they cannot if they do not have access to technology, putting them behind their peers. When graphics are put in work to help break down concepts, but students cannot see them because they do not have a computer, they will not be able to grasp the material.  Online references are an excellent tool to help dissect the meaning of words or text but if a student cannot access them they will come to class confused. Educational games, simulations, tutorials, and drill and kill software and authoring systems all help reinforce content, however if a child has no access to them they may begin to fall behind. Special needs software helps students who need the extra help in class to keep up, however without this software they are unable to keep up. Integrated learning systems can only reinforce the material when a student has access to the system. Overall if one child has access to technology and another does not, the one who does not have access will begin to fall behind.

            When evaluating websites you should consider if the author is credible and if there is any bias in the article. You should also take into account the accuracy of the content and the design of the website including its functionality. I look at who published the work and when it was published along with the URL ending to determine the credibility as well.