#4 Twitter, Digital Divide, software usage

          When I first started using Twitter, I had my doubts. Coming from someone who has never used Twitter before, I felt it was unnecessary and something that I would not enjoy. However, after finally starting to use Twitter for the first time, I am actually really enjoying myself. Twitter has helped me interact with my classmates, which is something I think is really important.
          It's allowing me to communicate with my classmates in order to understand assignments whenever I am confused, educational websites that interest me are going straight to my Twitter feed, allowing me to have the ability to directly see everything that is of my interest from that particular website, and I also have the ability to interact with my professor on Twitter as well.
          Twitter has truly helped me make a small network with people who are trying to achieve the same goals as me, and  that is something that has been helping me since the first day I got a Twitter. In my future career, Twitter can help me to find a network of other teachers, as well as follow pages that have advice for teachers.
          In addition to that, I can follow my colleagues and we can continue to funds other people or pages that will help us become more successful in my career. The more people I meet, the great my network can become as a teacher, and that is very important to me. Twitter can also be used by my future students. I would help them create their own personal networks with each other, deepening on the age of my future students.
          The Digital Divide discusses the gap between people who have access to technology and people who do not have access to technology. Not everyone has computers, phones, or access to these things. Educational impact creates disparity among students. Students who have digital access at home are able to be more successful then students without digital access at home or ones that need to go to a library to access technology.
          Students who have technology at home are able to succeed in the classroom academically a lot more than students who do not have technology access at home. In areas where technology is scarce, teachers do not assign many projects, homework, etc. that require  technology.  The Digital Divide affects society because students with technology are able not only be  prepared  for using technology for a job setting or college setting, but have already mastered technology before they get to that point in their lives.
          On the other hand, students who do not have technology will have difficulties learning, and it will hinder their effects to be successful in the workforce as well as college. These people will need to receive more training or even take classes to master technology in order to have a successful career. More jobs are increasingly dependent on technology.
          Teachers should be sensitive to issues regarding this the Digital Divide. If students don't have access to technology, teachers should not assign homework or out of class projects that require technology. Teachers need to help develop student confidence in the classroom while technology is readily available and able to be used by the students who are not capable of using technology at hone because they do not have technology. For these students, the classroom is the only time they have to learn, become accustom to, and master technology.
          As a teacher in the future, I will have to modify my teaching strategies so that I will be able to accommodate the students who do not have access to technology and students who do have access do technology at the same time. I will provide my classroom with a class set of tablets so they will be able to learn how to navigate and hopefully master technology.
          For the students who don't have any access to technology, I will allow them to take their tablets home as well so they can use them as their new only source of technology. In addition to this, I would also provide additional lessons to the students who don't have access to technology at home in order to teach them how to master important technological skills that they will need not only in the classroom, but for college as well as their future careers.
          Assuming that I will be a 10th grade English teacher, there are certain student softwares that I will use more than others, because certain softwares are more valuable to me as a High School English teacher than others. The student softwares I would expect to use the most are Reference softwares and Academic softwares.
          Reference softwares provide resources in a digital form that are available for anyone to use online. As an English teacher, these types of software are crucial for making sure that students use the correct grammar, spelling, as well as the most advanced vocabulary possible when writing journal entries, papers, projects, etc. The types of reference softwares I would have my students use are dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias, grammar tools, etc.
          Academic softwares are created for the sole intention of developing and promoting learning. These softwares are very valuable to teaching my students. These will help my students find research as well as research papers, to help them write research papers, or other essays requiring research that are required to be written in a high school English class.
          These will also teach my students how to master searching databases, that way they have the abilities to look at databases and know how to operate them for college and for their professional careers, if it is necessary for their careers. Academic databases are an example of this type of software, and I will spend a lot of time teaching my students how to master this software.
          It is a skill that is necessary for professional life, not just high school, so I want to make sure that my students master this skill, and never forget how to use it. I can also use drill and practice softwares to help my students practice exercises regarding grammar and reading comprehension, helping them gear for the SAT/ACT.
          On the other hand, one software that I will not use at all/ use the least to teach my students is educational games. Educational games software puts instructional content into a gem like simulation/ game like format. In a 10th grade English class, the importance of educational games really declines.
          Had I been teaching a math, science, or social studies class, then I would consider the possibility of using these softwares. Even if I was in a younger English class, I would consider using this type of software for vocabulary games. But because of the fact that a 10th grade English class focuses more on essays and research paper, there really is no value in me teaching my students with educational games software.